Delanie and Emily

During our trip to Virginia over Mother's Day weekend, Delanie met her new cousin (or 2nd cousin?) Emily, who is 3 months old. She was fascinated with Emily, and spent much of the evening checking her out. Her is a clip of Delanie and Emily sitting together as Delanie discovers that Emily also has toes!

Delanie Is On The Move!

Here is a clip of Delanie walking. She decided to finally walk about two weeks ago, and it is amazing to see how quickly she is gaining balance and strength, not to mention confidence! She rarely crawls at this point!

More fun!

Riding in a tiny wagon/sand toy around Great Grandma's living room is only fun for two minutes - then I realize that my bum is sore...

Chocolate ice cream is a great way to learn how to use a spoon!

Unlike Mommy and Daddy, I was blessed with LONG legs! Here I am pushing my stroller around the park!

Girls Just Wanna Have Fun!

Washing the long, curly hair can be fun!

I love playing in the sand at the playground!

Here I am enjoying the swings, wheee!

Making razzberries on the glass is fun!

Delanie Loves Dogs!

Delanie rang in her 13 month mark with some doggy fun! The dogs have really been taking to Delanie, although it might have something to do with the banana remnants on her hands. Even Kona, who has had some personal training sessions to deal with kid-induced anxiety, is warming up to Delanie, screeches and all.

This week, Delanie has started going to her daycare full time. I am working every day in May, to assist with end-of-year testing. Delanie loves her school, but refuses to nap there. We think she just has too much going on, and she is so observant, she is not one to sleep in a corner while everything is going on around her. Seeing as she was getting almost 3 hours worth of naps at home, it will be an interesting adjustment. Her teacher said that on Wednesday, she laid in her cot for an hour, not sleeping, but just watching.

Delanie is starting to make more progress with walking. Much to her parents' dismay, she will not let one parent let go so she can walk slowly into the arms of the other parent,
like we see in movies. Instead, she waits until both parents have backs turned to her, and walks 10-12 steps by herself. When her parents turn around and clap and attempt to reinforce her behavior, she proceeds to drop to her bottom and begin crawling. Her teachers at school are amazed that she has been able to go from sitting to crouching to standing without holding onto something for about a month now, yet she isn't walking. We will continue silently cheering her on as we look over our shoulder to see her walk.

The other huge area of growth for Delanie is her HAIR! I mean, what are we supposed to do with it at this stage? I have cut the bangs once, but its so hard to tell what is considered "bangs." The back of her head is a huge mass of beautiful curls - when she wakes up the curls are sticking straight up! We are currently accepting any and all suggestions as to what to do with her beautiful, but difficult, hair! Otherwise, she will be going to the salon with me next time.

'Tis the season to be...born?

This Saturday marks the fifth straight birthday party that we have attended (or thrown). What is it about the spring? Or should I say, what is it about the summer prior?

Here are some pics of Delanie at various parties! I hope she doesn't think chocolate cake is a permanent weekend ritual!

When Daddy's Away, The Baby Will Play!!

Dave has been out of town this week, so Delanie and I have been spending lots and lots of time together. And she is keeping me very busy! If I don't lose two pounds this week, I'll be surprised! As I mentioned in an earlier post, Delanie is much taller than peers at 31.5 inches. And, I learned today, this is just tall enough to grab pans on the stove. Developmentally, she is having such a hard time with her boundaries, but given her size, she is forced to learn some lessons earlier than other 1 year olds.

Maybe Delanie decided that playtime with Mommy was so much fun that she'd just skip her nap today, or maybe it wasn't that intentional (or malicious!). But, as advanced as she may be, she clearly has not developed her sense of empathy, or whe would have taken one look at my tired eyes and gone right to sleep! Instead, she decided to circle around and around the dog bowl, occasionally dipping one foot in the water. Of course, I didn't realize until she was wet up to her knee.


I thought I'd share these pics of Delanie, with her butt stuck in the dog bowl! The dog bowl has been quite a temptation for this girl, both when it is full of food and empty. We have tried to keep Delanie away from the dog bowls, to prevent any possession/jealousy issues with the dogs. So, when I turned around while making dinner to see her literally stuck in the bowl, giggling away, I had to laugh!



Daddy, your silly willy Laniebug misses you lots! xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo