Little Steps...

And so, it begins.

Sushi Al Fresco

Ahh patio season is here. Also,Miz V acquires a taste for sushi. Two terrific things together at last.

Skinny Minnie

New Stats, for those who play along at home:

Height: 75 cm, (29.5 inches) - this places her between 50 - 60th percentile for her age.

Weight: 9.16 kilos (20.194 lbs) - this places her between 30 and 40 percentile for her age.

Head circumferance: 47 cm (18.5 inches) this places her at the 95 percentile for her age.

So what does this mean? Well, first it means we're not endangering her by not having purchased her new car seat yet - we have half an inch and two pounds before she officially outgrows it. That said, we'll get it soon.

She's on the tall side, but not by much. And she is little, weight-wise. Nothing to worry about, she is a very active kidlet and so this dip is normal for a 1 year old.

And she has a giant, giant head. BRAINS!!!

All in all, she's healthy, happy and wily. Sounds about right.

Radio Silence Broken!

Hello V fans

There's been a bigger lag than usual since the last blog update, and it can be attributed to three factors:

1. We went to China and Vancouver. And it's wa-ay harder to adjust to time zones when you still don't even know what time is, beyond the general natural diurnal clocks and biorhythms. So the early part of January was swallowed whole in a day-is-night kinda haze.


2. January is dark and dismalish, and we were grumpy


3. L started serious work on the show for Alumnae Theatre and suddenly had no time to brag or comment on V's adventures.

But we're back, baby! I am renewing my commitment to share the fun bits. Here's the plot updates, for those who follow along at home...

• V now crawls. In a funky skitter sort of way, but the point is she can move across the floor with alarming speed and accuracy.


• As a result, we're upping security measures, and trying to reconcile the fact we can no longer live in a deathtrap. Rats!


• V also can pull up to a standing position on furniture, and really likes standing up. So much for our dream of a lizard bebe....


• She's eating more and more solid food every day. Eventually, she'll just join us for dim sum like a civilized person.


• She's still very much into her books and she enjoys small toys she can manipulate.


• She's still in a weird "My Ma!" phase that required a lot of patience, both for L and other people who would like to enjoy her company.


• She's loving hanging out with her papa in the evenings when L's off rehearsing - good news!


• She still loves the outdoors and being included in grown-up outings.


• My hands have made a full recovery, just in time for her to run amok around the house. Thank whatever goodness you like, don't know how we'd have managed otherwise.


• Words Spoken (regularly enough to be counted as words and not accidental sounds): cat, kittycat, baby, dada, dog, duck (though duck seems to be a generic reference to whatever point she's trying to argue)

That's about the size of it! More updates to come!

First Taste

We're into the uncharted terrritory of solid food.

(I say solid, but it's really more of a slurry.)

Big video for a big development!

Then and Now

So, how big is she now? In answer to that question, I present two photographs.

The first one was taken at the Toronto Criterium, the cycle race held on May 30 - she was around 6 weeks or so. The second was taken this weekend, October 4 (to mark by events, the afternoon of Nuit Blanche) at roughly the same place outside St Lawrence Market. She's approximately 5 1/2 months, nearly 6 months.

So that's how big she is now. Happy October!

Geeky September Song

Greetings V-fans!

Summer does not linger long, and we are now into the "roll up your sleeves and get back to work" spirit of September. Done is the mad dash travels and lazy cottage days - it's time to get down the the serious business of turning five months old next week. With age comes wisdom and responsibility, so I thought we should take a few moments to detail the new features being launched with Miz V 5.0...and to be as geeky as possible, I shall name them as D&D character traits (without numeric values, as I can't find my dice).

First, Physical Abilities:

Strength: Big leaps forward here - recent accomplishments include: holding up her own head, pushing up her upper body when lying on her stomach, pulling L's hair very hard until she yelled a bad word, pulling on fingers to sit up, and kicking a very heavy cookbook off the counter.

Dexterity: This area shows the greatest advancements and promises big things in the coming months. Notable achievements include: grabbing things with one hand, transferring objects from one hand to another, balancing on two feet with adult support, putting things directly in her mouth without passing Go or collecting $200 (she prefers her fingers to soothers, so she seems to have made hand/eye coordination something of a developmental priority), balancing in a seated position with adult support, actual jumping in the Jolly Jumper, attempting to use the front of the adult holding her as a rockwall for experiments in unharnessed climbing.

Constitution: Praise whoever, she's still very healthy and strong. She is teething with a vengeance though...nothing broken through, but it's clearly no fun to have bones trying to cut soft tissue. She chews on a lot of books and blankets. She's enjoying sleep early and often, much to our delight, and eats her fill frequently. Solid food introduction is just around the corner...

And Mental Traits:

Intelligence: She's a pretty thoughtful little gremlin. Time will tell the quality and calibre of those thoughts, but she is very alert and interested in everything going on around her. She does not brook boredom, however, and feels that at her advanced age she has already learned everything she possibly can from car rides, and therefore demands more rigorous intellectual stimulation. At the top of her lungs. Robust, little lungs.

Charisma: Strangers everywhere come up to her and declare her adorable. Some people actually thought she was a doll (which makes me look like a crazy lady who pushes around dolls in strollers, but I digress). She's quite good tempered, still likes meeting people, and is generous with her smiles. She does do grumpy very well too, especially in the afternoons, but overall she's pretty cool.

Wisdom: We're waiting on her words of wisdom, but she's working towards a communication system. She has mastered Dolphin squeaks and has progressed to call and echo raspberry conversations. Also new this fall - consonant and vowel sounds (voluntary and involuntary) such as Doo and Gah!

Based on this, she's probably a Mage or a Thief. We'll wait til she can consult a manual herself to declare a major like that.

As for Alignment, the jury's still out. But my money's on Chaotic Neutral - she'll keep you guessing til the end.