1 year + 1 mo.

Whew! This has been a crazy month and I have a feeling that May is going to one-up April in the busy factor. Luckily Laura has been handling our wild schedule all right. Our home has been on the market for a month and we have a positive deal in the works but I don't want to jinx anything by giving more details! Needless to say, attempting to keep a house perfectly clean and being ready to up and leave at the drop of a hat for showings does not work easily with a one-year-old.

Laura is thinking so hard every day about life and figuring things out; you can just see her little brain working and it is so interesting. She continues to be playful and funny. Her communication skills are improving but she's only increasing her "nonsense words" vocabulary right now. She is more confident on 2 legs - not afraid to stand on her own but only likes walking with us or her "car."

Height:

Weight: Don't even ask. When I put her on our scale at home I swear she still hasn't hit 18 lbs. yet.

Likes: pulling books off the shelves, going outside, crackers, peas, anything with spaghetti sauce on it, throwing things, reading stories, sunglasses/glasses - on other people, opening and closing doors, animals, burping (she laughs at herself), eating snacks, pacifiers, swinging at the park, sitting underneath the end table, Elmo cd and open-the-flap books

Dislikes: people leaving, strangers, laying still for diaper changes (super annoying)

Any new tricks? Lots - knows about noses & can point to them, signs for "hat" and "sunglasses on head", uses "eat" sign instead of "milk" sign now when she wants food, makes cow and monkey sounds, says "doh, doh, doh" (not sure what this means yet), using "da da" more frequently, can squat to pick up objects and stand back up, constantly pointing at things wanting to know what they are, offering to share a snack and pulling it away at the last second to put it in her mouth

Twins Game Recap!

The Main Entrance to Target Field

The view of downtown Minneapolis from our seats

Mom posing with her Twins garb

Dad posing sans Twins garb

Dad thinking about a particular $7.50 beverage

Mom and Dad standing in the sun

Grandma and Grandpa relaxed in their upper, upper deck seats

Mom went to field level during batting practice far from any of Nick Punto's hits.

A picture from first base line looking toward left-center field

Just a couple of specs from this distance!

Mom snuck up to the Twins dugout looking for Cuddyer

The Opening Day sign

Mom's Twins boyfriend being introduced

A gigantic flag unfurled for the National Anthem

Twins take the field!

Baby Jesus on first base and Morneau-for-four batting

Jason Kubel is the first player to hit a home run

The sign lit up (but I missed it) after Jason Kubel's homerun

Dad, Mom, Grandma and Grandpa after a Twins victory

Down at field level after the game

Watched Bert do the post game show. I should circle you.

One final picture to remember this fun, memorable, historic event!

Twins Home Opener!

Celebrating the Opening of Target Field

Little Laura is donning a Michael Cuddyer shirt given to her from Grandma Barb. April 12 is Twins' day and Laura is sporting Mom's favorite Twins player.

This afternoon, Mom, Dad, Grandma and Grandpa B are going to the 2010 Twins home opener. Laura, this is not your typical home opener. No, we are going to the first official game at the new Target Field. The first time any of us will experience a Major League Baseball game without of roof over our heads! By the time you read this, the Metrodome will be a thing of the past.

This very fortunate opportunity could not be possible if it weren't for Great Auntie Sue and Uncle Scott. They have been on vacation the past two weeks and can not make it to the game tonight. Somehow the tickets landed in our lap!?! "Thank you," from all of us.

Easter and Other Business

Easter

We had a busy Easter weekend, with trips between our house and the grandparents' homes, plus a birthday party to attend for cousin Lilly! Laura was thrilled to see some kids again; I think she was missing her buddies after a week off of daycare. Laura is a good guest once she arrives, but the car trips are getting a little dicey now that she has opinions (such as, "I don't want to sit in this car seat for 45 minutes."). She tried ice cream for the first time this weekend - yum! She makes the "num num" sound when she eats it. The Easter Bunny was very nice to Laura and she had a pretty Easter dress to wear.

Smarty Pants

I had a conversation regarding Laura at Lilly's party with another of her cousins who is around kindergarten age.

Cousin: Is she smart yet?

Me: Well, she's getting smarter every day because she keeps learning new things.

Cousin: Oh. [Thinking] So she's going to be smarter tomorrow than she is right now.

And it's true! It is crazy because it seems like she is soaking up new things so fast. I love that we can look at her face and practically see the wheels turning in her head. Just in the last week, she holds her hand up to her ear like a phone whenever she hears the phone ringing. She makes a car noise whenever she sees vehicles or other machines that make noise/have wheels (including pointing at wheelchairs in church on Easter and making the car noise). Whenever she sees me pull together a purse, diaper bag, or coat she starts waving bye bye. It's so funny and we are getting a lot of amusement out of this at home.

Other Business

At the doctor's office today, we found out Laura has gained exactly 4 ounces in three months. Arggh, we had high hopes she would have gained some weight. This drops her to something like the 3rd percentile for weight. Our doctor was not nervous since her height is increasing, but it's something we'll watch. Dad thinks that now Mom can ease up on her restrictive cracker eating rules and Laura can have more than 2 crackers at a snacktime! She is a decent eater though so it's all a little perplexing. And the shots were a whole different ballgame this visit than they were at any previous one - Laura was mad, mad, mad and not afraid to let us know.

Here's Laura on a happier day enjoying a ride in the swing: