Penny is walking well and working on speed these days. She was walking a bit by 11-12 months but it wasn't until a couple weeks after turning 1 that she really took off. She loves to find random household objects and carry them around, like a DVD or a letter or plastic container that she pulled out of the recycling bin.
Yesterday morning was chilly, so I put a sweater on her but didn't bother to zip it. I noticed it was falling off one shoulder when she disappeared into her room for a few minutes, and when she came back she was carrying it. She noticed one of my sweaters where I had left it on a chair and proceeded to pull it down and wrap it around herself and her favorite stuffed bunny. She failed to dress the bunny, but she wore my sweater draped over her shoulders for the rest of the morning, too cute!
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I wrote the above section over two months ago. My intention was to go on writing about the thrills of parenting a one year old. And two months later I do still love parenting a one year old; The angry stubborn inconsolable screaming and holding her breath tantrums of the terrible twos (threes and fours?) show signs of hovering on the horizon but aren't something we have had to deal with much yet. She is curious and active and amazed at things to me are mundane. She gasped when a pair of seagulls took flight while we were at the park yesterday, for example. I love watching her try to figure things out and the look of joy and pride in her eyes when she finally succeeds at something. I love (and hate) watching her play in the dirt, exploring the texture and examining the particles and making a grand mess of herself and her clothes. I think it's hilarious (and infuriating) when she stands nicely beside me while checking out at the store and then, without warning, bolts at top speed. Oh right, she's pretty much got running down. I cannot get enough of her spontaneous displays of affection when she will decide to give Dan or myself or the dog a hug and kiss. My absolute favorite is "Ah la tee" (I love you). She is constantly learning new words and I love the way she closely examines my mouth when I'm trying to get her to say a certain new word. At 15 months Dan and I got curious and made a list of words she was saying. We came up with around 25 words plus some animal sounds! I am quite impressed. Recently she has started putting two words together, "deedee eye" (silly eye) when I cross my eyes at her, "Hi dog" to stranger's pets, "eat ah-poo" (eat apple) when she wants fruit because all round fruit is "apple" right now. She loves playing our tickle game during which I tickle her until she says "ah done" and start again when she gleefully calls for "mo" (more).
So, yeah. My one year old is pretty wonderful.
