Stair Climber

We had a semi-surprise visit from Papa Pascal on Saturday morning! With a last minute change of plans, he ended up being in Seattle for the weekend for work and was able to get away to see us for a day! I was worried that Lilah might be a little shy or scared, but she didn't have any problem. I was away at work for a few hours Saturday morning, so I missed his arrival, but was able to be home again by lunch to join in the fun. Jonas and Papa worked outside a good bit, and Lilah loved peeking out the window at them. She is just tall enough now to rest her chin on the window ledge and see out pretty well. It was really cute and we LOVED having him for a visit. Next time it will have to be longer!

While the boys were outside, I let Lilah do some exploring around the house downstairs (we typically play in the room above the garage which is full of her toys). She hasn't had much interest in the stairs so far until about a week or two ago when Jonas let her explore a bit and she made it halfway up before calling it quits (he was right behind her). Yesterday I let her climb them. She made it to the top without help, and it took her about five minutes or so... less than ten at least. Today while I was working in the kitchen, Jonas watched her climb them again. It only took her about two and a half minutes! Her motivation is mainly our littlest cat Shelby. Lilah has become a huge fan of Shelby's favorite toy, a tiny wiffle ball with a bell inside. She loves to shake it for Shelby and watch her dance for it. Lilah just laughs. So she was chasing Shelby up the stairs, ball in hand. We are getting a gate next week.

In other news, Lilah has decided now in her eleventh month that she is too old for an evening nap. She is starting to take a longer lunchtime nap at least, which makes everyone more pleasant, especially Lilah. No new teeth since the last one, and not really any new words either. She does like to say, "yeah, yeah, yeah" and "whoa, whoa, whoa" but just to herself. I thought I heard her say, "yeah, boy!" the other day (can you hear that in your head? sounded like flavor flav...) - gives me ideas for what we should practice. It sounded pretty funny.