She keeps on going, and going, and going...

Leah has two things in common with the Energizer Bunny. First, she bangs out a good beat. Not on a drum but on the side of the tub.  Really.  The left hand has one beat and the right is doing something different.  She's a natural drummer.  

Second, she never stops moving.  NEVER. We have been taking walks almost every evening.  Leah is walking almost the entire distance, even up the big hill to get back home.  She's enjoying the neighborhood dogs, the cars, the "baby trees."  Then, when we all get home, the dogs collapse, mom and dad collapse, and Leah finds something else to do.  This is what happens when expectant mothers drink caffeine.

A side note: Leah turned 17 today (months, that is).   Her favorite word right now is "car."  This can't be a good omen for when she becomes a teenager.  

[Posted by Dan] I have to say this now. Its in the rules.

Baryshnikov, Eat Your Heart Out.

Leah has learned the fine art of dancing.  While she's not quite New York Ballet ready, she is plenty ready for MTV Spring Break. Her best move is the bum-shaker.  In fact, its her only move. But its cute, and she enjoys it. 

Also, we recently introduced Leah to Trix cereal.  Trix in turn introduced her to artificial food coloring.  Artificial food coloring has kindly, in turn introduced mom and dad to technicolor poop.  Its like a demented circle of life starting with a silly rabbit and ending with a disturbed parent.

Lastly, for the grandparents, you may have to listen closely for the subtle variations, but Leah knows some new sounds.  Such as "piggy", "vacuum", "cow", "monkey", and she is learning to say "car".  

(Posted by Dan)

Whoops!

So sorry for the lack of updates! Life is always busy with a one year old. ;)

Leah's last molar finally cut through the gum yesterday. She's been extra whiny and woke up a few times very early Tuesday morning, most likely in pain. I do not envy our sitter, Sarah, this week - she said it's been a teething frenzy with almost all the little ones she watches. Yikes!

Leah continues to love going to Sarah's house everyday. A couple big things both Sarah and I have noticed in the past few weeks are: Leah no longer needs to carry her Pooh Bear with her everywhere she goes (we haven't brought him to Sarah's house all week!) and she very rarely sucks on her fingers anymore. She obviously feels so much more secure and confident, and I couldn't be happier about that.

Car rides are becoming much more intolerable, however. Leah's so busy and loves to be on-the-go. I think she dislikes being strapped in for any length of time. Some days I can distract her with music, other days it's just a constant whine-fest. :P

Thanks to a set of Sesame Street board books from Grammy, Leah is beginning to learn the various characters. She's known Grover and Elmo for some time and she clearly likes Big Bird and Bert. The funniest one is Cookie Monster... whenever she sees him, she smacks her gums and makes a "yum yum" sound. I love it!

Bookworm

Within the last week or two, Leah has become very interested in books. She likes to turn the pages, look at the pictures, and point out some of the characters or objects she knows (Elmo, Grover, ball, doggie, etc.). One of the sweetest things about this new interest is just a couple days ago, she brought me a book and then proceeded to sit right in front of me so we could look at it together. LOVED that! :) The only downside is sometimes she wants you to look through the same book over and over and over again. Ha.

Yesterday, I bought Leah her first "big girl" toothbrush! It's yellow and has 3 Sesame Street characters on it. I also picked up some toddler toothpaste. We had been using some baby Orajel toothpaste and this little gummy brush, but I thought we were well overdue to retire that and move up. Leah's funny though, when I let her hold the toothbrush last night to check it out, she started brushing her hair with it! It does look like a mini version of her hair brush so she had the right idea. ;)

No More Tears

Leah does not cry at morning dropoff anymore! She went ALL last week, as well as today, without shedding one single tear when either Dan or I (or both of us) have said goodbye and left Sarah's house. She might whine for a minute, because she prefers that we don't leave, but that's it. I am over the moon! It only took two weeks of staying with Sarah to accomplish what we couldn't do in a year at the daycare center. Amazing. :D

So, I have this Tigger hand-puppet that I passed along to Leah. One day last week, I put Tigger on my hand and sang (in a silly voice) "The Most Wonderful Thing About Tiggers". Not only does she crack up when I do this, but she's started bringing me the Tigger puppet. As I put him on my hand, she bounces and "sings" because she knows what's coming. It is too cute!

I took a couple videos yesterday, as well as a bunch of pictures (those of you on Facebook may have seen the pics), so I'll try to get those out tonight or tomorrow.

The Distinguished Era

This is Leah's new look... standing or walking with her hands behind her back, looking very prim and proper. Thus, the "distinguished" era. :)

Leah had her 15 month checkup this past week. She weighs 23.4 lbs and is almost 31 inches tall. She's right on track developmentally. Only two vaccines this time around, but of course she still wailed. :(  Thankfully, up until the shots, she was so much more cheerful during her checkup. I don't know if she "forgot" about the upcoming vaccines or she's getting over her stranger anxiety or if it has to do with her age. But wow, she was a little ham! Walking and babbling all over the waiting room, waving at various people, and she even played peek-a-boo with her doctor. So cute.

And for the first time ever at the doc's office, when we were called back to the exam room, Leah held my hand and walked back there with me! I didn't carry her. Definitely not my baby anymore; she's a big girl now!

In just the last few days, Leah has become a pro at climbing the deck stairs on her hands & knees. She's getting faster and faster! Last night, she also walked the entire length of our driveway. For those of you who have visited us, you know how long that walk is, especially for little feet! She's very, very active.

Leah is enjoying getting her groove on. She dances more and more whenever she hears music from a toy. :) And the girl's got rhythm - you should see her drum TWO different beats at the same time!

Everything is still going extremely well with her new caregiver, Sarah. Leah seems so happy, pleasant, and confident. We are overjoyed!

I think those are the highlights for this week. I'll try to stay more up-to-date. ;)

Childcare Success!

Ooops, been awhile since an update! Since I last wrote, Leah had her last day at the daycare center (July 2) and began staying with her new caregiver, Sarah this past Monday. WOW. This has already got to be one of the best decisions we've ever made.

When we arrived at Sarah's on Monday morning, Leah was babbling up a storm and was very excited by all the toys in the playroom. It was awesome. She started to cry as Dan & I got up to leave, which we expected, but I received an email at work from Sarah just before 9am that said by the time she had picked up Leah and went to lock the door, Leah had stopped crying. She ate all her breakfast, was talking and toddling around the playroom, and was doing great! I was ecstatic. I was so appreciative of the email update and I felt incredibly relaxed for the rest of the day.

When we picked her up on Monday, Dan & I were amazed. When Leah saw us, she smiled and then turned around and walked away, babbling the whole time! I've never seen her so happy upon pick-up. We were THRILLED.

Leah has since learned that going to Sarah's in the morning means that Dan & I are going to leave, so she's been a little more clingy the past two days. But honestly, it's still not as bad as daycare. She's not full out wailing. And we can hear her start to quiet down by the time we leave. This is going to be SO much healthier for her in the long run, and Dan & I are very satisfied with our decision already. Thank goodness!