Return of the Kings...

Ha! I was trying to think of something that might make you laugh, but instead I laughed and then just rolled my eyes. You have to admit, though, that the LOTR trilogy is quite excellent, so it deserves a plug here and there...


So, what has happened in the last two and a half months, you might ask? Well, let's see... I now work evening shifts, which allow me to spend lots of fun time with L at home during the day. Unfortunately, she has developed this piercing shriek, which can emit from this tiny being with incredible force and absolutely no warning. I am continually astonished that every single window in our home is still intact after each and every one of these episodes. I have to admit, it also makes for quite an interesting impression on total strangers when we are out and about-- the last time I took her grocery shopping with me, we only got through about halfway through the store before the 5-alarm shriek occurred. I have since decided that we would work on these tantrums before she goes grocery shopping with me again. :]


L also started to walk on Christmas morning! She loves the Christmas tree lights and certain ornaments, so she loves to go and point at all of her favorites. She also has started crawling a little bit more, which is the most darling thing to watch. She still scooches around when she needs to get somewhere more quickly, but she will stand up and walk if we ask her to.



We also started working on climbing up stairs last week. The first day, we practiced going up 4 stairs maybe three times or so. The next day, she climbed up the entire staircase by herself! So now she is an expert stair-climber. Now Mommy just needs to have the guts to teach her how to descend the stairs...


We're still working on language skills. She says "mama" with no problems, and "ma" means milk. Her favorite food is "nana" (banana), so now we have to refer to it at non-banana times as "the yellow fruit" so we don't mislead her into thinking it's time to eat bananas. She can sign some animals, and say the sounds for a few, as well.



We've discovered that there are a couple animals that L is especially partial to. One is our friend's dog, Rascal. He is a very calm dog, and although he is rather large (especially in proportion to L), she always smiles when she sees him. The other one is my dad's cat, Loral. I refer to him as the funny orange cat because L just laughs and laughs when she sees him. Every time. I used to call him Psycho when my dad first adopted him because he (Loral, not my dad) had some seemingly-feral tendencies; I'm guessing that he spent a fair amount of his early life as a stray. But he has mellowed out a bit, and I now feel comfortable calling him the funny orange cat.


M is doing well. He is pretty funny, as L will attest to (she laughs even when he is blowing his nose-- it's hilarious to watch). He and I had our first date in a long time-- an evening in with pizza, watching an episode of the new Battlestar Galactica on DVD, and playing LEGO Star Wars. It was really nice.

Our home is doing okay, although we've had quite a few repairs lately, between the house and our cars. I unfortunately had to assume the title of maiden in distress when I hit a really deep pothole on the 201 freeway during a blizzard and had to call Highway Patrol because I was afraid of dying--everyone was zooming past me while I was trying to get the spare tire out of my car. I cannot believe how many people chose to honk and/or flash their headlights at me instead of moving into the other lane. Or at least slowing down.

In any case, the rim and the tire have been replaced, another tire patched, alignment worked on (but I need to go back). And then M's car also hit a pothole, so he had to get it patched, too.

But there is a silver lining in this-- I discovered that L loves watching the snow fall! When we were at the junkyard picking up the rim for my car, we were waiting, and so L was tired of waiting in one place. We went outside when it was snowing lightly, and she loved it! She even giggled when a snowflake landed on her nose...

My brother visited us during both December and this month. He loves to talk to L, and now whenever she sees him, she puts her head to the side so that he can kiss the top of her head. It's so cute. It has been so nice that he's been back home, and I'm glad that he and L are getting to know each other a little more...

I was just lamenting to myself that I don't have the camera with me to post some pictures, when I realized that I have a picture of us that was taken on Christmas day. Here it is:





I'll try and post more pictures soon. Of course, I've noticed that my "soon" always ends up as more like "later." Oh, well!

Have a great weekend, all!