Up and almost running

Pierce has now mastered standing on his own, so crawling is nearly a thing of the past. He's still quite wobbly and often falls down several times before reaching his destination. I watched him for several minutes this morning, just admiring his persistence. Here are some shots from Saturday.

Princess Birthday Party

Madelyn went to a princess birthday party on Sunday afternoon. The girls dressed up, danced, and had a tea party. As we were leaving the house to go to the party, Madelyn said, "Where's Pierson?" When I replied that he was still napping, she got the biggest smile on her face, and asked, "He's not going?" Hmmm...I think this was also a nice break from her now very mobile and very "playful" little brother. Here are some pics from the party:

Will it go in the water?

We are flying to Orlando in about 10 days for a Disney vacation with my parents. We've told Madelyn that we are going on a plane, and she's very excited about this...except:

Madelyn: Will it go in the water?
Me: Will what go in the water?
Madelyn: The plane.
Me: What plane?
Madelyn: The vacation plane.
Me: No, sweetie, it won't go in the water. It will only be on the ground and in the sky.
Madelyn: Well, in The Incredibles, the plane breaks and goes in the water.
Me: Oh, remember, movies and TV are just pretend.

Yikes! I think we will stop watching that movie until we get back.

Nigh, nigh

Pierce and I were in my bedroom a few minutes ago. He was helping me fold the laundry :-) Out of nowhere, he looks at me, says "nigh, nigh" and toddles to the door. The door was closed and he tried to open it; he fell down, got mad, and looked at me as if to say, "Come on!" So, I opened the door and stood him back up, (He still isn't willing to stand himself back up, even though I'm convinced he can and have seen him do it more than once.) and he toddled the rest of the way into his room and stood by his crib.

Is this weird behavior for a 13 month old?

Weekend Activities

Having pancakes on Saturday morning has become somewhat of a tradition around here, and Madelyn loves helping her daddy.






On Saturday, we went out to dinner, and it was such a nice, warm day that we decided to enjoy some Cold Stone Creamery ice cream as well. This picture was taken with the cell phone, so it's a
bit fuzzy.






And here is Pierce enjoying one of his favorite pasttimes. His other favorite pasttime involves wreaking havoc wherever possible. He continues to work on his walking skills and is getting streadier all the time. He is just very hesitant to make the full transition from crawling.

One year ago today...

I received a call from JD telling me to turn on the news. He was in LA, getting ready to catch a flight back home, and I was on my way to a friend's house. He said he'd received a call from Allen (his brother) and something was going on at Virginia Tech. When I got to my friend's house, I turned on the television and saw the events that were unfolding in Blacksburg. At 10:30 am, no one could have imagined how devastating the news would be. Later that evening, we learned that a student had entered West Ambler Johnston Hall (West AJ) and shot and killed two other students, and then a couple of hours later, he entered Norris Hall and shot many others, killing 30 of them.

The stories of horror, heroism, and miracles that followed these events still affect me today and probably will for the rest of my life. I didn't know anyone who was involved, but I know people who did. All of this happened in one of my favorite places on earth, in a sleepy little town that happens to be home to a wonderful university. I grew up in Blacksburg. I "found myself", established more of an identity, there. I met some wonderful people. I was married there. I lived in West AJ my freshman year. JD lived there his sophomore year. As an engineering student, JD had classes in Norris Hall. We both have wonderful memories that were made there.

Here is a link to pictures and brief biographies of the victims:
http://www.remembrance.vt.edu/

Here is a link to Nikki Giovanni's speech given at the memorial service:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O-Qx9dIr-68

I loved Blacksburg and Virginia Tech during the 5 years I lived there. Seeing how we responded to this tragedy caused me to love it even more!

We will prevail.
We will prevail.
We will prevail.

We are Virginia Tech.

Prevail we have! Go Hokies!

13 months old

Look, Mom, no hands!

Pierce is 13 months old today, and I'm now very close to having a toddler on my hands. He's taking steps all the time now. If he's already in a standing position, his first instinct is to walk. Sometimes he'll take two steps before falling, sometimes he'll get half way across the room. The only thing holding him back now is that he can't get from a sitting position to a standing position by himself (he has to pull up on something), so if he falls before reaching his target, he just crawls the rest of the way. Although, he's actually stood up on his own twice. Once was in the bathtub of all places, and he immediately fell down. I'm pretty sure it took us both by surprise. I think it was unintentional, so he didn't really clue in on what he had done. Below is a video of him doing his thing.

His vocabulary is growing. He now says this, that, banana (nana), mama, dada, bye-bye, juice, ball, more, and I'm pretty sure he's said "yes" a few times. He says mmmoo when you ask what a cow says and ba when you ask about a sheep, although he does occasionally get them mixed up. He will blow kisses, cover his mouth when he coughs, and blow his nose. He continues to be a very friendly and relaxed baby. Madelyn has always been friendly, but I would never use the word relaxed to describe her. I've had to get used to having a cuddly baby, and he will sit in my lap and read books. I feel like Madelyn just started to want to do that. Anyway, these are just a few of my observations about my wonderful little boy. Sorry for the doting.

Telling time

I posted a few weeks ago that Madelyn was waking up earlier than I desired and was anxious to tell us about her potty needs or anything else that was on her mind. Well, thanks to a few friends' suggestions, here is our solution. When there is a matching 7, Madelyn can emerge from her room. This idea has worked pretty well. Although, this morning, she tried to convince JD that a 6 was the new 7. She also doesn't know that the clock is 15 minutes behind real time.

Doing the tourist thing

JD's brother and sister-in-law lived in New York City for a short time while we were in college. JD and I went to visit them one weekend and saw some of the sights...Statue of Liberty, play on Broadway, Empire State Building. I remember thinking it was strange that Sarah was doing these things for the first time as well. Why, if you lived in a place with all of this to offer, would you not take advantage of it?

Well, we have lived in the DC area for 2.5 years, and I've been to the city to sightsee all of two times. One of those times was this past weekend. My mom and aunt came up while JD was on his "Fish Camp" trip with his cousins. The Cherry Blossom Festival is going on right now, so we rode the Metro into the city and visited the World War II Memorial and walked around the Tidal Basin. I must say that the cherry trees were beautiful. Madelyn loved "riding on the train like Daddy", and I continue to be amazed at what a sport Pierce is. He hardly uttered a complaint the entire morning, even though he missed his morning nap.

Here are some pictures from the morning in the city:

Madelyn and me in front of the Washington Monument

Pierce and Me at the WWII Memorial

Madelyn at the Tidal Basin

Pierce with my mom--He was fascinated with the cherry blossoms.

Aunt Sandra, my mom, and the kids

March 2008 pictures are posted here:

http://picasaweb.google.com/cmtaliaferro