Catching up....

I might as well get caught up on the blog in one post.

1. After Jen and James left, we set up the sandbox and filled it with sand. We have had a few nice days since then and have been able to test it out. She was a bit hesitant at first to allow the sand to go on her feet, but it wasn't long before there was sand in her hair and on the lawn. Paige and Amy really went crazy with the sand flinging action.

2. Paige continued to amaze me this week at gymnastics. In my opinion, she did an amazing job on the balance beam. I can see her translating her gymnastics skills into her daily activities as well. Today as we walked down the street after a rainstorm, she walked in a straight line on the edge of the curb as if she were up on the beam.

3. I notice her acting more and more like a toddler. For instance, instead of calmly holding my hand as we walk through the recreation center, she now runs everywhere. And if we walk by the trees in the center of the building she has to run and make sure she runs across all 4 of the grates at the bottom of the trees.

4. We went to Belle's 1st birthday party on the weekend. Here is a picture of Paige with her 2 friends Belle, and Ella. Unfortunately the birthday girl is giving the shifty eye.

5. On the walk we just went on that I mentioned above, Paige did 2 faceplants when she diverted her attention from her balance beam walking. (the curbs go down and then up at driveways) I said she was good on the beam, but only on even horizontal ones! She scraped the palms of her hands and got her coat and pants all dirty. They went straight into the wash at home!

6. Paige is saying bye to everything! On the walk... "bye worm", at the shoe store "bye blue box, bye orange box", at home when we go downstairs "bye ball, bye toys, bye....." until she can't see anything to say goodbye to anymore.

7. As she improves her language skills she has begun to stutter more. She is trying so hard to talk about everything in her world and as a result ends up saying "ya" hundreds of times a day.... "ya ya ya ya slide ya ya ya ya big slide Amy Katharine" (I went to the big slide with Amy and Katharine). That sort of thing. She uses "ya" as a filler to create a complete more complex thought. She does it a lot when she is trying to explain something or ask for something tricky. All you can do is sit and wait till she is finished and then try to say it back in a normal sentence!