The first sound I heard this morning was a laugh. It came from behind their bedroom door. They usually awake each morning at 7AM. Today they slept in and chatted through their cribs. Delightful gurgles and chimes rang up through the air, like golden bells. At 7:30, when I inched open their door, they were both standing in their cribs, looking at each other, exchanging little laughs and sighs. Then Abigail realized I was in the room, turned to me, and said, "Mama," before smiling. Her first word.

She’s been repeating it over the past few days, despite the fact that Phil continuously tries to "correct her" with "Papa." For a while, he insisted her first word was "Papa," but he’s never been able to have her replicate it. The other day, he turned to me, and said, "Okay, I concede. I sat here saying ‘Papa,’ and all she wants to do is say ‘Mama.’"
"Wait. I’m sorry. Did you just say you concede?" There’s a first for everything.

I’m in the final stretch of my first ever scrapbook. I’ve made it 6 x 6 and am printing all the photos on 12 x 12 paper, then just slicing away. In this example the "yummy" text is actually printed separately onto transparency paper. I’m hoping to make this a book of their firsts, during their first year of life. I designed the shape of the title and hope to print those titles out separately, using a "print and cut" function on my silhouette personal die cutting machine, to avoid having to cut each shape by hand, then I plan to add them to the center of the damask-style papers using a raised pop-up adhesive to add dimension.

We’re ringing in the first day of the new year at home tonight with three types of caviar, bilinis, capers, chopped egg, red onion…all the usual suspects. Phil’s having white peach bellinis, while I’m opting for my saketinis (equal parts saki to vodka) with cucumber stick garnish. Yummy, indeed.