Jemma at 14 Months

Since today is the 27th, I'll take a little break from reporting on the flu epidemic of 2008 to capture Jemma in all her glory at 14 months today. It's hard to remember what Annie was like at precisely this age, but in general, Jemma talks less and does more. A few recent highlights:

1. When you ask her a yes/no question, she looks right at you and nods her head vigorously up and down if her answer is yes. (If it's no, she does nothing, which isn't as impressive . . .)

2. She refuses to sleep with socks, shoes, boots, or anything else on her feet. All footwear must be ripped off after getting in her crib and then thrown on the floor. Also anything in her hair.

3. During all other times of day, she would prefer to wear both her Robeez boots and a pair of my shoes. I took actual, lengthy video today of her clomping down the wood floor in our hallway wearing my brown heels that I'll be sporting at a wedding in about a month. So, I guess we share shoes now.

4. She is a notoriously picky eater who has now begun to refuse food on sight (without tasting it at all), even food that she ate happily only one week ago. Tonight's reject food: egg noodles from homemade chicken noodle soup. Won't even touch them. A few reliable favorite foods still include milk, oatmeal, waffles, bananas, yogurt, string cheese, and crackers. (I'm sure her doctor will be impressed with the depth, variety, and nutritional strength of her diet . . .)

5. The child loves to dance and never gets tired of music. She's happiest when we're dancing to Victor Vito in the living room. When she needs to take a break from the shimmying, she does a little downward-dog yoga until she catches her breath. Seriously.

6. Her words include "mu" for milk, "da" for Dad, "mumum" for Mom, "uh-oh," "boom," - (she falls down a lot) - "ba" for ball as well as "ba ba" for what a sheep says, "woof," and "grr" when you ask her what a lion says. Even though I feel like she doesn't say much, she clearly understands everything that we say to her and will do things like walk right down the hall to the bathroom if we ask her if she want to have a bath.

7. Just in the last month, she has stopped trying to beat her books up and started to enjoy reading them. She'll bring me one out of a stack and turn around so she can sit on my lap and listen. Her favorites are The Very Hungry Caterpillar, Brown Bear, Curious George's Opposites, and Where is My Baby?

8. She's a fantastic sleeper. She still takes a brief morning nap (45 minutes or so), sleeps reliably from 1-3 in the afternoon, and goes instantly asleep the minute we put her in her crib at 7:00 p.m. sharp for at least 12 hours. I hope this goes on for a long, long time.

9. She wants to do everything that Annie is doing, all the time.

10. She's still our cuddler, and I really love having her toddle over and clutch me to nuzzle her head in my heck a few times each day or whenever she's tired. I hope that goes on for a long, long time, too.