Merry Christmas!

A handful of days before Christmas we managed to catch Santa out on a snowy day, doing some advanced scouting.

Although posted a day late - Merry Christmas from LS and family!

Bird - Bonus Clip!

We did have a clip of LS on her first day (Dec 7) of saying "bird" after all.

And here it is:



Moments later, about half way through this next clip she apparently says her second English word: "burger".



It is unclear whether she was actually asking for a "bird burger".

Bird is the Word

Last week LS said her first English word. Bird. It (Pássaro) was one of the first Portuguese words she recognized. We decided to start mixing in some English, especially the words that she already knows well in Portuguese. She's now on to "foot" and "knee" and a couple other things.

Of course, now learning words also means she can try to say them. Soon after recognizing the word, she was saying it. "Burrrd" We tried to get it on camera, but the camera draws her interest when it's near (we need a spy-cam!).

Papai immediately thought of this song when she was saying it. She'll even sing along a little if you sing it with her (alternating verses)!

Here's where I actually heard the song for the first time. Funny stuff.


(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2WNrx2jq184)

Tough Girl

The day after Thanksgiving, LS had a tussle with a chair. It seems the chair didn't hold up its end of the bargain that it would serve as a support for LS standing.

The chair in question is a lightweight aluminum dining chair. LS tried to use it for help, but instead ended up falling backward, still holding onto it, and pulling it down on top of her. Afterward, she was laying there flat on her back holding the grill of the back of the chair like she was in jail.

This was LS's first major fall, so she was none too pleased. She got some good crying going. We were afraid she hit the back of her head, but there was nothing apparent there. But the swelling under the left eye started immediately.

She was back in fine spirits mere minutes later, which is when the first picture here was taken. The pictures don't really give justice to the swelling. On the second and third days the swelling under the eye was enough that LS's eyelashes were nowhere to be found - stuck beneath the folds of the swollen cheek.

The third day looked the worst, as the slight scrape along the area became scabbed and looked like it was a mean cut. But by the next day (4th picture) the scab was already gone.

The 5th picture is from 5 days after the fall - almost back to normal.

The final picture is an additional week later (and less than two weeks after the fall), long since doing fine.

The lesson in all this - when you are going to take down an opponent, better to fall down on top of them, than pull them down onto you!

You have much to learn young grasshopper.

Cover Girl

It could only be so long before LS got discovered, yes?

Can you spot her? http://www.gogogiggle.com/

Hint: end of intro.

Note: This is a company started by someone Mamãe has worked with, and the photo came about during a stop in to visit. LS did it this once just for the experience. But she's been reading up on contract negotiation tactics in the meantime for when her next opportunity comes around.

And yes, she loved the socks! :-)

[updated: link to be a link]

Stairs - The Director's Cut

LS wanted to release the long version of her epic journey up the stairs. Well, Ok, Memére asked to see it.

Follow the epic journey of a young girl as she struggles against the forces aligned against her (gravity). Cheer on as she strives against all odds to achieve the ultimate goal.

Enjoy this new Director's Cut Edition - complete with LS's running commentary on the more subtle plot points.

Up the stairs!

Lots of things have been going on, and we'll hopefully catch up with them soon! Not a small part was LS turnng 13 (months)! We might just have to transition to half-years as the new milestones. This monthly thing is old hat for LS by now.

With at least one of her friends doing the same, we decided to give LS a shot at going up the stairs (over a week ago now). She's a big girl now, and they are carpeted afterall. She didn't do too bad this first time, but it did take a little over 6 minutes!

I decided to speed it up 12x to save everyone some viewing time, so it clocks in at just under 30 seconds! In parts it almost seems like everything around LS is sped up and she's just going normal speed. Maybe that's just the lesson she's trying to teach us.



She's definitely gotten a bit quicker since then. I even tried today to have her back her way down the stairs. That didn't go so well, as she kept trying to go back up. She must wonder why we can't make up our minds which way we want her to go.