Some firsts

A lot of "firsts" in the past two days. Some bigger than others, but all pretty special in this Mama's book.

Eeyore enjoys being hand-fed
green olives at lunch time

Discovering a new toy: blocks!

Rock climbing by the pond

16 months old, Millie's first time...

- Building a block tower: she took them out of the basket and started stacking them all by herself. I hadn't introduced them to her yet and she's never taken them out before. She had an amazing sense of calm as she fixed her tower each time it fell. I love to see that part of her... a nice compliment to her wild temper :)

- Climbing the rock wall at the pond and walking all the way across it (while Mama held her hand of course. Ok ok... while Mama gripped her forearm in a bear-like manner is more accurate). While she was up there a beautiful heron swooped over our heads and landed about 10 feet away!

- Running at full speed, in a straight path and around objects/walls

- Sleeping under a blanket on the bed (pictures of her new toddler room mini-makeover to come soon)

- Reading a book out loud. She has always flipped through pages by herself or asked about pictures in a questioning manner, but this was different. In one of our favorite books, "The Big Red Barn", there is a page with cats and dogs. She turned to the page and started doing exaggerated "meow, yow!"s and "woof woof"s, in a very funny deep voice, making the animals talk back and forth. It was quite hilarious.

I saved the best for last...

- Saying "TETA"!!! So exciting! This morning at breakfast I told her we might see Teta Annie soon. I thought she repeated "Teta", so I asked her "Did you just say 'Teta'?", and she whispered back... "Teta". So so sweet! When she was a baby she would whisper our names when she wasn't sure she was right. She then proceeded to look for said Teta, pointing out the window to a pear tree, opening the kitchen cupboard, and pulling aside the curtain at the front door to look on the porch, all while saying "Teta?"