Pretty girl

Carmela has a fondness for pretty things. She likes to imitate Mama when Mama does her makeup, taking one of Mama's makeup brushes and swirling it around her face and in her hair. She pretends to curl her eyelashes with Mama's eyelash curler, and she pretends to rub deoderant under her arms. Carmela has a pretty beaded clutch with a chain strap that she daintily holds on her arm, and she loves to wear a scarf around her neck and prance around the house. She also loves jewelry. She calls Mama's necklaces "necky," and says "pee," for "pretty." If Mama wears dangly earrings, Carmela reaches for them and tries to dangle them on her own ears.

So what a treat it was when Aunt Tauni got Carmela her very own "necky" for Chanukah!! It's very pretty (pearls are so classic!), and Carmela puffed her chest out, held her shoulders back, and walked around the living and dining room for quite some time, swaying and showing off her very own jewelry. (The reason she looks cranky in some of the pictures is that as much as she loves jewelry, she loves the camera, and she was upset with Mama for not giving it to her when she said she wanted it.) Thanks, Aunt Tauni!

The artist at work

As already referenced, Carmela had a banner Chanukah. Among the many kind and thoughtful gifts she received was a fabulous art set from her Nana Doctor. Carmela is now the proud owner of an easel that has a dry erase surface and a chalkboard surface, plus lots of bins and trays for her supplies, which she also has in abundance. Carmela is still a bit too young to really understand drawing and coloring, and generally prefers to nibble her crayons and suck on her markers, but that's OK. She's all set for whenever the creative match strikes. Meanwhile, she does enjoy the tactile experience of finger painting, and likes to squish in the paints and swirl around the colors. She even enjoys getting her toes in on the action. What she lacks, however, is the attention span necessary to make art. Thus, tiny multi-colored footprints heading out of the kitchen and into the dining room. Thank goodness for washable finger paint!

Growing and growing

Miss Carmela June turned 19 months old today. She told Mom it was time for a big update because she's doing so many things. Mom said OK, but made Carmela go to bed first.

Carmela has had another big, exciting month. After Chanukah, her Grandma Sheryl came to visit for a few days, and that was great fun. She took Grandma downtown to see the Macy's star, the tree, and the carousel. They waited in the longest line in the world to get a cup of hot cocoa, but Carmela thought it was worth it and drank a whole kids' cocoa by herself (she doesn't know that Mom has them use half the chocolate and cut it with extra milk ...).

Now that Carmela's older, she continues to show an interest in doing the things that Mom and Daddy do around the house, and she loves to imitate grown-up activities. Her latest obsession is a baby doll she got from Grandma Sheryl. She carries her everywhere, gives her milk (she came with a little bottle), comforts her when she cries (which happens whenever you remove the bottle), she changes her diaper, sits her up in her booster seat and feeds her ... in short, Carmela is a great little mommy, and gives her baby lots of concerned, if not terribly gentle, affection. Carmela also likes to put things where they belong. Mom can tell Carmela to throw something in the trash and Carmela will dutifully toddle it over to the trash can and throw it away. Carmela is less good at staying out of the trash, but maybe if Mom and Dad would stop throwing away such interesting things, she wouldn't feel the need to check it out. Carmela also knows where the ice cream is, and if Mom tells her to go get it, she's run (not walk) to the kitchen and try her hardest to pull on the freezer door. (The fruit doesn't fall far from the tree, does it?) Lately, Carmela is very interested in experimenting with the concepts of "open" and "close," and "on" and "off." She loves things with caps (like markers and pens, bottles, Tupperware, etc.), and will sit for several minutes at a stretch pulling off the cap and then fitting it back on. She's also somewhat interested in putting small things in larger things, and with shape sorting, though this is a much more complex skill that she's only just beginning to show an interest in, let alone master.

Carmela is still all about full body rough-and-tumble play, and she loves to roughhouse with Mom and Daddy and sometimes Tiny, who loves it less. She loves pushing things like little shopping carts and baby strollers, and she absolutely insists on pushing the vacuum cleaner, which Mom thinks makes vacuuming take longer. Carmela also loves to climb, of course, and she can pull herself up onto just about anything all by herself. She also enjoys climbing into and out of things, like big boxes. Mom and Daddy sometimes take Carmela to the fantastic indoor kids gym at the community center near the house — it has big plastic toy cars, a couple of indoor Big Toy-type things with slides, a couple of playhouses, a few big gymnastics mats to jump on, and lots and lots of toys, books, puzzles, and games. When she first went to visit, Carmela staked a claim in a red plastic car and just observed. Recently, she decided it passes muster, and she played a whole bunch on the slides, she jumped on the gymnastics mats, she tried her hand at a puzzle, she drove her red car around (and also a pink one), and she hung out in a playhouse until she pooped her pants and Mom said it was time to go. Maybe if Mom would remember to bring diapers and wipes, Carmela could have played a little bit longer. (Good thing it's close to the house.) This is shaping up to be a really cold winter, so Mom thinks we'll be spending lots more time at the kids gym. Carmela's still too little really for friends, but there have been a couple of special kids that she's been partial to (the latest is Nancy at daycare), and she does seem to like to play with other kids.

Carmela has also become a very accomplished grabber, and boy is she fast! This morning, Daddy turned his back for a quick second to rinse something in the sink and before he knew it, Carmela had not only grabbed the carton of eggs off of the cabinet, but she'd also run off with one and cracked it on the dining room floor. Mom thinks she's Stretch Armstrong, because she can reach things off the table and cabinets that seem like they should be impossible for her to reach. Mom also recognizes that if Carmela grabs something fair and square, she gets to keep it, and in this way, Carmela has scored herself a number of crackers, mandarin oranges, and apples that she has proudly toddled away with, cheeks bulging.

Carmela is starting to warm up a lot to story time. She stopped screaming and running away awhile ago, but she never really seemed to understand the point of a story. Now, when Mom whispers in her ear that it's time to get a book, Carmela jumps up and runs to her bookshelf, selects a title (favorites are "Colors," "Animals," "The Bellybutton Book," "Pat the Bunny," "How Kind," and "How Do Dinosaurs Play With Their Cats?" — all board books with animals and colors that she can point out while she and Mom read), and takes it back to Mom. She then backs up towards Mom, plops down in her lap, and settles in to hear the story and point out all the animals and objects she can identify. And identify she can: She knows "car," "strawberry" (sometimes), lion (which she calls "rrawr"), cow (which she calls "moo"), "bird" (which is sometimes called "peep-peep"), "moon," "me," "bite," and many more that Mom can't think of after a long day of chasing a busy toddler. It appears that Carmela is also getting better at putting together two-word phrases. For example, Daddy sneezed the other day, and Carmela, who was nursing, stopped, looked at Mama and said, "Abba ach-oo," meaning, "Daddy sneezed." Cool! Carmela still uses a lot of body language to convey what she needs, but it's neat to watch her gain some mastery over words, and to get a glimmer of how much she'll be able to do when she can just say it.

Carmela eats everything under the sun, and that makes Mom and Daddy very happy. In fact, Mom told Daddy this morning that she'd rather have a baby who has poor sleep habits (as Carmela does sometimes) than a finicky eater. Carmela has started showing an aversion to having latecomers placed on her tray while she's eating. For example, if she's heavily invested in some vegetable soup (Mom strains the vegetables out of the broth and lets Carmela go to town on them), Carmela gets upset if Mom then adds some chopped veggie burger or fruit to her tray. On the other hand, she'll usually eat them later, after she's done with her soup. Mom thinks it's a sign of a commitment to the task at hand, which is probably a good thing. As far as her sleep habits, Carmela got down to only one sleep interruption a night, but then got sick, and spent one night last week crying more than sleeping. The nights have been progressively better, but she's still up about three times a night. She's a very sensitive sleeper, she doesn't do well at all when she's sick or getting a tooth, and while she is generally able to get herself back to sleep when she's healthy, when she can't, she can't, and she needs Mom to help her out with some milk and snuggles until she can drift off again.

