walkin' and talkin'

Brooke took her first steps around her first birthday, but she is now officially walking, and sometimes practically running! Her favorite things to do are to...pull cereal boxes out of the pantry and walk laps around the furniture with each box...pull the kitchen towel off of the oven handle and walk around with it, then try to hang it on the wall...walk around the basement with her corn popper toy (see video below) from Uncle Jeff and Aunt Caroline (thanks!!)...pull all of her laundry out of the basket and then push the empty basket around...

She has also been adding more and more words (some we can't understand). Her favorite word is still water "aaaah-duh" (always many, many "a"s in that word!) She also loves to say ball, doggie, duckie, daddy (all three of these sound similar), bath (ba), hungry ("hu-ry"-usually followed by "mmmm"), shoe...and some others that I can't think of.

Here is a picture of her playing in the playroom with the big ball and little ball. She loves to push the exercise ball around!

I took this video a while ago of Brooke walking around the basement with her corn popper. It is so funny how she has to hold the other hand out for balance! Sorry it is so long...I've got to figure out my video editing software!

Last week my friend Julie's daughter came over to play. She's about 7 months older than Brooke, and it was fun to watch them "play" together. This mostly consisted of Brooke wanting every toy that Avary had! Brooke was so enamored with Avary, and loved just watching a big girl play! Avary really wanted me to put her in this little chair that holds all of the stuffed animals, then she wanted all of the animals back on top of her. What a cutie!

We have been keeping very busy lately and I haven't been great about updating the blog...but I hope to be better. I started a new job in November at a new health club in town. I am teaching swimming lessons on Saturday mornings, and it has been a nice break from design work. I love the free membership most of all, and have been enjoying the yoga/pilates classes that have really helped my back pain. It is amazing how hard yoga is...I had no idea! I'm able to put Brooke in the child care area there for 2 hours a day, so I can enjoy a nice, quiet shower after I work out in the swanky locker rooms. It really is a nice club and a nice getaway for us! I can't wait until the outdoor pools open this summer! Doesn't summer seem SO far away right now!? I'd just settle for non-freezing temps for a while. Brrr.