Hangin out

Real Spring weather is finally upon us. Yesterday was up around 70, and today's high was around 90 apparently. Tomorrow is supposed to be more of the same.

Mom got to go to the studio to work on a hat while LS had a nap on Friday afternoon. She's been having pretty good naps here and there - not entirely consistently, but nice when they come. Some days she'll take a 2 hour nap, and one day even had two!

Anyway, when LS woke up yesterday afternoon she didn't cry - she just laid there and was apparently practicing here "words". Mostly "Ooo" and "Uuh", maybe an occassional "Agoo". That seems to be the vocabulary, with some different pitch variations thrown in to shake things up.

After 15 minutes or so, we called Mom to come home, and LS and dad went out and sat on the front steps to wait for her to come by.

It was a nice tranquil moment. LS sat on my lap there, taking in the Friday afternoon goings-on of the neighborhood. She watched the neighbor doing some chore or another for a while, no doubt amused that life should be anything other than getting carried around and looked after.

There were nice sounds to point out. A dog barking a few houses over ("O cão!"). Birds flying around ("Podes ouvir o pássaro?"). A bee buzzing around the bushes ("Abelha" - though not like the "abelha" LS has inside with the rattle in its tail!).

At one point LS looked up into the nearby trees, which are just starting to bud and are mostly branches against sky.

Oooo! ...Uuuh!

I agree.

Easter

Well, we had a first this year. The Easter Bunny actually stopped by to visit. We even got it to stay long enough to get some pictures. We really wanted LS to meet the Easter Bunny, but we never managed to get them in the same room at the same time. Strangest thing.

Today a spoon, tomorrow the world

We decided today that we'd give LS a chance to get used to using a spoon by giving her some breast milk at dinner. That might sound fairly awkward. However, the milk was first put into a little cup.

We figured we should capture LS's first experiences with the spoon, so here they are.



To our surprise, three minutes later we got the camera back out so we could capture LS doing very well with the spoon.



We might make some steak out on the grill tomorrow night. So we'll see if there's as much success with a fork and knife.

Five

Do you know where you were 151 days ago? We certainly do.

The picture here was taken two days ago. We're pretty sure that if you haven't fallen in love with LS yet, that this picture will likely push you over the edge.

In the last few days LS has moved on from her open-mouth talking to incorporating a "blowing bubbles" approach, or you might describe it as a raspberry style.

We'll let her do the rest of the talking for this post (filmed earlier today).

Gato!

Nicki has gotten much braver over the months - at least with regards to LS. Whenever she comes around now, we say "Gato!" to LS. Nicki has learned that this is Portuguese for "Come here kitty so we can have LS pet you!".

We got this picture last week. Tolerant eh?

This video was shot yesterday. It just shows that Nicki will take attention wherever she can get it.

Go ahead and jump!

LS isn't jumping yet, but she did try out her "jumpup" for the first time today. She seemed to like it. And had some to say about it here:





For a sense of scale, LS wanted a picture with dad. From this perch in the doorway, LS gets views of the sitting rooom, the kitchen, and the eating room out onto the back porch.

She seemed to enjoy trying to keep an eye on Nicki as she walked from the eating room to the kitchen and back. Of course, she hasn't mastered the skill of turning to face a specific direction yet.

We'll be sure to capture more footage of LS on this contraption as she builds up her skill level.

More to Say

We captured LS in a more talkative mood this afternoon. She hanging around with Macaco (monkey) and goes on a pretty good ramble. Also some good camera angles and the patented "eyeball extreme closeup" move.

She's more pensive at the beginning as she gathers her thoughts on what it is she wants to say. And also somewhat reflective at the end to give you a chance to consider her points. Very considerate.