We went to Beaver Creek for the weekend with Nana and Papa. The hotel has a big, curvy slide, and you did it all by yourself! I think this is the biggest slide you’ve done all alone. You loved it and kept signing ‘more’.

You’re become very communicative, using your hand to point at things that you want and using your voice to emphasize those wants. You point in the vicinity of something you want, and we play a guessing game of holding objects out towards you until we finally realize what you want. Tonight at dinner you didn’t want any of the food that we kept putting down in front of you. Finally we offered dried mangos and strawberries, and you loved those. You wanted more and more and kept pointing to the bag on the counter to signify this. We wanted you to eat other foods. After your dad gave you a little more fruit he moved the bag out of your eyesight, behind the counter. You immediately pointed to exactly where the bag was and indicated that you wanted more. It was so funny, even though you couldn’t see it, you knew exactly where it was. There’s no outsmarting you!

We watched Isla for a few hours today so Greg and Kristen could have a little date and go ride horses up in the mountains. We’d never watched her before, but we knew from the nanny’s that Isla is very shy and sensitive, and pretty laid back. We walked down to the park and played; you ran all around, and she mostly sat and played with the rocks. When we got home we had snack time and played around the house. She is getting to be quite a climber just like you. But you two mostly got along pretty well, and it was neat seeing you two interact and how different you are. You were born only two days a part, and you’ve spent so much time with each other over this past year, I hope you’ll continue to be friends as you get older.

I have been so sick the past few days, and I’ve had a real hard time keeping up with everything. Luckily your dad was always close by to help out, and your nana was really helpful too. But most importantly, you didn’t get sick!

We all went out for Easter brunch and you were not in the mood to sit and eat. You’ve seemed tired since you woke up and I’m wondering if you’re still tired from your big day yesterday. At brunch we took turns holding you and walking around; you just would not sit down. I had orange juice and you pointed to it, so I held it to your lips and let you have your first taste ever of OJ. You immediately signed for more! I was so excited for your dad and the others to see you sign, and you kept doing it after every sip. The whole table got to see you sign. It was so cute!

Your nana has been looking forward to taking you to the zoo for months, and today it finally happened. We headed there first thing this morning so that we could get in as much time there before your nap as possible. You started in the stroller but almost immediately wanted out to explore on your own. You really seemed to enjoy the zoo, and you walked so much you amazed us all with your energy. We’d almost made it through the entire zoo when most of us – you excluded – got tired and decided to call it a day. We headed to nana and papa’s for pizza, and you had a nice nap. I can’t wait to take you to the zoo again; I’m sure today was just the first of many visits.

Grandpa and Grandma Stephans arrived this afternoon. The weather is beautiful so we hung out in the backyard. Your grandma bought you a plastic set of a rake, shovel and spade and you had lots of fun playing with those. Soon your nana, papa, Uncle Kyle and Joy arrived for dinner. You knew everyone was most excited to see you, and you put on a little show by playfully walking around and babbling happily to everybody. You seemed so happy to have so much love and attention showered on you.

I just kissed your sleeping forehead, walked out of the room and was in tears before I could even close the door. You’re fast asleep in Nancy’s lap, and you are adorable. And I have to head to the airport for a business trip. As with other trips, my impending departure has been weighing heavily on me in the days leading up to my trip. But unlike other trips, I completely lost it today. I’m not sure why this time was so hard, but I just feel awful and sad and conflicted and lonely. And I’m not even out of town yet.

Your nana has been so excited for you to come over to see their Easter decorations and so that she could give you your Easter basket. We headed over there this afternoon and upon arrival discovered they’d set up a little Easter egg hunt for you. You didn’t see them at first, but with some help from nana you spotted a couple. You grabbed one, then you grabbed the next with the other hand and walked around holding both of them. Nana tried to get you to put them into basket, but you weren’t interested. But next, you found another egg, and desperately wanted to hold it, too, but couldn’t get two into one hand. You struggled for a bit then eventually moved on. Later in the day you discovered the egg-filled (by nana) basket and had lots of fun swinging it higher and higher, and around and around, until all of the eggs dumped and fell out. Then you’d put them back in and begin again. Thankfully, they were plastic eggs.

Your hair is getting pretty long. It’s possible to put it in one ponytail on top of your head, or two tiny ponytails in the back. Soon it will be so long that it will get in your face and eyes and (I would imagine) annoy you. You have lots of barrettes and clips and headbands that we could use to keep it out of your face. However you won’t keep them in. More often than not you feel me putting it in and immediately reach up and yank it out. On the rare occasion that I can somehow distract you right after I clip in the barrette and it stays in for a minute, it will only last until you see your reflection, upon which you’ll take it out.

Headbands never last for more than a minute or two, max. I don’t know what we’re going to do when your hair gets longer. Maybe when I can pull it into a ponytail behind your head you won’t be able to reach it to pull it out? Your nana and I have already had fun playing with your hair and trying out different hairdo’s. Your dad, however, displayed some perplexity recently about your growing hair, saying, “Should we trim it?”. Your nana couldn’t believe your dad suggested this; she’s been anxiously awaiting the day when your hair would be long enough to ‘do’.