First deliberate steps!

A took her first deliberate steps today. Two sideways, then two forward. She was trying to get to the cookie I was eating. Good girl. :)

She hasn't shown much interest in replicating the feat, although she's doing a lot more freestanding. I don't think she's going to be charging around the house any time soon, but she's making progress.

Quick house pics

We finally decided on a color for the dining room and got a first coat up. Getting that done really helps the main living area feel comfortable and like it's ours.

Here's a few quick pictures showing the dining room and the coordination between the brown dining room and the blue living room. It was a bit tricky to paint; the dining room is surrounded on two sides by arches. We decided to paint the backside of the arches, which took some delicate work since the edges are rounded.

She stood up!

So A's in the living room, tearing up various newspapers and magazines again. I turn away to talk to JJ, then turn back. I find A unsupported, halfway from a squat to free-standing, and as I watch, she gets fully upright!

Of course, I then realize that she's standing on slippery paper on a tile floor, with a stone mantle a foot behind her. So I get JJ's attention and scoot as fast as I can over to her to get a hand behind her without scaring her.

She stands up, tears some more paper, and gently sits back down.

Wow!

It was an odd way to stand up, though. She didn't push up with her arms, she just squatted and pushed herself up. That takes some really great balance!

Photo house progress update

We're about 1/3 of the way done with the home improvements, I'd say. A.'s room, the playroom, and the living room have paint. We're close to deciding on the dining room paint color and the carpet. All the ugly light fixtures have been replaced, and most of the exterior door locks have been changed. What remains is a bunch more painting, replacing the interior door handles, putting knobs and pulls on the cabinets, having the carpet installed, putting up blinds and/or curtains, and some exterior work.

We're still aiming for mid-April for our moving date. Hoping for earlier, but not expecting it. It's hard to get things done with a very attention-demanding 10 month old. Basically, one person can work at a time, while the other handles A. Even then, the working person ends up being less productive than they might otherwise be. JJ took A. for a daddy-daughter day today to give me some uninterrupted house time, and I made a decent dent in the to-do list.

Here's the living room, painted a cloudy blue.



This is our attempt to find a warm, appetizing brown for the dining room. It's not easy.


Here's the playroom, with two coats of a light and cheery yellow.


And finally, A.'s room, a smokey purple.


If you like that purple, have I got a deal for you! I am authorized to offer you, at a very good price, 2 gallons of Ash Grove color paint. You see, we have extra. That was the first room we painted. I sent JJ for the paint, and suggested that he ask the helpful sales associates how much we'd need. Instead, he took the initiative and read the paint bucket to find how much area it covered. He then figured that her room was about 10 by 12, the ceilings were 8 feet high... 10 times 12 times 8... we needed three gallons. Which would be true, if we wanted to paint every air molecule in her room purple. Instead, just the walls are purple, and we have plenty of extra paint.

Neighbors

We went to work on the house again today (surprise -- what day don't we work on the house?) and met our neighbors on either side. To the west there's a couple with two kids, 5 and 3, and to the east there's a couple with a 9 year old daughter. They described the other people living around us, some retirees but mostly families with young kids (3-9 years old). Unfortunately, they didn't seem to know of any kids around a year old. Seems like most of the kid-having happened in a bunch a few years ago. Guess A. will just have to learn to play with older kids.

The neighbors also told us about the older couple who owns the "ranchette" behind our houses. That's where the two cows live. Apparently the couple is very nice and love kids (theirs are grown and gone). They're also pretty country, and spend a number of days shooting (at their range, at skeet, at squirrels and birds). Doesn't bother us -- it's better than the shooting at people that happened around our apartment in Hayward.

We found out some interesting information about the house that we bought. We'd figured that it was a rental, since the owners live in Washington state and bought two houses in the area around the same time. In fact it was a rental, and had been since it was built (through two previous owners). We'd figured that the renters had had a dog, what with the smell. Turns out that they had at least 3 dogs, and at some points as many as 5. Plus some cats. The driveway was full of cars, many of them not running. The HOA had considered taking them to court for violations of the neighborhood agreements, but never worked up to it.

So, as you can imagine, our arrival in the neighborhood is most welcome. Ours was the troublesome house, and the people around us are very happy to have a family of homeowners settling in.

I keep getting more and more pleased with the neighborhood. The people we've met have been great, and the number of kids around is fabulous. I can't believe we got so lucky as to get this house.

Awesome eater

A. just gobbled up/devoured/inhaled our dinner of homemade Tom Ka Gai. She ate an uncounted number of pieces of JJ's fake chicken and my real chicken, as well as mushrooms from JJ's soup and her own piece of toast spread with pureed squash.

It's a sophisticated taste, a bit sour and a bit spicy -- not exactly the sort of thing you find in jarred baby food. It's amazing how much she seemed to enjoy it! She kept going back for as many pieces as we put on her tray.

As though that wasn't enough food, she's now finishing up with a teething biscuit. And some Cheerios. I do feed this kid! Really!

Video intermission

This video is a few weeks old, taken soon after A. learned how to say "hi". She's a bit more graceful on her feet now, but it's still a pretty accurate picture of her.

A. update

A. is just a bit more than 10 months old now, and much happier with her growing toddler status than she was as a baby (we call her a toddlet).

A. has one word -- "hi" -- and uses it constantly. There's the greeting -- "Hi!". The demand for attention from another shopper -- "Haaai?". And then there's I-see-something-neat-why-won't-it-pay-attention-to-me. For instance, the flock of ibis birds who were looking for insects in our yard. "Hi Hi Hi Hi Hi Hi Hi Hi Hi....."

We've been working on "bye" and "cat" and various signs, but none of it has clicked for her yet. She does have receptive language -- from the front seat of the car, I asked her to share a toy with JJ and she did, which was really cool. But for now, pointing is getting her everything that she needs.

Motor-wise, she can freestand but only does so when she's playing with a toy and forgets to hang on, or when she's around other, slightly older kids. She has no interest in walking -- when we try to get her to take steps with our help, she just drops down and speed-crawls over to whatever is of interest.

Although she's right around the 50th percentile for her size, she seems to eat with the appetite of a much larger baby. She still nurses multiple times a day and night, and also eats 3 meals a day and any snacks we offer. She'll eat pretty much any food we eat and still has some baby favorites. Some people-food favorites include french toast, sloppy joes, and turkey sandwiches. Her baby favorites are teething biscuits and toast spread with squash puree.

We go to 2 storytimes a week because she loves them so much. One is more baby-oriented, with singing and felt-board stories. The other is more toddler-oriented, where she just listens to the stories. She still loves her books, loves to turn pages and open flaps. Sometimes she'll just pull a book out of the box and sit on the floor with it, turning the pages and talking to herself. It's totally adorable.

If you gave her a choice, though, she wouldn't be in her room or playroom, she'd be out shopping or in Disney World, where she can see and greet people. One of the best times of the day for her is when we wait out on the porch for JJ to come home in the morning, and she can watch the trees and squirrels and greet all the cars and morning walkers who come by.

She's growing up into a happy, interactive little person, and it's great fun to watch.

One room down!

I got A's room painted today. It's a color called Ash Grove, the closest we could come to a twilight-like purpley-blue. We're doing her room up in a space theme, so we thought that would be a good color for that, as well as being flexible once she can pick decorations.

One down, something like 10 to go...