after the thaw

We are thawing from the HUGE SNOW FLURRY 2007
where we got a whopping 3 inches of snow that shut our dear city down for 3 days.
It was great fun.
Portlanders are weary of snow but they sure are serious about playing and creative locomotion.
Everyone in town is out playing in the snow it seems.
You can see folks on home-made dogsleds. cross country skiers going down the street, snow shoers, and bikers braving the snow. Kids and adults alike sledding down the middle of neighborhood streets.
A few folks may go out and shovel with their garden hoes but the city hardly owns a single plow.
We just shut the city down and play.
A walk around the hood will find dozens of snow-creatures, and even a giant igloo!
Yep, P-town even had snow fun go awry with a snowball stabbing, fatal inter-tubing accident.
Keep portland weird!
Ms. Uma had a ball during the storm as she just started walking a few days prior. It was days of running around the house, dancing up a storm and taking trips in the wagon. Uma even did a little sledding of her own in a huge Tupperware container pulled by twine.

The girl is screeching up a storm. She does her little robot/frankenstein shuffle across the house, screaming at the top of her lungs like a little girl;. Fitting, eh? She is very pleased with herself, that is for certain. It's as if she's yelling "I'm doing it"
I think one of the motivators for her to begin walking is the fact that she can now hold many things AND locomote. She loves having something in each hand while she walks and scream. Damn, that makes her happy. The girl is certainly driven, that's for sure. She is very steady on her feet now, after just a day or two of walking she made huge strides (literally). When we finally got back to school after the snow melted, she was a pro.

It's so bizarre to see her walking around. She's such little person now. It kills me.

The last 2 weeks or so has been a huge leap for Uma cognitively. You can almost see little lightbulbs going off for her. It's so delightful to watch her become aware of the world around her and to watch her personality develop. She is such a stinker!

She now says "DK" for Duke, our big black cat. She generalizes this for all the cats now (formally, the kkkttts). She even said "DK" while petting some soft fur in a book she has. So smart!
She also definitely says "Nene" for Shannon,and she exclaims "WOW" and "ooohhhhhhhh" in appropriate moments. Hilarious.

Her favorite item, the cellphone, is rarely eaten now as she now prefers to pretend talking on the phone. This is ridiculous. She holds the phone up to her ear and pushes out her lips and then "merp merps" strange pretend-talk noises. It's so funny because these noises are obviously her mimicking adult talk, similar to the wahwahs of Charlie Brown's adult voices. She does the same trick without the phone too.

Uma loves music. Uma does her signature head bobble/stevie wonder sway at any little ditty, showing that she registers the presence of music (even if it's off tune). She shakes her head, jumps up and down and shimmies. We spent a lot of time dancing together on those snow days too. I love that I have such a fun dancing partner!

She is such a baby cub, rearing up, throwing back her head and pouncing, tumbling into bodies. She throws her head back with such momentum that she nearly falls backwards. Luckily for her, there has always been someone or something soft to break her fall.

She loves to initiate play. She hides under tables and in corners so that she can jump out and peek- a- boo. She is such a stinker. The open/shut and in/out games delight her.

Whereas Uma has been the recipient of many kisses, she is now the kisser. She loves kissing other babies, especially her pals in the nursery at school. She gives big sloppy wet ones. She likes to leave her mark. She also loves hugging her dolls and balls, swinging back and forth as she holds them tight.

Her first birthday is in two weeks. It's so incredible. This year has been the most miraculous year of my life.