Carmela continues to be a willful child, and Mom and Dad do their best to direct her energy in positive ways. Unfortunately, sometimes the only answer is no, and this makes Carmela collapse on the floor in tears and screaming. While it's exhausting and frustrating while it's happening, Mom and Daddy both know it's temporary, and Carmela doesn't drag it out for ages and ages. She expresses her anger, blows off steam, and then moves on. Sometimes, she and Mom go into her bedroom for some quiet time, which Mom is trying to use as a positive discipline tool instead of a negative one. It seems to be working. Sometimes. On occasion, Mom has asked Carmela if she'd like some quiet time or a time out, and Carmela, lying on her back, face red, mouth in a grimace, has responded with a pitiful, "Yes." Then she and Mom have some snuggles and maybe a story and just chill out for a little bit in her room. Before very long, Carmela's showing off her beautiful smile and ready to face the world again.

Big wheels

This Chanukah has been pretty fabulous so far. Mama made jelly donuts a couple of nights ago (a freshman effort of only moderate success) and latkes two nights ago (smashing victory — they were delicious!), and Carmela and Daddy and Mama have been reading stories about Chanukah, lighting the candles on the menorah, and playing with dreidels (which Carmela admits to liking to shove in her mouth). Carmela also discovered gelt this year, and enjoys watching Mama and Daddy cringe while she chews through the shiny metal wrapper to get to the chocolate inside. On the first or second night, Carmela got a pretty Chanukah book and a Sesame Street DVD from her Uncle Jason; she has already enjoyed watching some Sesame Street, and so has Mama, for that matter, because they're old episodes. A couple of days ago she got a box in the mail from her Great-Cousins Merle and Irene in Oakland, who sent a charming and very old pillow shaped like a terrier and covered in a lovely quilted cloth with a button eye, and some necklace pendants, including an ivory heart and a locket that belonged to Carmela's Great-Great Grandma. And today, Mrs. Row, the mother of Carmela's housemate, Mr. Richard, gave Carmela a lovely present: A rainbow-colored Fisher Price xylophone that belonged to Mr. Richard when he was a little boy. So nice! It has a long yellow string and makes a cheerful dinging noise when she pulls it across the floor. She loves it!

To celebrate the fifth night of Chanukah, Carmela and Mama went to Auntie Katy's annual cookie exchange where they sampled several different kinds of cookies and enjoyed some hot cider. When she got home, Uncle Brett and Auntie Emily stopped by with yet another truly wonderful gift: A tricycle!! Carmela was already in her jammies and thinking about going to bed, but as soon as she laid eyes on her shiny red new Radio Flyer, she abandoned all thoughts of bedtime. Uncle Brett and Auntie Emily helped her take a couple of spins around the living room, and then Carmela decided she wanted to get off to push instead, but then decided she wanted to get back on and ride. It was great. Mama and Daddy are looking forward to many years of watching Carmela race her trike up and down the sidewalk, and around the parking lot of the school down the street. Thanks, Uncle Brett and Auntie Emily!

Carmela can hardly believe there are still three whole nights of Chanukah left!

Cocoa

Carmela would like everyone to know that she LOVES LOVES LOVES hot cocoa.

That is all.

Thanksgiving 2010

Carmela hosted Thanksgiving this year, and to celebrate the occasion, she wore her cute brown corduroy jumper with the pink flowers embroidered in it. She let everyone else do the cooking, and she very much enjoyed eating some vegetarian roast that Mom and Dad made, Nana Doctor's sweet potatoes, some Brussels sprouts, a spoonful of Uncle Jason's cranberry sauce, a bit of dinner roll, a few bites of stuffing, and a few slices of roasted golden beet. As always, she enjoyed visiting with her Nana and Grandpa, and she was a very good girl through all of dinner.

