A First Time for Everything...

It's been a week of "firsts" at the Potocnik house, in more ways than one. Thought I'd share a few of them with you today!

First Baby...er...Toddler Shower:


My work threw us a great shower last Tuesday complete with delicious Chinese food and a gift certificate to Nebraska Furniture Mart. Leila didn't eat a bite of lunch as she was much too busy showing off for all of my friends and co-workers. She loved the balloons best, and was pretty excited to be able to take those balloons home. I am so thankful for my fellow Speech Pathologists who gave me this awesome shower, it was a lot of fun for all of us!

First Phrases:

That's right---we've got some great English phrases popping out these days and every time I hear them, I can't believe my ears! In addition to "How 'bout that?" and "No, No, No" (so old news), Leila is now saying "Mama (or Baba) will help you," (meaning that we will help her with something), "Down and Drop" (Jason's attempt at teaching her to wipe her bottom correctly), and my favorite, "Slow Down!" (which I say to her at least 412 times per day). It's amazing to see how fast she is picking up English. Last night Jason was wearing a ridiculous wig (more on that later). He walked in the kitchen where Leila was waiting for dinner and swears that she said "Take that hat off!" Who knows, but if so, it was great advice!

First Haircut:


Leila got her very first haircut from Uncle Gregg this week. We were going to have her watch the other kids get their haircuts first, but she was pretty insistent that this was HER chair, and therefore SHE would go first. She did great and Gregg did a wonderful job as usual!

First Trip to the Doctor:

Yesterday Leila went to the pediatrician for her first check-up. I supplied our doctor with most everything I know about Leila, and she checked out all the 'routine' issues. The 32 lb figure that we heard in China was wrong, which I had suspected, Leila actually weighs 29.5 lbs and is exactly 3 feet tall. Our doctor said that Leila looks great and was impressed with all the things she is doing is just one month. Leila, however, was not really all that impressed with the doctor's office, especially once the lab tech came in and drew blood to check titers for immunization purposes. She was brave though, and was pretty happy with the stuffed toy and sticker she received for being so big!

First Night at American Girl Book Club:




Last night, we attended our monthly American Girl Book Club that Madison, her friends, and their moms have been running for about one year. We were reading the book "Happy New Year Julie," which focused on Chinese New Year and Julie's best friend Ivy, who is Chinese. Anyway, we had brought a few souveniers back for this particular book club hosted by our friends Traci and Julia. Leila, being the best 'souvenier' of all time, was invited to book club this time and had the BEST time being "one of the girls." We made God's Eyes, ate chocolate fondue with chopsticks, shared fortune cookies, and discussed the book. Leila wasn't much for discussion, but she loved the rest of book club and was the hit of the party once she got going. We are so thankful for this group of kids and moms who love to read, and love the American Girl stories.


And in other news...

Yesterday was "Crazy Hat Day" at the kids' school. Caeden decided that a wig qualifies as a hat, and actually wore this wig on the bus, all afternoon at school, and on the bus ride home. He told me that all the kids thought he was so funny, and that his teacher wanted to introduce him to the principal as "Caeden's cousin." He wouldn't let her do that as he told me, "I was too nervous." Leila was NOT thrilled with Caeden in the wig, nor did she like Baba wearing it later that night. Too bad I don't have pictures of that!

Thank you so much for checking in each week----we love hearing from you all. If you haven't signed your names in one of the comments sections, please do. We'd love to know who is out there!

Here's to all the "firsts" to come!

Alissa