15.5 months

So I missed the 15 month update post, but as you've probably noticed my blogging in general slowed waaaay down this month. Not sure why exactly; I just never felt like it, whenever I sat down at the computer (which, granted, wasn't often). It's just... August.

But today marked the beginning of Fall for me; the weather dawned cool and clear, and Valerie and I had our first day with her new child care person. I'm so content with her - a fellow mom who goes to our church, her little one is exactly a month younger than V. They live in an old farmhouse out in the country with two friendly, gentle dogs. V. had a great time running around the toddler-friendly house, snacking on yoghurt and grapes, playing with the wooden blocks and warily eyeing the other toddler. Tomorrow I'm going to try leaving her for about 45 minutes, and then maybe 2 hours the next day. I was pleased with how quickly she took to the new environment there.

Today marks four days straight that V. is down to one nap a day. She had flirted with this arrangement a few times in the past month or so, but it's starting to feel more like a pattern now. This reeeally frees up our mornings - we actually all went to church yesterday! Three days out of the four, she went down at 12:20 - although length of nap has varied quite a bit - from just over an hour, to three hours.

Right now, she is asleep in her car seat, which I brought into the house. I know I should be napping too (I tried! Really I did!) but I'm a bit on hyper-alert in case she wakes up and wants to get into bed.

So, other updates/milestones? Hmmm.... well, her favorite book right now is "Corduroy," and consequently she is very interested in buttons. She beats on her chest to signify "gorilla" or (inexplicably) "dinosaur," or anything that is black (like the gorilla) - even her dad's black T-shirt. Speaking of dad... she's getting very attached to "Da-ee" and even cried a little this morning when he left for work... And she will take "no" for an answer when she wants to keep nursing but I'm ready to stop.

She just seems to looooove being able to walk and run, to be self-propelled, to get where she wants to go on her own two legs. Ever since she took off walking her overall affect has been markedly happier, more laughs and giggles. She does this thing now where something will tickle her fancy and she'll say "hahahahahaha!" with a big grin on her face. Another thing she loves to do is pretend to feed the neighbor's dog, her toys, or even pictures in books with whatever she is holding in her hand (a rock, a cheerio, another toy) - she'll hold it to the other's mouth and make smacking noises. It is too cute.

Quick Pic

Trek Camping 2009:
Probably the funniest moment was when Terry was in our tent changing V's diaper, and she jumped up and ran out without a stitch on... the little grin on her face was very cute. She looooved watching the ducks that kept wandering in and out of the campsite. She was not such a big fan of her fan club - the two 6-year-old girls who just wanted to sit next to her and pat her arm and touch her hair and tickle her and talk to her... a bit much for our little introvert!

A Matter of Perspective

We had back-to-back family reunions in July; here are a few pictures of Valerie with her cousin Lotus.

But I find this picture below particularly hilarious because of the way the forced perspective messes with the viewer's perception of the relative sizes of the two kids:

It will be so fun to show the girls these pictures when they are older!

Bad Blogger, NO BISCUIT!

Summertime = relaxed schedules = no babysitter (other than Grandma of course) = drastically reduced computer time. Hence lack of posting lately. That, plus the back-to-back family reunions last month and subsequent exhaustion. Last week I said to Terry, "I MUST get some work done soon," so we arranged a schedule that gave me 3 afternoons this week to work. And I made enough progress to feel ok about taking time to download pictures from the past three or four weeks, I'm not sure exactly how long... but...

V. IS WALKING!

Yes! Full-on walking! July 27, she took off after a book and never looked back.

Also... she RECOGNIZES LETTERS. My baby may be a late walker, but I reckon she'll be an early reader. We were playing with alphabet blocks, and suddenly something clicked in her little head and she said "A!" From that moment forward she consistently and 98% of the time correctly identifies all writing as "A." Granted, she's not actually reading, but she recognizes this abstraction known as the "alphabet" as a visual pattern, and it has a name: A. She gets a huge kick (probably because of the lavish praise we give her when she does it) out of identifying letters everywhere we go - on storefront posters, road signs, T-shirts, stickers, and of course books. She loves to watch the youtube video of Ladysmith Black Mambazo singing the "African Alphabet" song (she points to the laptop and says, what else? "A"). Occasionally she will mis-identify something as "A" that is not a letter - e.g. a diamond pattern on a toy she has, or the picture of a lightning bolt in a book. But pretty nearly all the time she is right.

So here I offer pictures of the walking baby, taking off after her alphabet book: