The Beach!

We're visiting Papa in Florida and today he took me to the beach. Now I've been to "the beach" before, but this was nothing like that.


At first, I wasn't so sure about the sand. Daddy set me down and I demanded to be picked back up as soon as my feet hit that funny stuff.


Then everybody else seemed to be having so much fun, I thought I'd give it another shot. Before too long, I was running around, covered in sand, making "snowballs," and wading in frigid water.





Thanks, Papa!

Love,
Janie

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Dancing Queen

Check out my moves!



[Subscribers, please click through to view the video. Warning, this may be a video only a grandparent could love.]

Sixteen Months Old!

Well, my darling, you're not getting any younger, so I'd better write this post already! I will attempt to combine your 15- and 16-month posts, which will hardly do justice to all the cute phases you've been going through lately. But I have a really good excuse. In approximately six months, you will be the proud owner of a baby brother or sister. That's right, we're having another baby! And when you're having a baby (as you may someday discover), at least at first you're really tired. Apparently too tired to update the baby blog.


So what have you been up to for the last two months? We've celebrated Thanksgiving and Christmas with many of our wonderful friends and family. We visited Auntie ZaZa and Uncle Josh at their beautiful new house in Michigan. We've been discovering all the indoor delights Chicago has to offer, like the Field Museum, the Exploratorium, the Garfield Park Conservatory, and um, our friends' houses. We got into the holiday spirit by decorating the house, decorating cookies, and wrapping and unwrapping lots of presents.


You are still almost perennially cheerful and ready to play. Many things I read about this age talk about how to manage tantrums, but thankfully so far we've been spared. You are definitely a toddler, though. You seem to never stop moving, and prefer your almost-run to walking any day. And you are always testing limits. Several times a day, you walk up to a radiator and say "hot!" and then wait to see what I'll do. Same with Mommy's books, the knobs on the stove, Mayday's bowls, and so on. You wait for the reminder -- really an agreement with your own reminder -- then gleefully seek out something new to explore. (Seen below with your partner in crime Polly.)


Other things you've been into lately:

• Counting. You can count to 7, some days to 10, as long as no one cares about 8 or 9.
  
• Naming everything. Especially noses. Noses are apparently fascinating (which is not surprising considering your genes).
• Flushing the toilet. Really, who doesn't think this is fun?
• Cars and trucks. Forget gender stereotypes. You like to vroom, vroom.
• That said... your tutu. Oh my, you are fabulous.
• Your play kitchen, play food, and grocery cart. You must've been awfully good this year.

• Real food of any kind, especially sweet potatoes, bananas, avocados, and cheese. This comes as no surprise to anyone who's seen you (or picked you up) lately.
• Music. You demand music pretty much all the time, and you boogie down. We discovered recently that you really like jazz. You cool cat.
  
• Politeness. This is too funny. We've started prompting you to say please and thank you, and you do it with great gusto. "More grapes, Jane?" "Yes, PLEASE!"
• Affection. If you see something you like, you want to hug it. You also tell Daddy and me "I love you" all the time, which becomes no less thrilling with repetition.

You lovely, lovely girl. Happy monthday, my sweet Jane.

Love,
Mommy

The video you've been waiting for

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!