Her best Bob Dylan

Paige took an accidental spill today and scuffed up her forehead. But within an hour she was back to normal, as this video shows.



She might not be talking in English or doing much sign language, but she is a quick study otherwise. And a darling....

Mauren 3.0

Last Sunday we were invited to celebrate Mauren's birthday. We went to a park in Portland. It was a beautiful day.





Big sister oversaw the festivities.



One girl got a bit envious of the cake decorations and the candle blowing. But she got over it eventually.



Another just enjoyed being outdoors.



One of Mauren's uncles actually mistook these guys for brothers.

Roughhousing. Karate. CPR.

We wince. We cover our eyes. We stand close by in case we need to intervene. But Paige seems to love this kind of attention from her older sister.



She's always been our little Pillsbury dough girl.

Tomorrow's Annie?

Paige at 1.08333333333333333333333333333

Laid-back. Deliberate. Happy. Smiley. Cool. Persistent. Perceptive. Observant. Walker. Climber. Flapper. Affectionate.

Claire 3.5

Claire at three-and-a-half:


Smart. Jovial. Curious. Brave. Precocious. Bargainer. Tolerant. Patient. Emotional.





Thoughtful. Insightful. Athletic. Energetic. Insistent. Friendly. Dancer. Baker.





Emulator. Loud. Smiley. Demanding. Swinger. Adventurer. Tree-climber.

This girl's goin'

You won't completely see it from the videos below, but Paige is walking on her own. Freely. She practically runs at times. She kinda lunges forward and uses her momentum to get her legs moving fast so she doesn't fall flat on her face.

She has taken huge strides physically and in other ways in the past 10 days. Tonight she climbed our little wooden slide backwards. She made it all the way up on her third attempt, and kept repeating the feat. She was very pleased with herself. She's signing a bit more. She understands our words, even if she can't yet verbalize one herself.

Here's more walking chronicles from where we left off last post.

April 28th:



Note the hand-flopping, like a bird. Claire did the same thing when she started walking. It must feel like flying to them.

On April 30th, Claire helps her sister out. Paige doesn't want help.




It all comes together May 1st, with more arm-wailing. Gives new meaning to "May Day":





It's a whole new chapter.