Oden Adventures

Vianne Rose has had yet another monthiversary (this just keeps happening!) and is growing & developing - as they say - like a weed!

Her favorite things continue to be playing the 'tar, walking around in Mama and Daddy's shoes, weekly walks with Grandpa and Saturday visits from Granma & Grandpa, dancing to any music she hears (especially the VeggieTales theme song), reading books, taking baths, finding her belly button, chattering in her crib or car seat or high chair (formerly known as her sermons, they seem to be more like stories or presentations of thought-out arguments these days), looking at pictures & videos of Oregon family & friends on Mama's laptop, playing games on Daddy's Galaxy tablet, and Larry, Bob, and Elmo, and being as silly & cute as possible at every moment possible.

She amazes us daily with the new words & signs she is picking up.  There are too many new signs to remember on Mom Brain right now...but new words since I last recorded them: keys, star, 'tar (for guitar), stop, go, bo (for boat and rainbow), moon, na (for snack), mo (for more and Elmo), peas, cheese, nigh (for good night), bottle, head, eye, ear, no (for nose, Noah, and snowman, in addition to "no"), bee, and home (her learned response to "Where's Daddy?" if we're out and about).  She has name signs for almost everyone in the family and close friends, but has just started to try out some spoken names: Doe for Joel (she tries to say Jesse, but it seems to come out different every time), Pa (for Grandpa), and just yesterday, she surprised me by saying "Emmy" and "Taw" for (Aunt) Emily and (Uncle) Thom and "Bea" for her cousin but couldn't quite get "Margot" out.

She also knows some animal sounds: a cow says "Moe" (my personal favorite), a horse says "Neigh", a sheep says "Ba", and a lion or tiger whispers "Rawww!"

She also can identify many body parts: head, ears, eyes, nose, mouth, chin, cheeks, arms, fingers, hands, elbows, knees, legs, feet, toes, belly button, and tummy (with, in part, thanks to the Sesame Street board book "Shake A Leg").

She still has three teeth and has been working on the second top one for almost two months now, which is painful...for all of us... 

A few photos of her Sweet Sixteen (month old) Self...

This might look like she's doing something cute like blowing a kiss.  Alas, she's licking the bubble soap off her hand, which I kept telling her not to do, so she moved away from me and did it again while I was looking through the camera.  Did I mention she's still strong willed as ever? :-D

Bubbles!

Still got those wondrous blue eyes!