Nana brought Carmela a perfect, Carmela-sized chair, which Carmela loves. She likes to carry it around, saying, "Heb-bee," which is her way of saying "heavy." She also likes to sit in for one of her most very favorite activities: Watching Elmo on Mom's computer. Thanks, Nana!

Mom and Daddy are thankful for lots of things, but nothing tops how thankful we are for our wonderful families and for our funny, cute, curious, energetic, and lovable little girl.

Snow day!

Snow came a little early this year, so Carmela decided to go outside to see what all the excitement was about. She thought it was pretty interesting that the world looked different, and she noticed that the ground was covered in something, but she wasn't exactly sure what. Cautious child that she is, she erred on the side of caution and pronounced it, "Icky." She was a little bit delighted by snowflakes falling from the sky, and reached out to touch them, but she wasn't thrilled about how cold it made her hand when she felt it on the ground. She asked Mom to take her inside before too long, and she was much more in favor of matzoh ball soup and hot cocoa that she and Mom shared while the snow fell during the afternoon.

Carmela is becoming an amazingly verbal and physically capable little girl. She's up to about 35 words now, but she tries out a new one or two just about every day. The sense of satisfaction is so clear when Mom or Dad asks her a question and she can answer in a way that makes sense — this usually results in Carmela getting something she wanted or not having to get something she didn't want, and this is a positive outcome for everyone. She's beginning to make the leaps from basic words that are the names of objects ("bear," "feet," "ball") to words that identify concepts ("mine," "almost," "more"). It's been great fun watching this explosion of cognitive development, and Daddy and Mama spend significantly more time trying to figure out what "bay-oo" means ("bear," by the way).

As for physical capabilities, Carmela is able to help more and more with putting on and taking off her clothes, she can pull her zipper up or down, she can wipe her own nose (and prefers to, saying "Nose," and reaching for a Kleenex), and she absolutely adores eating at the table, pulled up in her booster seat, of course, but without the tray. She also recently started drinking from a cup by herself, using both hands to steady it, hold it to her mouth, and set it back down on the table. She also loves to slide by herself at the playground, and bravely goes up the stairs to the top of the Big Toy and slides down to her Daddy, who lets her land on the soft wood chips. These little accomplishments are a really big deal to Carmela, and Mom and Dad both can see how happy she is with herself to be able to do more things that Mom and Dad do on a daily basis.

Carmela also is a great helper. She absolutely loves to sweep, and insists on getting to run the broom around the kitchen after Mom's done. She surprised Mom the other day by grabbing the dust pan after Mom was done sweeping and holding it down on the floor. Of course, she didn't understand that Mom was going to sweep the debris into it, and so she ran off with it before Mom could finish, but the intent was there, and Mom is very proud of the way she jumped in to help! She also loves to help vacuum and use the hand mixer by holding on and "steering." She's a big help to Mom during laundry, too, as she takes small items and tosses them into the dryer. Carmela also has learned the word "mess," and she knows that she makes them, and she seems to get that they need to be cleaned up. Today, after spilling a little milk on the floor, she toddled over to a towel, picked it up, and proceeded to sop up her little mess.

Of course, Carmela continues to be a wonderfully affectionate, communicative child, and she seems to love playing funny little games with Mama and Daddy. The latest is a game in which she pushes Mama or Daddy, who would sitting on the floor, onto her or his back, then "lifts" them up all by herself, only to push them over again. This game goes on and on, punctuated by peals of laughter. Mom and Daddy are riddling over why this is so much fun, but we're both happy to accommodate her because she loves it so much. She also loves chasing games — either Mom or Daddy chasing her or vice versa — and she loves pony rides, except now she likes them piggy-backed instead of in the front. She also really enjoys climbing on and over things, going up steps, digging her way to the back of a crowded closet — anything that involves lots of physical grappling and maneuvering. This results in her usually getting lots of exercise, which makes Mom and Daddy happy. It's great to see her growing so big and strong, and enjoying things so much.

Carmela continues to be a phenomenal eater, and will heartily eat just about anything Mom and Daddy put in front of her. Lately, she loves scrambled eggs and bagels with cream cheese, she still adores almost all fruits (except oranges, which she loves to squeeze in her hands, but not eat), and she gobbles up just about every vegetable Mom and Dad have given her. Her favorite thing is noodles, though, and Mom and Dad like to make them just to hear her say "noodle," which comes out like "new-doe." Too funny!

Rainy day

Carmela's not usually big on product endorsement, but boy does she love her Tuffo! What's a Tuffo, you ask? Tuffo is the company that makes a rain suit for toddlers that looks like an adorable little haz-mat suit, complete with elastic on the wrists and ankles and reinforcement on the butt and knees. Mom and Dad have no fear of rainy, drizzly Northwest fall and winter days — they just zip Carmela into her Tuffo and off they go. Whee!

Halloween!

What a day! It started about 1:30, with a big dessert reception that Mom and Dad threw to celebrate Mom passing the bar and getting sworn in. Nana and Grandpa came over first and then about 20 of Mom and Dad's friends came over, too, and there were so many desserts that Carmela didn't even know where to begin! There were cupcakes, Rice Krispie treats, an apple pie, some fudge brownies, lots of donuts, a cake, fruit and cheese, crackers and breads, and a great big bowl of champagne punch. There was lots of coffee and plastic forks and napkins, too. Carmela got to share lots of fruit and cheese and crackers, and her Uncle Jack might have given her a Rice Krispie treat, but Mom only let her have a couple of little bites before taking it away.

After the party, Carmela put on her rat costume and went to visit the neighbors (but not before some of her neighbor friends stopped by on their way out trick-or-treating). She got to say hello to all the kids and a few friendly grown-ups, got to see all kinds of kids in great costumes, and even got to fish her hand around in a few big bowls of candy (even though no-fun Mom wouldn't let her eat any).

Before long, Carmela came home to have some dinner and answer the door for all the trick-or-treaters — she had lots of visitors this year! Then a bath, some playing, and, finally, off to bed.

Happy Halloween!

Tiny looks longingly out the window. He's not allowed outside on this night because of the mischief some older kids might get into with a black cat on Halloween.

Carmela in her rat costume. Mostly it's just a tail, which Mom sewed last night. The top is a sweater that's very cute actually, with two white polka dots on the front and some bows, and a pair of black pants. Notice how long her tail was! It was funny actually: Carmela definitely did not like having her tail follow her around, and several times tried to grab it and pull it off, or to run away.

Mom and Carmela with all the pumpkins.

Daddy and Carmela.

Pumpkin carving!

Carmela coordinated and oversaw the pumpkin carving this year; she was quite a manager. Mom was surprised she didn't show the least bit of interest in eating the pumpkin, considering her interest in it last year. Overall, Daddy lost his pumpkin due to a moldy spot, but he helped Carmela carve hers while Carmela stirred up the pumpkin seeds by sticking a pumpkin-carving spoon in the bowl and flinging them all over the place. Mom's still finding pumpkin seeds on the floor. Mom carved a pretty good pumpkin. Uncle Jason's pumpkin that he carved at a friend's house joined Mom and Carmela's on the front porch. Soon we'll put up our decorations, and before long, it'll be time for costumes and trick-or-treats!

By the way: Who needs a shirt to carve pumpkins? Shirts are for suckers!

Pumpkin hunting!

We're not gonna lie — this morning started out pretty rough. Miss Carmela June is sick and also getting some more molars, it appears, and Mom and Dad had a terribly frustrating and emotionally exhausting morning dealing with inappropriate toddler behavior, successive meltdowns, melodramatic collapses, ear-splitting shrieks, and other good times. All that said, it was sunny today — beautiful, actually — and as it was probably the last sunny day until next July, we decided to take our chances and head up to the pumpkin patch for some pumpkin hunting. Boy are we glad we did. Everyone got out into the sunshine and Mom thinks it was just the break we needed. Mom packed up some tuna fish and crackers, and we bought some corn on the cob and a hot baked potato with sour cream and chives while we were there — with Dad's apple cider, we had a great outdoor lunch. We visited the petting zoo and saw some chicks, a few hens, a rooster or two, some peacocks, some goats, and a sheep — one of the goats ate some snack pellets out of the hands of some people next to us, so Ela got to check that out up close. We skipped the giant scary corn maze, but Carmela was wild about the toddler maze. It was just her size, and she loved running around the corners and bumping into the other kids coming the other direction. We liked it so much we went into it twice! As Miss Carmela was bored with walking, and because pumpkins are too big to throw over the side, she got to ride in the wheelbarrow as we ventured into the pumpkin patch. It was swarming with people, but it was fun, and we got three pumpkins, one for Mom, one for Dad, and a little one for Carmela. Daddy cleaned them off in a big bucket, and now they're sitting by our fireplace. Dad was only a little sad that we didn't stand in line for the pumpkin cannon, but little girls only have so much patience for lines, and there were a couple of them today. Maybe next year.

In the end, visiting the pumpkin patch seemed to be kind of a turning point. Ela was still a little bit fussy, but seemed much better, and we actually had a pretty fun afternoon and evening. And Mom guesses everyone's entitled to a rotten morning now and then.

Family day at the museum

You might not know this, but Miss Carmela June is an art aficionado. When she was in Atlanta a couple of weeks ago, she popped into the High Museum of Art just in time for the Salvador Dali exhibit, and while she didn't actually *see* any of the art, she got to *make* some in the toddler room. She likes to think off-canvas by coloring all over her clothes. Very avant. So, yesterday, Ela convinced Mom to take her to the Seattle Art Museum for the Fall Family Festival. It was great fun — admission was free, and there was face painting, there was a play area with musical instruments and building blocks, there were live musical performances — there was even a dress-up area with baskets full of funny hats and tu-tus and a photographer standing by, complete with a fabric backdrop, a tripod, and one of those umbrella things to diffuse the flash, to take pictures! Best of all, there were easels outfitted with paper and fat crayons for coloring. Heaven. Carmela made some art, watched some live jazz, and even got a small school of pear sorbet from the Molly Moon ice cream truck parked out front before getting on the bus to go home.

Which reminds Mom that Carmela took her first ride on the city bus to the museum. It was very, very interesting — a little scary at first, but old hat on the way home. Carmela fell fast asleep in Mom's arms and slept all the way home.

By the way, there also were works of art by Picasso, but Ela and Mom didn't get to see them this time. Maybe some other time — little girls can only handle so much adventure at one time.

When Carmela saw this guy standing on the stairs up to some of the arts stuff, she said, "Abba!" Abba is very flattered.

The artist at work.

Enjoying the live jazz.

16 1/2 months!

It's been awhile since we posted a big update on how Carmela's doing, so now that the exhaustion and jet-lag have been dulled by the return to work, and considering Carmela had a check-up yesterday, now's a great time for it.

As just about everyone saw, Carmela is a noodle. She tops the charts at 33 inches (back up in the 95th percentile for height), but she barely ekes out 22 pounds, placing her solidly in the bottom 25th percentile for weight. Her doctor is not concerned; after considering it for about 3 seconds, he pronounced that she will probably be shaped like her daddy.

Mom promises that she feeds Carmela well. While she's still not a terribly great sleeper, she remains a fantastic eater. Now that her vocabulary is growing (by leaps and bounds), she greets tasty bites with an enthusiastic "mmmMMMmmm," and opens her mouth like a baby bird for more. There aren't too many things she won't eat, and the things she turns away are usually either too tough for her to manage or have a funny texture she's not familiar with, such as mandarin oranges, which she spit out yesterday. She did the same thing with peaches awhile back, but now she loves them.

