Playing it By Ear: 1, 2, (almost) THREE!!!

I should be used to this feeling by now. Time flying by and feeling sad and happy about phases come and gone. In a flash my newborn becomes a giggly infant, then a crawling baby, followed by walking toddler, independent 2 year old, big sister, now soon to be preschooler; all the while, continuing to amaze me with new discoveries, vocabulary, imagination, humor, and intelligence. These past few months have been truly amazing in retrospect because she seems to have transformed into such an individual; someone who has real opinions and reasons to back them up, someone who can explain situations, problem solve, and actually be reasoned with (sometimes!) My baby isn't actually anything like a baby anymore. She is a little girl.

And so again, Leila's birthday is upon us. And again, I'm filled with those conflicting emotions that I seem to battle constantly as a mother. So sad and nostalgic for days gone by, but loving who she is now, and excited for another year ahead filled with more getting to know this sweet, smart, funny, beautiful little girl that I'm so blessed to call my daughter.

Stay tuned for the birthday celebration this coming weekend. And in the meanwhile, here's what we've been up to the past week or so. Oh and I suppose I should report that Leila has officially said her first swear word (though I'm certain she didn't know it was bad), and it was naturally used in the perfect context because she is a genius. It went something like this:
Me: Don't you want to dance to the music?
Leila: I don't like this f---ing music. It's terrible.

And that was that. Anyhow, on to the pics...

Natey is not only full on crawling (and fast!) but also pulling up on anything he can. He's so proud of himself! How big does he look?!!

This past week was a little sad for us Ishikawas because our dear friends, Haven and Kevin (and little Anna) left us for muggier, buggier, days in Florida. After several years of friendship, they became part of our family when so generously looking after Leila her first year and a half, and they will be terribly missed by us.