Amazing!

I can't believe it, but I actually have a few minutes to post an entry today. Marissa is napping, Matt's out shopping for a grill...I finished cleaning two bathrooms and ate my lunch. I'm taking a break before laundry-mania begins. It's amazing what you can shove into a two-hour nap period...

Where do I start? It's been forever since I actually posted anything. Hmm...let's see. I can see by the previous post that the last time I wrote was when Marissa started walking. Now she's really good at it...a pro! She can go up stairs (crawling) and down (backwards crawling) but you have to watch her very carefully on the stairs. She tends to want to dive head-first...

We took her for a visit to Charleston, where we discovered, not surprisingly, that she loved playing in the sand. It wasn't too hard to keep it out of her mouth. It only went in there once when she mistook her shovel for a spoon. Honest mistake.

Her personality is really blossoming. She is shy at first...it takes her a little while to get comfortable in new situations with new people. But once she adjusts, her funny little self appears as if she's known you forever.

She loves to go out to restaurants with Matt and me. We always have a nice time and she seems to enjoy the change in scenery.

Keeping her occupied is more and more of a challenge. She likes to see new things, explore new challenges. She also loves to engage with you rather than play by herself (though she will play alone periodically).

She has started talking up a storm...she learns a few new words each day, it seems. She sometimes confuses their meaning but for the most part she gets it. Let's see...here is a sampling of her vocabulary: mama and dada, of course. More (which I think she also says when she wants to eat), all done, baby, bubble, book, water, bath, Elmo (she just learned this 2 days ago and it's so cute when she says it).

She understands lots of things. For instance, today we were in the kitchen and I told her "go get your Elmo book." She walked into the sunroom, found her Elmo book and brought it to me. Weird that she can understand so much yet not say it all yet...it's amazing how her brain works!! She also does a few really funny things. Every time I take her shoes off, I say "oh that's a stinky foot." So now when I ask her where her foot is, she puts her feet in the air and says "stinky stinky stinky." To me, this is hysterical. Once she knows what stinky means, she may be offended, though...

She also knows how to give kisses...she puts her lips in an interesting formation (not really puckered...more flat) and goes "mmmah". Love it.

Yesterday we went to our friend Shayla's dad's house (he has a really nice pool) and she got in the hot tub (don't worry, it was just warm, kinda like a bath). First I let her dip in her toes, then she pointed and kept trying to dive in so Matt and I got in with her. She loved it and oddly enough was more than happy to put her face in the water...which I thought she'd be afraid of.

She's moved up to the next room at school (daycare, whatever...it feels a little more like school now). Things in this room are much more structured. In the previous two rooms the schedules for eating, sleeping, etc, were very much parent/baby -led. In this room, they are much more scheduled. They all eat at the same time, sitting in their little chairs around little round tables (breakfast is 8:00-8:20, lunch is at 11:00, snacks are at 2:00 and 5:00). Nap is about 12:00-2:00. They have schedule story time (which, when I watch on camera, absolutely amazes me. How you can corral that many 1 year olds and get them to sit and pay attention is really beyond me). She sleeps on a mat now instead of a crib.
Mind you, this change took a bit of transition work...her old teachers started easing her into this schedule and into the new sleeping arrangement. Then, before she officially moved, she would spend a few hours a day in the new room to get used to it and the teachers. She has done really well with the transition. I just can't believe how big she's getting and how much more independent she seems to get every day! It's bittersweet, I guess. I'm really proud of everything she accomplishes, but a little wistful about my baby girl growing up!

Work has sort of been stressful lately. True to the economic times we're in, we have too few people and too much work. I will not complain too loudly, though, because I still have a job, good benefits, etc. Have traveled a bit recently which has been a little tough, but hopefully that's a fluke. Matt is still looking. He met with a recruiter last week and has revamped his resume. I have a good feeling that the next month will be a little better than the past couple in terms of getting some leads...and hopefully a job.

That's the update for now! I'll post some photos soon.

P.S. I'm sure I made my little angel sound perfect in the above post. Fear not, we do have our challenges...with her new independence that's developing also comes some pretty interesting behavior. Let's see: waiting until you're watching and then throwing food/cups on the floor. Pinching or hitting you when she wants your attention or you're trying to correct her. A lot of whining and crying the second she doesn't get her way. She is a baby, after all...:-)