Holidays, Holidays, Holidays!

Where to start - it's been so long.

Angela is a walking, spinning, dancing, running away from you in a crowded store kind of girl.

Halloween was good, she didn't really want to walk outside in the dark on her own, but she was a big fan of having a basket of treats to play with. I made one mistake - introducing her to the Reese's Peanut Butter Cup - I had to eat them all because she liked it so much that she would freak out if she saw an unopened one. She was even so bold as to "taunt" me with one, offering it to me and then as I'd reach for it, she whip her arm back and run away and laugh. How quickly they learn....

We've started a toddler gym class which she has really enjoyed - being around other kids, in a big open place where she can run around, it's a lot of fun - and it wears her out. But these days, with all her running, it's not so hard for her to work up the need to take a nap - now, if only she could take a long nap, especially now that she refuses to take a second nap despite how badly she needs it some days.

I myself, had a good 3 week period where I felt absolutely exhausted all day. It was rough. But it has passed now and I feel much better, still getting sick in the morning but that's no big deal compared to last time.

Also on the sleep front - Angela, we are proud to say, is sleeping though the night about 95% of the time, and falling aleep on her own without crying - such a blessing. It makes the whole parenting experience that much less stressful and more pleasant.

She understands a lot of what we say to her now, but for one reason or another, she feels little compulsion to try to say real words. She will babble nonstop at times, but no more of the "dog/bird/bye/cheese" that she was saying a few months ago. She loves to be out in the public though, she babbles even more - and louder and has recently been giving super-enthusiastic waves to anyone who will pay attention to her.

She's had her top two teeth coming in for over a month now, and I spotted some more coming in as well, which, along with experience eating solids, has made eating real food much easier for her. She's also become a pro at tearing the house apart, and it often looks like a bomb went off which is a lot of fun to clean up after putting her to bed.