Carmela has a firm grip on object permanence now, and her doctor this time checked her for shared interest, which is another way to chart social development and to rule out autism. Shared interest is the social phenomenon in which a person will look in the direction of what someone else is looking at, rather than simply looking at the person (or failing to notice that the other person is looking at something). Not surprisingly (at least not to Mom), Carmela looked at what her doctor was looking at, so he determined that she's right on target with her social development. Now that she's a bit older, it appears that she's going to be a sensitive, outgoing, social child who will be interested in what others are thinking, doing, and feeling. She's already tuned in to what others are feeling and seems sympathetic: If Mom makes a happy face, Carmela beams, but if Mom then makes a very sad face, Carmela makes a sad face and begins to whimper and make sad noises.

Carmela is still very attached to her blanket, but doesn't seem to have any great affection for her other toys. Her neighbors let her borrow a toy that she's sort of obsessed with now, though; it's see-through box with holes in the top and colorful balls that squeeze into the holes — the toy comes with a little mallet for banging them into the holes like a Whack-A-Mole, but Carmela prefers to use her hands to smack the balls into the holes. The balls fall through a maze inside the box and emerge from a hole at the bottom of the toy. This toy is a miracle, and will entertain Carmela long enough for Mom to make dinner. Mom wants one for every room. Carmela also loves coloring and drawing still; Mom has stumbled across little scribbles on various surfaces throughout the living room, dining room, and kitchen. That's OK. These crayons are washable.

Language is absolutely pouring out of Carmela, and it's been really amazing to experience. Lately we've heard "mouth," "Tiny" (our little black cat's nickname), and "thank you." Mom meant to keep track of all of Carmela's new words, but there are proving to be too many to keep up with. Carmela has two ways of communicating. The first is a reaction to something she sees, and usually involves pointing and naming. If she sees Tiny, she'll point and say, "Tee," which is her word for "kitty." If a bus goes by, she'll point and say, "bus!" When she hears Daddy's key in the door, she'll run for the door saying, "Abba! Abba!" Her second way of communicating is the construction of something like a sentence, but composed mostly of gibberish. She'll look at Mom purposefully and say, "Mama." When Mom says, "What honey?", she'll follow with incomprehensible babble that obviously mean something to her (she repeats it verbatim), but that Mom seriously can't understand.

Carmela becomes a little more independent each day, and gets a satisfied look about her when she manages to pull something off by herself. For example, tonight she wanted to help Mom cook dinner, so she went to the dining room, picked up the step stool, and wheeled it into the kitchen, positioning it next to the cabinet where Mom was cutting vegetables. She grabbed Mom's hand for help, and climbed up on it, then proceeded to make herself very useful by retrieving silverware from the silverware drawer and dropping things into an almost empty glass of water on the cabinet. Mom was very proud.

Sad (and funny) clown

Fun with flour!

Mom's helper

Carmela's a great helper, especially when it comes to sweeping the kitchen. For example, she likes to sweep her hands through the dirt pile, which is super helpful, and when Mom isn't doing a very thorough job, she likes to take the broom and do it herself. Sometimes she even sweeps the dining room. Good job, Carmela!

Pictures from the Atlanta aquarium

Checking out the fish at the gigantic fish tank. Carmela had to walk through a glass tunnel to get to the tank, which was amazing because there were some gigantic fish, including whale sharks, in there!

Crouching down to get a better view.

Loving it.

Chilling with Will.

Completely tuckered after a long plane ride back to Seattle.

More pictures from Ela's big adventure - Washington, D.C.

For the record, Carmela does not like being put in her stroller.

Looking at a fountain with Daddy.

Walking on a little pavilion with the Washington Monument in the background.

Mom and Carmela at the Capitol Building.