Elena was evaluated for development delay in early July and their prognosis was yes, she was about three months behind but they believed she'd catch up. She has spent the two months since their diagnosis proving them right on the money. She took her first steps shortly after that and graduated to the path of the full-time walker by the end of July. She is now exploding with words and phrases, my favorite being "Brush teeth!" which she often says, trailing one of us into the bathroom. She is also a very enthusiastic eater, holding her hand out or straddling the legs of her high chair screeching "Eat!" when she's hungry. She's not so into healthy food which I find a little disappointing, but she goes nuts when you come into the room carrying a box of pizza.
Her body has changed, her legs lengthening and her tummy shrinking just a little. She still has the roundness of a baby and looks about three months younger than her 16 months, but she is beginning to look more and more like a sturdy-legged, happy toddler.
An old friend recently said of Lena, "she seems to have the laughing thing down." Blowing bubbles, funny noises, silly songs, tummy kisses, any of these things can elicit lovely little giggles from my Lena Loo.
And then on top of all this joy, this kid is still a fantastic sleeper. She still naps twice a day and sleeps through the night most nights. Eliza started Kindergarten this week and with it came my plan to get Elena down to one nap per day but now my work schedule might hinder this until the end of September.
In my world, I didn't get that feature I was up for which was a relief. The script supervisor on "White Collar" has had some family/work issues so I've kind of stepped in, kind of. They've offered me the final two episodes of the season but I'm trying to work out a schedule with the current scripty that we share the last three weeks. We seem to have worked out the next two weeks, leaving only the final week to schedule but it this works out, I'll grab enough work days to not enjoy some idle time in October. The long commute and leaving the kids with my mother isn't quite working out so I hope to spend the next few months really zeroing in on another way to earn money. I'm also planning to apply for a graduate program I won't get into--not that it would lead to a job but it would feel like I'm moving in a forward direction.
I've been working a lot lately but next week, I only work two days leaving me some time to enjoy the last of these fine warm days with my two girls and for that I am entirely grateful.
