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Hooray for me!



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Random Fall Cuteness

With buddy Owen from across the street, apparently plotting something naughty.


Riding Jake's awesome John Deere (thanks, Jake!).


Checking out the fall color on Dakin Street.


At North Park Village Nature Center (Daddy's shoulders are the best spot for deer-spotting).

Fourteen Months Old!

Oh my goodness. You are just a force, my darling. You just want to go, go, go all the time these days. You can actually walk now, it's just that you're a pretty cautious baby and you value efficiency, so you often turn to crawling. I say by Thanksgiving you'll be a pretty independent walker. Just in time to show off to the relatives. It's so exciting!


When you're not ambulating, you are systematically and methodically ransacking everything in the house. Can ransacking be systematic and methodical? Anyway, you make it seem so. You love manipulating things -- opening and closing doors, putting on and removing lids, and filling boxes and dumping them. You pull out every book and every toy every day.


You're still really chatty, and picking up new words all the time. Your new favorite seems to be "no," not surprisingly. A typical exchange: "Are you all done?" "No!" "Do you want more food?" "No!" You do occasionally throw in a "yes," just to keep us on our toes. So far we still find this pretty entertaining.


We're relishing the beautiful fall as much as possible, and we've been able to get out almost every day. We don't let cold weather stop us, but rain is kind of a bummer. Time is just flying by, and you're becoming more interesting and challenging and wonderful every day. I know I get sappy on you a lot, but it is really a privilege to watch you grow, my sweet Jane.


Love,
Mommy

Halloween

Trick or treat!

Austin City Limits 2009

Last month we flew to Austin to see Auntie Corrie and Uncle Joe, and take in some awesome music at the Austin City Limits music festival. Grandpa and his friend Sally, and Aunt Sarah and Uncle Josh came, too, so it was a big party! Some highlights...

First flight! Jane slept most of the time both ways. Good baby.


Playing with Grandpa at Auntie Corrie's house.


Dancing with Auntie Sarah at the festival.


With Daddy and Uncle Josh.


Most importantly (but unfortunately not photographed!), Jane spent most of her time playing with Auntie Corrie so we could hang out at the festival. Thanks, Corrie!

Thanks, Polly!

My parents were apparently unswayed by my request for my own walker. They just started telling me stories about walking to school in the snow, or something like that. They're so weird.

Fortunately, Polly saved the day and loaned me hers. Thanks, Polly!



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Thirteen Months Old!

That's a bit of a stretch, I know. You'll be 14 months old next week! But who's counting?

It has been an awesome (and very busy) month or two, my darling. You are still going to see Katie and Logan and Brody the dog twice a week while I go to work, and you have so much fun with them. Whenever we drive somewhere in the morning, you shout out their names all excited because you think we're going there. I'm just so happy you're happy there, because I really like my job, too.


You are talking a mile a minute these days. We have given up on keeping track of all the words you can say... there are just so many, and you learn new ones every day. You're a great mimic, and once we tell you what something is called, you usually remember. The other day, you were crawling around the kitchen while I was cooking. You pulled up to hug my legs and said "love you, love you, love you." It was so thrilling, and I will always remember that moment.


You are getting sooooo close to walking. You push everything around as if it's your personal walker. Your good friend Polly was kind enough to loan you her alligator walker and now you "go, go, go" all over the house. You can stand independently for several seconds at a time, and today you took your first tentative step toward me before falling down. That's right, people, Jane's first step! It happened in music class, and you were quite pleased with yourself. It was so exciting!


I am enjoying my days with you now more than ever. You are just so much fun! Your daddy recently pointed out that since you're one, we only get to do this seventeen more times. I'm sure we'll look back at that and laugh in twelve years or so, but when he said that I was so sad. Life with you is a procession of ordinary delights (borrowing from a Jean Thompson short story here) that never seem ordinary to me, and I can't imagine anything else.


Love,
Mommy

Go, go, go!

Thank you, thank you, Auntie Corrie for finding such an awesome toy for me to play with while in Austin. This is my new absolute favorite thing to do. Go, go, go!




PS: Mommy and Daddy, if you don't buy me one of these nifty things immediately, that's fine. I'll just get around using my little wooden chairs, which are not nearly so safe and well-weighted for such activity. But that's okay. Really.

Twelve Months Old!

A week or so ago, you were kind of cranky. I was contemplating what could be making you upset... could it be the transition to child care? the tooth you were cutting? that you were feeling sniffly? the attempts at weaning? the fact that I was leaving you for significant periods of time for the first time in your life? Or perhaps you were just cranky because everything was changing all at once!?!


