First pair of shoes

The time has come, and Mom and Dad are pleasantly surprised at what a wonderful and sweet milestone it has been to give Carmela her first pair of walking shoes. Now that she's a walking expert, Ela can hardly stand to be carried on her evening walks, and Mom and Dad realized they needed to get her a pair of shoes that would protect the soles of her feet from the dirt, stones, and twigs on the sidewalk and in the park, and the general schmutz of public places like stores and the library.

Mom's actually kind of surprised at how fast Ela's picked up walking. It seems like just last week that she was exclusively a cruiser, never venturing beyond the couch. Then she took her first clumsy, shuffling steps in the kitchen, arms outstretched, toward her Dad, and boy was she proud. Now, she crosses entire rooms like it's no big thing. This evening, she held Mom's hand from her house on one corner all the way up the block to the other corner, and on the way home, she went all the way up the stairs by herself (except on her knees because the steps are too high for to climb standing up). All of Carmela's milestones have been amazing, but this one is really something.

Heat wave

Temperatures got really high here recently — not as hot as last summer, but close. Miss Carmela beat the heat by walking all around the house stripped down to her diaper and sprightly green bib. She told Mom that going mostly nekkid is very liberating, and she'd prefer not to wear clothes anymore. Mom said that was interesting, and she could understand how it would be very freeing to play with Wheelybug in only a diaper and bib, but we will be wearing clothes when we go out (even if it's just our jammies).

New toys

Carmela got a great new toy last week. Mom and Dad ordered it from Amazon (thanks Grandma!), and it's called a Wheelybug. It's not technically supposed to be used as a walking aid, but Ela's still too little to ride it properly, and she does love pushing it around the house. It's great fun and she'll do it for several minutes at a stretch, crashing it into things and getting mad when it gets hung up on something.

Uncle Jason's friends Owen and Geraldine just found out they're moving to California, so they gave Carmela a brand new little wooden pull-toy lined with perfect wooden blocks. They will be great tools for Ela as she learns letters, numbers, counting, colors, and shapes. Right now, they're great tools for banging together and banging on other things.

In related news, Mom thinks it's time to start editing the toy box a bit. It's getting a little out of control.

More steps, more teeth

It's been a big couple of weeks for Miss Carmela. It seems she went from cruising to taking a few tentative steps to almost walking so quickly that Mom and Dad haven't had time to document the progress. Carmela still prefers to hang onto something for balance and stability, and if she needs to get somewhere in a hurry (cat tail, cookie, open door ...), she'll speed-crawl, but now her favorite thing is to hold onto Mom or Dad's hands and go for little walks. Mom thinks her legs get tired after awhile because she'll plop down onto her butt even if she's walking just fine (she doesn't lose her balance or anything), but Carmela is always *completely* delighted with herself, and claps her hands and beams at Mom and Dad, the cats, and anyone else within beaming distance.

Ela is less thrilled to report that she's getting yet another tooth. She recently battled her way through a top incisor (the third one), and now the fourth one is starting to push its way to the surface. Fortunately, sweet corn is in season, and corn cobs make great teethers!