Fortnight (of months)

Is a fortnight 14 nights? I think so. Maybe I'm wrong. Dr. Google, won't you help?

Either way, Chou is 14 months old today.

It's been an interesting month. We've settled in here in our new town in our temporary digs, waiting on a house. In just over a week, Chou will have a gigantic yard, her own park really, and her crib and oodles of toys back. She'll also have her clothes, thank goodness, because she's probably grown a solid two cm in the last six weeks. When we got here she could walk under the table. A week a go, the top of her crown grazed the bottom of the glass. Today she officially rubs the top of her head.

At 14 months, Chou is finally getting some chompers. Two more on the top broke through this week, bringing the total to six. Not like she cares - she'll eat an apple like a grown up and mows down everything we put in front of her. Her favorite right now is Indian food, hard boiled eggs, hummus, apples (the core especially) and cottage cheese. Oh, the cottage cheese we are running through! It's nuts. Well, not literally. She also usually insists on her own spoon and is surprisingly good at feeding herself most things.

She has mastered the head shake and nod, though seems to use them at random and appropriate times. She says No with a head shake that simply makes me giggle it's so adorable. She's taking in far more than we are aware of and will follow very specific directions. She knows the names of all her toys and will fetch the correct one when asked. She also uses everything as a phone - remotes, real phones, a shoe, a cloth, all become phones so she can say hello.

Ah, and buttons. She's mastered turning off the TV, changing the channel and running away and hitting redial while I'm on the phone. She loves to put everything down my shirt - blocks, apple cores, remotes - you name it. She loves to read too. I love how she'll choose a book and proceed to climb on to my lap, not matter how indisposed I may be. She will sit, turning the pages, maybe paying attention, maybe not, snuggled on my lap through countless reads of Miss Spider's ABCs. It's the closest we get to really snuggling, although she has started the most adorable giving of hugs, where she lays her tow head on your shoulder, wraps her chubby hands around your neck and squeezes with all her might. I breathe her in, loving every moment.

Chou is thriving at her daycare. She has a 2-year old boyfriend whom she kisses hello each morning. He tries to run, but it's futile. She's so happy when I arrive to pick her up, I almost don't want to take her home, just to let her play longer. I feel so lucky to have found this.

And her newest trick has me shaking my head and sprouting gray hairs. Not only can she climb ON the couch, but she can also get off the couch. Only, simply slithering off the couch will not do. She must LEAP. She literally will take a running jump off the couch so long as there's a folded blanket at the bottom to cushion her blow.

We're in trouble once we get back to the hardwoods.