Time flies!

Oops, I can't believe it's been 2 months since my last posting. Time flies when you're screamingly busy for 15 hours straight every day. I have to say, it's pretty hard to have both of us working full time and still do a decent job of raising this active girl. C'est la vie, I guess.

Netsanet is growing quickly and mentally developing so fast! She speaks in many sentences now, and the babble is less and the recognizable words are more. She has several new words every day; it's just mind-boggling how fast her brain is developing. She knows some letters and numbers and will point them out when she has a sign or something within reach. It shocks me! She's not even 2 years old! We certainly haven't made a point of teaching her letters or numbers; I think she's just picking it up from daycare and our interactions (if she points to letters I'll tell her what they are, but we haven't been doing flashcards or anything...). It's amazing how smart she is, but Ken and I joke that it will probably mean trouble later on - she'll be able to figure out how to get around us pretty quickly!

She's definitely into the toddler stage, with what other parents tell me are typical issues. Her appetite has gone way down and she's pretty picky about what she'll eat (mostly fruit, and some cheese). She's still growing, even if she's lost most of her cute little belly. As long as she's basically healthy, I'll *try* not to stress. She's doing some screeching, but the volume and frequency has gone down a bit with our constant feedback of 'no screaming.' There's been some attempts at biting and hitting, which is not fun, but I guess it just takes consistent 'no' and firm statements. She'll try something for a while, but if we're consistent the bad behaviour seems to go away pretty quickly. She's also had some nightmares lately, which I think probably comes with all the new mental development at this age. It's not all the time, which is a relief, but there have been a few sleepless nights! She's definitely a character, and her personality makes itself more evident every day. She has quite the sense of humor, and will make faces and do things to make us laugh, and she wants us to reciprocate in her little game. I think she's going to be quite the comedian!

Summer weather has been great so far. We have had more sunny days since April than I can remember in the whole time I've lived here. I think we've collectively forgiven the weather gods for that awful winter. It hasn't been too hot, and we've gone down to the beach a few times with Net. We mostly have gone to Lake Washington which is near our house, and they have a great park with a sandy beach and water canals for the kids to dig and re-engineer. So far Net has tried the water a little, but more often enjoys digging in the sand and interacting with all the other kids. We also went to Alki beach, which is on Puget Sound (saltwater connecting eventually to the ocean) at lowest tide for the year. That was pretty fun, and we saw a live abalone (I think), which looks like a huge snail that was digging into the sand. The water was low enough that we were able to gently touch the sea anenomes too, which is always fun. Net got thoroughly muddy and covered in sand and salt water, since she wanted to wade out but kept getting stuck in the sand from the wave action. She fed her crackers to the birds and had a really good time playing in the gunk of low tide. Dirt is very integral to all my happy memories as a small kid, and it was fun to see her enjoying it too!

We tried to go camping a couple of weeks ago, but the area was forecast for thundershowers so we decided to ditch it. Tent camping with a toddler for the first time is a nerve-wracking enough idea, without adding loud booms and rainstorms to the mix. We were desperate to get away for a bit, though, so we ended up going to the sunnier parts of eastern WA and staying in a motel overnight. Net and I swam in the pool there, which was her first full swimming pool experience, not counting wading pools. She was giggly and gasping at the cold water at first. Then she relaxed, and I kept telling her, "I've got you!" until she was repeating it to me ("I got you, Mommy!"). We swam around for a bit, and she had fun stepping off the pool edge into my arms. We'll have to try the pool near our house, and see if she enjoys it as much!

Outings are more fun now, and Net seems to enjoy getting out and seeing different things. It's easier to be a little more flexible with eating and nap times than it was even 6 months ago, which gives us a little more time to go out of the house. She's very into animals right now, and gets excited when she sees dogs or birds. We went downtown over the weekend, and she had a good time chasing and screaming with excitement at the pigeons and seagulls ("Hi bird! Hi bird!"). She also started roaring at them like a lion, and I couldn't stop cracking up. The birds knew they weren't in danger, but they'd give her the nervous eye as they scooted away. The pigeons seem like they could use a little excitement in their lives anyway :)

Well, the summer is flying by, and I hope we get to at least take the canoe out once before it ends. There are many other things I'd like to do, but I'm trying to keep my expectations realistic!