Easter cookies

I made these cookies for easter, they are filled with almonds, sugar and orange water. A friend made these with family W, and had extra filling so I took some and made more cookies. I had fun decorating them, I haven't actually iced cookies for a long time! I had fun, and can't wait to do this with Amelia when she's able.

working

How it all adds up

We went in to Lance's office today so that I could do some work for him, and this is some of what Amelia did.

more about Sam

I know there's been a lot about Sam, but it's a BIG event when he comes over. Today, they were sharing a chip. Amelia was interested in the way he licked the chip, and sorf of flapped her tongue around too, (she didn't lick the chip) (but she did eat it). She also trys to imitate his meow, it's more a specific "ah" sound, but she's trying!

walking

I've been asked to put up a picture of her walking, so Molli, here is as good as an action shot as I could get. You'll get to see it up live and in person soon enough, and maybe haer the little hum she does sometimes when she's walking by herself.

This will come back to haunt us...

I'll take that gold card, Daddy

Sam-elia

Sam and Amelia and toes

Sam, the neighbor cats' people are away for spring break, and although there are people staying there and feeding him, he's been over here quite a bit the past few days. these pictures are from yesterday morning. Lance let Sam in while Amelia and I were still sleeping, (because he couldn't go skiing on sunday due to the mudslide, he and P went yesterday). Sam was happy to be with people and was purring and kneading and headbutting and when Amelia woke up, she just lay there moving her head side to side watching him. Finally she sat up and followed him around the bed, ocasionally petting him. I published these two pictures because of her toes. I don't know if she was doing it on purpose or knew that those were Sam's toes she was so interested in, but as she watched him knead, she was flexing her little toes too.

We went over to family W's house this morning where there was lots of activity by our standards and Amelia had so much fun watching the older children wrestle and tickle and do whatever they were doing. she fell asleep on the five minute ride home, and is now sleeping and Sam is here again, sleeping about a foot away.

more toes 

walking for real

Amelia started walking with intention today. First, we were in the tire shop (Lance had a flat tire and had to get new ones) and as we were waiting, Lance walked with Amelia, then she took about 6 steps on her own, and she noticed herself doing it. The other times she's taken 3 or 4 steps, she hasn't really noticed that she was doing it. Then this evening, we were having dinner in the living room, and Amelia walked to Lance from beside me. She was so pleased. Then she walked back to me with a huge grin and sort of huffing with pleasure and excitement. She kept trying to go back and forth. She was in such a rush and so excited that she often fell, but kept trying. She also, at one point, got close to standing from a seated position, from her three pointed seating position.

these pictures speak for themselves...

cooking

cleaning

Learning

The thing that I loved about tutoring math was watching someone push through something that they really didn't understand and get that lightbulb 'aha' moment. Watching Amelia learn about the world around her is similar except it seems to me that the lightbulb is always on. Maybe once or twice a day she'll give a squawk of frustration, but then she'll try another tack and usually get whatever she was working on.

Right now, she is teaching herself to stack one block on top of another and everytime she gets it, she turns to me with a huge grin on her face, laughing and clapping. One of my sincerest wishes for her is that she'll always have this much fun learning and discovering. I know that it may not always be so intense, but, for example, I hope that when she's older she can approach subjects that are hard for her not with dread, but with excitement for the challenge and with the anticipation of those 'aha' moments.

yet another cold

chipmunk cheeks

This is Amelia enjoying her sweet potatoes, crackers and almond butter last night. Then, all night she had (and, by extension, I had) a restless night. She's got a sore throat and possibly a new bout of the sniffles. It's hard to tell when they come back-to-back. If she weren't so cheerful and robust through it all, I'd think she was a sickly child...On the plus side, she's able to basically wipe her own nose now, now if we could teach her to change her own diapers.

rock n'roll

Just a quick post to show how Amelia spent some time last night. I have to go now, she's ready for bath n'bed.

I'm back to explain this picture a litte more. Lance just got an iPod, and we hooked it up to my radio and spent some time dancing, snapping and clapping. Amelia also very quickly figured out the volume button.

yeah for dirt!

It's another beautiful day on the West Coast, perfect for getting outside and mucking around in the dirt. I just love spending time with Amelia, watching her learn and explore. This morning she put her head through the step again (see below ) and Lance helped her/showed her how to get through by putting her leg up on the step and pulling her body through sideways (she's done this once before on the bottom step). He only did it once with her, but after he left, she went back and managed to get her leg up all by herself. I thought she wouldn't be quite tall enough yet, but she did it. She did need a bit of help for the rest, but I'm sure she'll get that quickly too.
She still hasn't discovered the joys of walking, she can do a few steps at a time, but I think she'd just rather get to her destination her way for now. Occasionally she's enjoyed walking with one or both of us holding her hands. I'm glad she's taking her time, going by her own schedule. Again, it's just fun to watch her figure it all out.

Scrapes Happen

scrapes happen
While my attention was elsewhere today at the daycare, Amelia managed to fall onto some gravel. She fell a distance of less than a foot, which is surprising because she easily manages heights twice that. But it was toward the end of the morning and she gets clumsy when she's tired, (like all of us). Otherwise, she had tons of fun playing outside in the sand, gravel and grass. I found out that my friend is closing her daycare at the end of May for various reasons, so I will have to see what other options there are for playgroups. Amelia just loves it and I think it's very beneficial fo her to be around children of other ages, so we'll see.

not for the squeamish

Amelia's got another cold, poor thing. She bears them with mostly good humour, better than I would. But she does get a runny nose. When I hear her smacking her lips or, heaven forbid, sneeze I know to come running with a Kleenex before she takes her chubby little fist and rubs it all over her face and in her eyes...

Good-bye, mighty tree

One year and eighty-four

This eighty-four year old tree in the front yard was cut down yesterday and this morning. It's sad, but it was time. The (large) branches were brittle and the tree had been struck by lightning a few years back. This was how we spent most of yesterday, listening to chainsaws and watching the progress.

A clean house for $7.50

We've got a nine year old friend, (I used to look after her when she was 1!), and today was the second time I've had her over to play with Amelia whaile I clean. I pay her babysitting wages, $5.00/hour, and she and Amelia play while I whiz around and clean. It works wonderfully! She plays with Amelia well, Amelia has fun and I get that nice feeling of accomplishment. It's nice too, getting so much done in a short period of time. Now I feel that I can do whatever I want this afternoon with a clear consience. If it hadn't been raining, I'd take Amelia to the park and let her crawl around. As it is, I guess we'll go for a walk to get fresh air then do our playing inside.