Last Day of Zero

Today was a great day to be your last day of zero. Of course LS doesn't know, so I guess it's a surprise. Memére is up for the weekend and enjoying the little bit of time they get together. And LS is getting used to Memére not being in "the box" (when using Skype, she's known as "Memére in a box").

LS decided that she wanted to be a pile of leaves for Halloween. We pointed out that this might be impractical, and that once she got the costume on she might not be able to go anywhere. But some things you just have to learn yourself.

As it turned out, she was quite content to just lay there and look up at the sky. It had it all. Stark leafless branches against blue. Clouds pushed by quickly by an eager wind. The punctuation of an occasional falling leaf or bird. It was really the best day to be a pile of leaves looking up at the sky after all.



As a bonus, LS gets 4% more birthday tomorrow! She's lucky enough this year that her birthday falls on Daylight Savings. We're going to be sure to put 104% effort into having a good time!

Thanks for making this year great LS.

Swimming

LS took her first trip to the big pool this past Sunday. We were hoping she'd like it, and she seemed to have a great time. We're planning on getting to the pool regularly over the winter if we can. Both for some exercise and also just to get out of the house.

Luckily this pool is just in the next town over, and a very short drive.

Papai took the responsibility for handling LS in the locker room and getting her changed afterward. The plastic chairs with arms were pretty handy, althought LS did want to stand on them a little too much.

It's tough to be in an environment where you are trying to both maximize safety and cleanliness at the same time, while you're both wet and splippery and need to get changed. A pool locker room floor isn't exactly where you want to put someone whose main interest in life is putting everything in their mouth.

The experience felt somewhat like spinning plates on a pole while trying to get dressed. Getting one article on, then tending back to LS to make sure she was seated back safely in the chair. If you're not sure what I mean, it's like this old Atari game - Dishaster. Though, thankfully, without the background music.

Nice Fall Days

This past week we had some nice fall days. The leaves are pretty, and the weather isn't too cold yet.

LS got a couple chances to romp out in the leaves and had a good time of it.

You can probably tell by the look on her face that she doesn't know yet that these things have to be gathered, put in bags, and put out for someone to take away. It's all just fun and games at this point!

LS is only one week away from the big "1". Naturally, it's hard for us to believe. And just as naturally, LS couldn't care less... We're getting her ready though. She's been practicing putting one finger in the air. That way she can satisfy those curious adults who might be tempted to ask her just how old she is now.

You can see below that LS is pretty much ready to take on the world. Even preparing herself for that other Fall pastime - Football!

You don't want to find yourself on the business end of this 19 pound bullet!

Goings on

Just by keeping tabs on the blog you'd think that nothing was going on around here! Which couldn't be further from the truth naturally.

LS had a VERY exciting time last weekend, since we went up to Maine to visit with my sister and family. The exciting part was that they have a dog. And LS LOVES dogs. Like, scream-if-she-sees-a-dog loves dogs.

Luckily the dog in question is a very friendly one. Not calm, but gentle enough around babies. LS loved to stand near a piece of furniture and hang on while watching the dog run around.

The dogs name is Isabelle, often just referred to as "Izzy". On the second day LS had some successful attempts (when prompted) of trying to say Izzy. Which came out a few times more like "Zizzy".

You can see her during Papai's wrestling match with Izzy how enamored LS was with whole situation!



LS also has tooth #3 close to coming in. Left side front either has or is very close to breaking the skin. Actually, from her waking up cranky a few nights ago I think we have a pretty good idea of when it broke the skin! But it hasn't quite started to grow down yet. With a little over two weeks to go until the 1 year milestone we'll see if she crosses that threshold with 3 or 4 teeth! It would be nice to have an even bite for eating her first cake naturally.

LS has also started to excel at identifying body parts. Who knows what exciting careers that might lead to! So far, when prompted, she will properly point out where her "joelho" (knee) and "pé" (foot) are. She's had "lábios" (lips) for a while, although usually it causes her to do the whole twiddle-the-lips-while-humming thing rather than just pointing them out! Today she seemed to properly point out "naríz" (nose) for the first time when prompted, but usually before her hand gets there she decides playing with her lips will be more fun.

11

Today marked the end of LS's 11th month! She thought it was a lot like yesterday. She expects tomorrow to be more of the same too...

Stat check: 60

Degrees Fahrenheit of our downstairs this morning (15.5 deg C). The high today was expected to be in the low 50's, so (sigh) the heat has been turned on. Usually we try and make it to November. LS hasn't made it to the age of wearing shorts all year though. Soon. Very soon.

Here's LS four days ago, trying to come out the screen at you.



We'll try to have some Froggy pics and stats soon. There won't be any official stats until next year though - LS's next scheduled checkup with the Doc is in early January.