Sooo... child care? That's right, Mommy got a job. The baby sabbatical has come to an end, but only two days a week. You go play with Logan and his mom Katie on Tuesdays and Thursdays now. I was so anxious about leaving you, but so far, you have been the picture of resilience. You seem to be having a great time, and Katie is wonderful. I really like my new job, and I miss you so much, but the reunions are so much fun!


So what are you up to these days? Things you're really into now:

• Cruising, pulling up, and climbing. You really enjoy chasing balls and pulling down everything you can reach. Independent walking is probably still a ways off, which is totally fine with me.
  
• Talking. You've got a serious vocabulary going, and you want to know what everything is called. Usually so you can demand it (we have to hide the bananas these days).
  
• Eating. A lot. Much of your talking has to do with getting more food ("Mo, mama, mo!!")
• Hugging. You like to hold your stuffed animals while exclaiming "hug!"
• Playing jokes. You play possum on our bed, peek-a-boo, and you hold out toys and food as if to share it, only to yank it away at the last minute, giggling. Funny girl!
  
• Reading books. Especially if there are noises you can anticipate and yell out. Hug, The Napping House, and Moo Baa Lalala are favorites. You often demand "Mo!" stories before bed.

If it sounds like you have a lot of demands these days, well, you do. You seem to desperately NEED things that you see, and you're getting good at communicating those needs. This new willful side of your personality is entertaining and impressive. That crankiness was apparently due to a nasty little virus, and now that you're feeling better, you're back to typical Jane -- cheerful, playful, funny, and sweet. Thank goodness.


Toddlerhood, here we come!

Love,
Mommy

Lake Dunmore is the place for me...

Mom, Daddy, and I recently took a road trip to Mommy's happy place: my great-grandparents' cottage at Lake Dunmore, Vermont. We drove about 16 hours each way to get there, and got to spend a whole week with Grandma Kyra and Grandpa Bob, Aunt Sarah and Uncle Josh, cousin Lorraine, great Uncle Harry and Aunt Susan, cousin Margaret, and my canine cousins Mattie and Zoe. It was a very full, very fun trip!


My favorite things to do at Lake Dunmore were swimming in the lake, playing Grandpa's digital piano, climbing up the step between the porch and the living room, and being the center of attention pretty much all the time. We also went out in the rowboat, saw lots of cool birds -- did you know that ducks aren't yellow? Crazy! -- and braved the mosquitoes for a hike up the Cascades.



I also had several "firsts" at the cottage: standing independently, walking with support, cruising on furniture, and climbing up a step. Not to mention this was my first family vacation, first overnight in a carseat, first night in a hotel, and my first (dozen) mosquito bites. It was a wonderful trip, and I came back a changed baby. When can we go back?



[Thanks to Grandma and Margaret for the great photos!]

New Trick

Check me out!

Happy birthday to me, happy birthday to me

[More to come, I promise.]

Grand Aunt Ann

I was so excited to meet my Aunt Ann recently. She was in town for a conference, and made time to play with me. We had such a lovely time!

Green City Market

We have been going to the Green City Market every Wednesday for a while now. Mommy buys food, I eat it, and I get to play with my friends. Recently, we met up with the "other" Jane, who is just two weeks younger than me. Naturally, I tried to steal her hat.


We got to see Sam there yesterday, and I'm really hoping his mommy got better pictures than mine did.

What are we going to do on Wednesdays when it gets cold? More importantly, where else can I get such yummy food?!?

Fun in the sun, take two

I am SO over the baby pool. We went to the beach last week, and it was awesome!

Hard at work

Enjoying an après-beach snack with Mommy


When can we go again?

Call for Humor

This photo demands a clever caption, does it not? First one to guess what was running through my head gets my voice on their home answering machine!

[The editors apologize deeply for their extreme lack of creativity, and for introducing their child to NPR.]

Eleven Months Old!

Hello, my darling! It's been a great month, as usual. Summer is finally in full swing here in Chicago, and we've been making the most of it. In the last week alone, we've been to the farmers' market, the beach, several parks, and swimming in the backyard. All this excitement has been really wearing you out -- you've been taking two good naps a day lately. Good baby.


Having finally mastered crawling around 10 months, you're getting around readily these days. Your explorations are getting more ambitious, and you're starting to pull up on things. Today, you figured out how to pull out your bottom dresser drawer, and then you tried to pull up on it. So that's why people buy those baby-safe dressers!


You love to be free to roam the floor, crawling around until you find something of interest, and sitting down for a serious examination of all its properties. You want to know what everything is called -- you're a great mimic, and you're picking up new words like crazy. Today, you used the words "car" and "flower" for the first time, and you demanded "bubble" in your bath (which I happily obliged). You're really into new textures and sensations at the moment, so we've been finger painting, playing in the sand, digging in the garden, whirling silk scarves, pouring cornmeal... you take your 'work' very seriously.


