Birthdays and Memories

It's official, Maika is one year old. It is amazing that a year has gone by already, but we imagine that most new parents say that. We celebrated her first birthday with a Japanese fruit dessert for Maika, a citrus birthday cake for us and bagels. Yoko made them all, and they were great. We had a little party before Erik had to go to work. It was a simple event, but a memorable one at the same time.
Walking with a walker (see video below) and standing unsupported are Maika’s most recent developments. She has also learned how to lower herself off the bed in a very controlled manner. Once she starts walking we are really going to have to be on top of her movements. Right now she gets around really well on her hands and knees, and that keeps us busy. Thankfully, the space she has to move around in is not all that big, but every day she tests the barriers we have set up to keep her out of the kitchen and the bedrooms. She is one chatty little girl and now has 5 discernible words in her vocabulary: mama, papa, baba (Japanese for grandma), bye bye and amen (she says it with us when we pray). She also likes to give “high 5s”. She holds up her hand with a grin on her face and waits for us to give her a “high 5”. It has been a great joy to watch her develop.
Erik also had a birthday 9 days before Maika. Yoko and Maika treated him well and made sure he wasn't forgotten.
The birthday party: citrus birthday cake (Maika needed some help blowing out the candles), opening presents, eating homemade bagels, Yoko's beautiful and tasty bagels, the birthday headband that Maika would wear for a maximum of 1 second. The testing of the barrier. As you can see we are into "use what you can to keep her out" barriers. We have since added something to beep her from getting on it. Super active B.O.B. wears out eventually and Mommy takes advantage and gets a little rest, too.