Arya has a friend.

Lately, Arya has become quite intrigued by other kids! Luca is the 17-month-old son of some of our friends. He has come over to play a couple of times and last week Arya went to his house to play for a couple of hours. When we arrived and I was taking her out of her car seat, Arya heard and then saw Luca. She started getting all excited and even laughing. She has a friend!

Here are a couple of pictures that Luca's mom, Maria, took while they were playing. Luca kept giving "baby" Arya hugs. Very sweet, don't you think?

Likes and Dislikes

I thought I'd just jot down a few things that Arya currently likes and dislikes. I'm sure there are lots more things that could be added to the list, but these are just the things that quickly came to mind.

Arya likes...
* green beans
* cheese
* Cheerios
* chicken
* ham
* peas
* ice cream (Shh...she's not really supposed to have much of that but she LOVES it.)
* trying to feed herself (with her fingers)
* pulling things out of their place (cds & dvds out of the cabinet, clothes out of the laundry basket and out of her drawers, papers out of anywhere she can find them!)
* standing at the sliding glass door, where she can look out the window
* playing peek-a-boo (especially from around the corner)
* tickling!
* typing
* giving "kisses"
* reading books with Mommy (It is a new accomplishment in the last few months to be able to look at a book rather than just eating it!)
* crawling and cruising and pulling up on anything within reach
* waving "hi" and "bye-bye"
* staying up late and sleeping in

Arya doesn't like...
* applesauce (at least she hasn't liked it any of the times we've tried it so far!)
* getting strapped into her carseat
* going to bed

Arya and her Daddy

These are a few pictures of Arya and Rajeev from our recent trip to Florida.

Arya loves her daddy. When he gets home from work, she is always so excited and happy to see him. Today, when he pulled into the driveway I picked her up so she could see him out the window. When she saw him she started squealing with laughter. It was adorable.

The day before we left Florida, Arya was really starting to say "da-da" clearly. We weren't sure if she was associating it with Rajeev, though. But now, we're pretty sure she knows what it means. When we hear Rajeev coming to the door after work, I always say, "Arya, who is that? Who is coming?" When she sees him she'll usually say "da-da" (or sometimes "da" or "da-da-da-da-da-da").

This afternoon, Sara had called me and was just a couple of minutes away from our house. I unlocked the door for her so she could just come in when she arrived. Meanwhile, Arya and I were in the (home) office. When Arya heard the door, she looked up, got excited and started saying, "da-da-da-da". I know she had to be associating it with Rajeev coming home. I definitely called him to tell him about it, and I think he was pretty proud!

She hasn't really picked up the word "mama" or "mommy" yet (although she is starting to say "mimi" occasionally in what might be a reference to me and she makes a repetitive "mamamamamamama" sound when she is sad or upset and needing something). I'm not too worried though...I'm sure that with time she'll like me too! :)