You are taking life by storm these days. I can't put you down on your back for a second before you're off and running again, probably looking over your shoulder to make sure I'm chasing you. It is just so much fun!



Love,
Mommy

Fun in the sun

My friend Katie from down the block came over yesterday to play in the baby pool. So fun!


Afterward, we got to sample herbs from the garden. When Mommy wasn't looking, I grabbed a fistful of dirt and shoved it in my mouth. Yum!

Jane's Everest

Jane tried over and over to climb into this tunnel, which has maybe an 8" lip. I'm sure Sir Edmund Hillary would be very impressed (by the effort, anyway).

Auntie Corrie, come back!

My wonderful Auntie Corrie came from Austin, TX to visit me for two whole weeks. We had so much fun! A few highlights from her visit...

We played on the porch swing


We saw a bear at the zoo


And I enjoyed the present she got me (the puzzle is very nice, too)


Now I don't get to see her again until October? You gotta be kidding me! I miss you, Auntie Corrie!

Love,
Janie

Take me out to the ball game...

I went to my first baseball game last weekend! Appropriately, it was Cubs vs. Cardinals. Cubs won!



I tried to remain neutral in the war between my parents, but my Dad informed me I was wearing 80's Cardinals colors. Sheesh.

Locomotion, Take Two

Finally, I have found a more efficient way of getting around. Watch out world, here I come!



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Ten Months Old!

Hello, my little one. You have had a banner month! As I write this, your Auntie Corrie has been staying with us for about two weeks, and you've been having such fun with her. You've also been developing gross motor skills like crazy. Summer is in full swing, and we have been playing outside a lot and going on lots of fieldtrips, all while trying to preserve some semblance of a nap schedule.

The gross motor skills development has been quite dramatic this month. You can now crawl with your tummy off the ground, go from sitting to crawling and vice versa, and you're starting to cruise a tiny bit and try to pull up. You can also sit down from a standing position, usually without falling over. You are still cautious, but becoming more bold in your explorations with your new-found skills. No object goes unturned, and no shoe or dog hair goes untasted, much to my great joy.


Due to all of this excitement, you've become somewhat resistant to napping. You prefer to move about in your crib until you're stuck, and then cry for help. When you're tired enough, you fall asleep in some pretty ridiculous positions (say, sideways in your crib, with your legs up on the side). You seem to need about 1.5 naps a day now, so I imagine we'll be down to one before too long.

You are such a social butterfly these days. You love going new places and meeting new people. You are especially fascinated by watching older children. This includes your friends Polly and Sam, who can now both walk! You go eagerly to lots of people other than me and Daddy now, and get really excited when your favorite people appear. You stayed with Aunt Corrie for a full day, and hardly seemed to notice I was gone.


You are becoming quite the chatterbox. Your regular vocabulary includes mama (which also seems to mean hungry), dada (still also generally a joyous noise), ball, baby, and dog. You are using gestures a bit more to indicate what you want, and you're starting to wave a bit more consistently. You're starting to show some frustration at your inability to express yourself, so it might be time to put forth a bit of effort into sign language.


Eating is still a favorite activity, and you will eat just about anything. I used to carefully rinse the seasoning off of the food we eat, as it tends to contain lots of chili powder, cumin, and the like. I've stopped, though, because you gobble up spicy foods with as much eagerness as anything else. You're also really enjoying the many berries we've been picking up at the farmers' market -- fruit is the closest thing to candy you know, and you just can't get enough.


I never know how to wrap these things up. I could go on and on about how marvelous you are and how madly in love with you I am, but we don't want to bore or nauseate the readers, do we? You just bring more joy to me and Daddy every day, and we are enthralled with the little person you're becoming. 'Nuff said.

Love,
Mommy

Skinny Dipping

Does it count if I have to wear a hat?

Chillin'

Just trying to stay cool here, folks. Mommy and Daddy are going to buy me my very own A/C unit, but until then I will nap in the pack 'n play in their room, thank you very much.

And yes, I know my diaper's falling off.

Shampoo Bananaland

For those of you not in the know, that's Townie for Champaign-Urbana. What is my mother teaching me, you ask? Good question.

Anyway, we went down to Champaign-Urbana last weekend for a whirlwind trip. First, we got to celebrate Derek and Mia getting married. It was a lovely wedding (though I didn't get to go to the reception). We are so happy for them! I'm embarrassed to admit that my parents got no photos of the beautiful bride and groom -- just me, as usual, and my new friend (and Sam's cousin!) Amaia.


The next day was Father's Day, which found me conveniently in the same town as both of my grandpas, and of course my Daddy. Grandpa Bob sang to me, and we went out for pizza with Grandpa Steve. And yes, it is my new favorite food.


Finally, we raced back to Chicago to score some fun time with Calder, who was visiting from Los Angeles. I'm so happy I finally got to meet him!