A List of Lists

1. Things that have happened since January (or my excuses for not blogging more regularly):

a. We bought a house
b. We moved into that house
c. I (Whitney) started working two days a week in a school district that is an hour away (ugh)
d. Nathan joined a performing choir (they did Carmina Burana last weekend..nice)
e. Dahlia has learned to run, and has not stopped
f. I had to take two weekend long courses for work that were terribly boring
g. Nathan went to San Francisco for a week and Nana moved in to cover for him (thank goodness)
h. We occasionally get around to unpacking boxes
i. Dahlia gets to go to 'school' when I am at work at a friend's house with a little boy named Oliver who is 4 months older than her (best childcare situation ever!!! my friend Victoria has a Master's in early childhood education...score!)

2. Here is what Dahlia has been up to:

a. Huge language explosion (that is it's own post altogether), she now knows a bunch of words and has a large repertoire of signs
b. She never stops moving ALL DAY LONG until she crashes for naps or at night; lots of people tell my what a 'busy little girl I have on my hands'
c. Her sleep has finally settled into something sort of normal, or at least a predictable pattern (2 hour nap mid-day, and at least 5 hours in a stretch at night in her own bed, sometimes up to 8 hours!)
d. She is eating a wide variety of food at home and at school (Victoria's house) and especially loves green foods (she shoved a piece of chocolate cupcake out of her way to get to more steamed spinach)
e. She loves to be outside and usually runs toward the park with her hands over her head screaming with delight
f. Victoria has turned her into quite an artist since they have a craft time each day she is there (lots of finger painting, including a life-like octopus that Dahlia told us was an octopus, and pasting of various things on paper)
g. She is the sweetest girl in the whole world and likes to remind us of this fact by hugging and kissing us all day
h. She is obsessed with her babies and cannot sleep (or do much else) without them; she is often toddling around the house with a baby in her arms while she tries to play with her toys one-handed
i. She is starting to follow along and participate in the hand motions for songs like 'i'm a little teapot' and 'itsy bitsy spider'
j. She has been concentrating a lot on growing her hair and has managed some very spectacular ringlets in the back

3. A whole bunch of recent pictures:

Pretending to nap is sooooo funny...especially in ducky slippers

We have to keep reminding her to pull over and park when she needs to make calls while riding her dinosaur...safety first in our house

She actually enjoys having her hair done and likes to check herself out in the mirror

Sad face...

Followed 3 seconds later by happy face!

Afternoon tutu party

I have a stick and a leaf...and I LOVE it

Seriously...how cute is she?

Running is her new favorite activity

Sneaky-looking little leprechaun on St. Pat's day

Her love for her baby dolls cannot be contained