Today we went over to Liz and John’s for the fourth birthday party of their daughter, Mia. There were lots of little ones there, most of them between the ages of two and four. You seemed enthralled watching the chaos around you. We gave you your first balloon, but you didn’t seem very interested in it. Our friend Katie was at the party too, and we got to meet her four-week old daughter, Lucette, for the first time. You didn’t seem very interested in her for most of the afternoon. But at one point you and she were both laying on the ground, and she started making sounds, and you started babbling back to her, and it was just like you were having a conversation. You crawled over to her and wanted to grab onto her and check her out. You were so curious to know all about her.

You’ve always been very animated with your arms and hands, often banging them on things, shaking them about, or recently, hitting your hands together. Usually your hands were in fists, and you’d bump the little fists together. Recently you’ve been opening your right hand and hitting it into your closed left fist. Over the past few days we’ve been showing you how to clap, either demonstrating with our own hands or holding your own little hands in ours and going through the motion. Your Grandma Stephans has been working on it with you while they’ve been here. Today was one of the first times I’ve seen you really observe something with intense focus, wait a few seconds, then copy. Your Grandma would clap, and a few seconds later, you’d repeat. At first I thought the timing was just coincidental, but it happened over and over again – your Grandma clapping, you pausing, and then you clapping. And it was a real, both hands open, palms facing each other, clap. This soon became your new focus of the day, and you did it over and over and over. When we laid you in your crib tonight and watched you from the baby monitor, you lay in your crib, clapping your little hands over and over. I wondered if you’d ever get to sleep, but you eventually clapped yourself to sleep.

Today we all had a fun, low-key day hanging out with grandma and grandpa. We went out for breakfast, and later in the day we took a nice walk down to Southern Sun for some afternoon drinks. On both occasions you demonstrated why it’s become a little more difficult for us to eat out with you. You are a squirmy, inquisitive little girl! You’re intensely curious, and fairly mobile via reaching, stretching, rolling and crawling. These two attributes make for an interesting combination at the table. Gone are the days when you’d sleep right through a meal, or relax cradled in our arms as we caught up over drinks.

We signed you up weeks ago for a swim class offered through the City. We’ve taken you swimming a few times and you seem to really enjoy it, so I’ve been really looking forward to the start of the class. Although I didn’t expect you to learn to swim at this young age, I did anticipate that we’d get to do fun activities with you in the water, that you’d have interactions with other kids, and that you’d become even more comfortable in the water.

Well today’s class was a bit of a disappointment, but we still had a good time. The class is for kids between the ages of six months and two years, so there’s obviously quite a range there. You are by far the youngest, and it’s clear the instructors don’t know quite what to do with you. They would provide instructions like, ‘blow bubbles’ or ‘dive for the ring’, to which we just held you and looked at them. They’d swim up to each group of parents and kids, and inquire how it’s going. When they got to us they’d comment on how cute you are and how it looks like you’re having fun, then they’d leave. Super helpful. Apparently I’m paying for this class so the instructors can tell me the obvious. Over and over and over. Every time they gave a different instruction and swam up to see how it was going, they’d make the same comments, “She is sure cute. Looks like she’s still having fun.” It’s going to be interesting to see if this is how all of the classes go. Today’s class was at a different pool then the one we’re normally scheduled for, so I’m hopeful these instructors stay with the pool, and that we’ll get new instructors when we switch to the new pool next week.

Your grandma and grandpa arrived today. They drove here from Nevada and brought lots of things for you. My favorite is a little old rocking chair that used to belong to your grandma when she was a little girl. For now a little teddy bear sits on it, but someday you’ll rock on it and read books, maybe to the teddy bear. I think your favorite item that they brought is the rocking horse from their house that you rode on when we were there in July. And the other item they brought for you is a huge toy chest in the shape of a barn on the ranch where your grandma grew up, and where your dad used to work during the summer. Your grandma’s brother, Mike, made it for your dad when he was little. It will be the perfect place to store your treasures.

