Yesterday afternoon I took my kid out to our little sandbar in our backyard. Daddy fished off the little dock and caught 6 little fishes. Beanie and I fed ducks in the sun. So nice!

She has been taking steps. The most so far: 7. She basically takes seven steps laughing hysterically until she can't contain it anymore and collapses on the ground. She jumped OFF the couch and raced toward me last night until she collapsed in a fit of giggles. Me too. I crack up when she starts hootin'. The kid is ridiculously happy most of the time. That's why it's so rough on us when she's crying, because it's pretty rare (as far as babies go.)

She has become demanding when we are eating. We have to feed her first, and she still might want some of whatever we have. Even if it's the same thing!

Speaking of eating, it's really true that kids will put anything in their mouths. Some stuff is relatively benign.
Things I've found Beanie chomping on the past couple of months:
1) pigeon turdlette (this was in her mouth all of 2 seconds, but still. Yuck.)
2) cat hair
3) remote control
4) lettuce
5) beetle (I found half a beetle. I think it fell out of the cobweb. At first I thought it was an olive sliced lenghtwise into quarters until I examined it closer and freaked out.)
6) cobweb (jeebus, there was so much cobweb in her mouth! I was shocked. I kept expecting to pull out the damn spider.) from entry way (we have a lot of spiders near our outside lights)
7) wallet
8) dog and cat food
9) blanket fuzzies
10) paper

Of the 10, the most concerning ones were blanket fuzzies, lettuce and paper. That's because she likes to put them in her mouth even AFTER her experiences with them, and they can choke her.

Yeah. When they say "Anything", they seriously mean it. And it gets creative. Beanie does the normal things too, like chomp on electrical cords and she's totally fascinated by electric outlets and dog bowl contents. She likes to bang on things and wants to get into the cabinet with all the pots and pans.

She's tall enough to pull things off the table and the stove now, and recently pulled a to go box of L&L BBQ macaroni salad down on her head. Sadly, no pictures.

And she talks to us in babble, telling us the CRAZIEST stories, and then pointing for emphasis.

At the end of her favorite book, Time For Sleep, she kisses the baby goodnight. How fucking cute is that?? It KILLS me dead every single time.

Her birthday is on August 27. I cannot believe it's already been a year!! Just 12 months ago I was a sweaty cupcake on stilts of a woman, and now I'm a mom of a toddler!