The benefits of travel

We've heard it said that babies (and maybe the rest of us?) are stimulated by new locations to attempt new activities and so achieve new feats. Alice seems to subscribe to this theory, as she made our week of holiday travel a chance to flex her wings. Identifying a surefire crowd-pleaser, she took her first few solo steps at my parents' house in North Carolina on New Year's Eve day while playing with me and my brother, then repeated the feat several times over the next few hours. The strip of carpet between the couches in the family room seemed an especially appealing spot for these test-runs. Proving her accomplishment wasn't geographically dependent, however, she followed up on New Year's Day at Tom's parents' house, toddling 3 or 4 steps to Mom-mom in the kitchen.

Even when not venturing forth solo, she makes clear her preference for walking with assistance rather than crawling. Indeed, walking around with a spotter is among her favorite activities of the moment. In the last week she has begun each morning by digging under the covers for my hands, finding my index fingers, grasping each in a hand, standing, lunging toward the edge of the bed, and announcing, "Go!" or "Wa(lk)!" In general she is quite adept at finding the fingers of the nearest adult and seeking to compel him or her into a stroll across the room.

Her language comprehension and production also have shot through the roof in the last week. She now responds intelligently to a wide variety of conversational gambits--including beginning to cry when someone tells her it's time for bed. As for her own conversation, her active vocabulary as of our return home includes:

hi
bye-bye
baby
happy
yeah
t(r)ee
dees (this)
ba(ll)
boo(k)
do(g)
do(ll)
du(ck)
chss! (cheese)
apple
wa(lk)
go
up
dow(n)
m(oo)
neigh
baa
Mor-mor
Pop-pop
no
whee! (meaning: Daddy, I want to play that game in which you swing me in the air, and I squeal)

And she signs

more (usually meaning, eat/I'm hungry)
bird
milk
all done

Just a few months ago, or even a few weeks ago, we read friends' blogs about their one year olds and felt that their children were in a completely different lifestage than our infant. And now we're there. It's as if overnight, our baby has been replaced by a sentient being.

Alice loves to share her joy in her ever-expanding universe, capturing the gaze of those around her, then throwing her head back and flashing a huge grin. She has developed a thorough game of peekaboo, which she instigates by pressing her hands together across her eyes and waiting a few beats for someone to begin bantering with her, and she loves to bait Edith and others into fast-crawling, giggly games of chase. At the same time she remains relatively easy-going, as even those spending just a few hours with her over vacation noticed.

Edith had a wonderful time on vacation, too, and we parents were grateful for all the grandparently and avuncular attention to the kiddos that allowed us time to relax. We'll be sure to post the photos soon.