Isla, the baby in your nanny-share, has purportedly been saying ‘mama’ for weeks. Her mom told me that Isla calls for her when they lay her down in the crib, or when she’s hungry. I was skeptical. Although maybe she is saying ‘mama’, I doubted that she actually connects it with wanting her mom. But then this week the nanny confirmed that she is saying ‘mama’, and meaning it; she told me that towards the end of the day Isla often gets cranky and just wants her mom, and she repeats ‘mama’ over and over.

The last few days you are saying ‘mamamamama’ over and over. I don’t think you associate it with me at all, but you’re having fun exploring these new sounds that have been introduced to you by your friend. It’s fun watching you experiment with sounds, especially these vowel ones that sound more and more like real words.

We’ve been continuing to introduce you to new foods, and we haven’t found one that you won’t eat. You’ve had these foods, introduced in this order: rice cereal (your least favorite), banana, avocado, sweet potato, pear, zucchini, yellow squash. We introduced the yellow squash tonight, and again, you gobbled it all up. When we first start feeding you, you pucker your lips and want us to put a little dab on there for you to try. You often make a funny face as you experience the taste, but you usually you’re your mouth wide and ask for more. Sometimes, and usually in the middle of a feeding, you’ll make a funny face, like you’ve been given something really sour, and then just as quickly as the face appears, it disappears, you swallow down the food, and you open your mouth up for more. We keep trying to capture this on video, but we haven’t yet succeeded.

On our drive home today we drove through Rocky Mountain National Park, stopping at the high point to feed you, take in the scenery, and snap a few photos of us on top of the world. You smiled and giggled when I held you up to look at the amazing views, and you and your brothers attracted plenty of attention from all of the tourists. We bought a year pass to the park, so we’ll go back either later this fall or next summer to hike with you.

This evening we watched the Broncos’ first game. Although we didn’t let you watch it, we had you all decked out in your Broncos’ shirt. Throughout the game your dad would shout or yell reactions to whatever was transpiring on TV, and you’d look up at him curiously wondering what was going on. Ever since we found out we were pregnant, he’s been working on not being so vocal or emotional when watching games on TV so that he wouldn’t frighten you. He’s gotten a lot better! Someday, when you’re bigger and a true Broncos’ fan, you’ll understand what all of the yelling’s about.

We’re up in Winter Park for the weekend, and today decided to explore the area. We drove to Grand Lake and had a good time hanging out by the lake and wandering around town. The dogs had lots of fun playing in the lake and fetching sticks, and you were happy just watching all the craziness around you. We also went on a little hike, and saw our first moose!

We’re staying in a hotel in Winter Park, and so it’s one of the first times we’ve all stayed in the same room again since you transitioned to sleeping in your room about a month ago. You are on a great pattern of going to bed between 7 and 8 at night. With us all in one room this means that when we put you down we also settle and relax for the night, turning the lights off and trying to be quiet so as not to disturb you. Although limiting on our ability to do much, it’s a special time with our whole family in one room again together. And it forces us to slow down, read and relax, and get to sleep early, something that we never seem to do enough.

Today you really got more efficient at your little belly crawl, and you’re able to quickly cover a good amount of distance. I tried on a couple of occasions to take a video of you in motion, but I seemed to always start recording after you were a tired out. I’ve found that right after you awake from a nap and eat you are at your most active. I place you on your belly, you look all around you and hone in on something, and off you go. You pull yourself closer and closer, pausing to catch your breath, until you reach the object. Then you grab on, and roll to your back to examine it. This must be a tremendous workout for you, and you’ve been both eating and sleeping great since you’ve become so much more mobile. Your dad and I are having so much fun watching you, but also realizing we need to baby proof and be really vigilant whenever you are on the ground.

This afternoon we headed up to Winter Park for the weekend. Usually we use cloth diapers, but we opted for disposables this weekend for convenience while we’re out of town. At dinner tonight I picked you up and was helping you stand in my lap for a bit, when I looked down and realized your pants had fallen off! They are sized for 3 to 6 month, and usually they fit you, but I guess without the added bulk of the cloth diapers they just slide right off your tiny frame. Your dad and I kept putting them on you, trying to roll them over to get them to stay, but after they fell off the third or fourth time, we finally gave up and you finished dinner without any pants on.