****Sad Note****
I don't know how many people have been following the progress of Dawn's conjoined twins, linked on my sidebar under "baby blogs," but there is a sad update today. Following a prolonged chain of serious health issues, they passed away last night. I am in tears for them, and for their family, and just pray that they are somewhere wonderful now. Nobody will ever understand why their short lives had to be so troubled, but I don't think anybody can dispute that their troubled lives touched so many other people it was incredible. The fact that they got to live at all, and know the love of their parents, siblings and incredible doctors is simply a miracle.

Say a little prayer today, if you do such things, for them and for their family. Such innocence, lost so young. :( I really believe a loving spirit had wide-open arms, welcoming them to a pain-free, euphoric eternity.

Edited to add: Below are links to major news stories regarding the twins today. If you want further information about them, there are some good details in these.
CNN
Fox News
ABC News
MSNBC
Reuters
Salon.com
Associated Press

+ Sicko +
You were sent home from daycare yesterday for coughing. Bah. We went to the doctor, and your lungs are fine, you're not really sick, but you do have a borderline ear infection. The doctor gave us antibiotics for that, and I am giving you some Simply Cough for the cough (which is probably from drainage). We shipped you back off to school today, so hopefully you stay there and feel better.

+ Fun morning +
I did an interview with a reporter doing an article for TIME Magazine about baby blogging this morning. Wheee! It was interesting, and I hope I had some good answers for her. It was interesting to think in a more detached way about this journal for a while. I forget some of the reasons I started it, and some of the wonderful things that have happened and people I've met along the way. It was a nice chance to reminisce and hopefully provided some useful material for her article. It'll be online and in subscriber copies of the magazine, so you can rest assured I'll link it here when it's published.

Anyway... I installed the car seat last night. It's definitely bigger than the one we were borrowing from Grandma. But I like it. I hope I have it in tight enough. There's a free car seat clinic on Saturday Feb. 7th and we're signed up for an 8 a.m. appointment to inspect it. I really want them to tell me I did a great job with it and it needs no modifications. That would make me feel great!

A couple more steps last night, but nothing monumental. You were silly and playful, though. And PICKY. You will no longer eat diced pears. What's up with that?! You had some more cow's milk, so that's getting better too. You also have a bit of a cough going on that's driving me pretty crazy.

+ So sweet! +
You've been hugging your stuffed animals - and us - for a while now. But I just read this in your weekly development update on American Baby, and it really did almost make me cry. You are so lovey-dovey with most things, I guess it probably does reflect how we handle you. Daddy and I both shower you with hugs and kisses constantly:

"Moms, dads, and siblings aren't the only recipients of baby's love at this point. She'll hug or lie on top of other toddlers, and will even behave tenderly toward her favorite toys. The capacity to love and nurture is a direct imitation of your behavior toward her, so take it as a compliment--it means you're one heck of a mom."

+ These jammies were made for walking +
Indeedy, my little walking baby, you took a handful of little steps last night. And you did it from daddy to me, so we got to see it together! Hoorah! We practiced several times, and one time you took almost 3 steps. It was terribly exciting and you were showered with praises and kisses (not that that's anything unusual of course). It was wonderful. I think for sure you'll be walking little bits by your birthday. Amazing!

Your two little outside teeth are currently being blamed for some of your crankiness lately. Something has to be the culprit, and they seem worthy of blame. There are little pointy spots there, and I can't investigate closely unfortunately. Every time I try to look you either flip your head back and out of reach or clamp down and bite me! Ouch!

But you did sleep through the night last night for the first time in about a week, so thank you for that. Considering I went to bed with a near-migraine, you picked a good night to sleep through. I woke up feeling much better.

You also willingly consumed cow's milk (whole milk) last night for the first real time. You sipped a little a week or so ago, but last night you were actually interested enough in it to keep grabbing the bottle and genuinely sucking/drinking. I'd say you drank about 2 oz. or so. No adverse effects, so far. I'm hoping to get you used to it, then put it in a sippy cup in a week or two and start getting you used to that. My goal for no more formula ASAP still stands. We'll see!

+ More pointing +
Yeah, the pointing has taken on new dimensions already. You played a fun game with daddy last night. It involved pointing in succession at each and every toy on your toy-shelf in the living room. Daddy dutifully took each toy down, handed it to you and helped you play with it. Then you would point to the next, which he would retrieve, and on and on. It was really cute.

I just heard from daddy, and checked the UPS website and it looks like your Britax Marathon has arrived! Ohhh, I can't wait to get home, open it up, play with it and install it. Why oh why am I so excited about a car seat? Crazy!

Of course, I'm battling a borderline migraine so I might just open it, drink a glass of water and fall asleep. We're supposed to go to Mommy & Me tonight, so I hope I can shake this headache or it's not happening! Pooh!

+ Dah-Dee! +
Yeah, I don't know if you mean it or not, but you definitely say it. I think you mean it. And if I ask you "Where's Daddy?" or "Where's the doggie?" you will point. Not 100% of the time, but often enough that I know you know what you're doing. You like to point, and if you are being held and you see something you want, you will point at it until we put you down and let you go for it. Cute!

You're standing, but only if you don't realize you're doing it. You get carried away with toys and before you know it, you're not holding onto anything. Once you look at your hands and the table (or legs or whatever you were supporting yourself with), and realize you're not holding on, you fall right down. Silly girl. You can walk quite well with only one hand of support now, and no hand-support is surely right around the corner.

You were super-cranky yesterday, and very clingy. I hope you're not getting sick, but you slept on me a grand total of about 2 hours during the day yesterday. And I have to admit, I love it when you sleep on me. I get nothing done, I can't even pee... But to have you cuddle up on my shoulder, cradling your butt in my hand and your pretty sleepy face "looking" up at me... Well, that's just about the sweetest way to pass a day I could think of.