Our not-quite-toddling Toddler!

In the midst of our relocation transition, our baby is growing up!  Lucy is 15 1/2 months now and is such a fun little creature these days.

- She's still scooting primarily, but she'll also crawl and pull up on things.  She's starting to cruise a little bit along the couch.  We pull the cushions off the couch by the window, and she crawls up them and stands on the couch to look out the window and cruise around.  It is soft and cushy and she can point out trees or dogs or bugs or flowers out the window.  She's occasionally dropping down to flat-footed standing now, but she still usually stands or walks (with help) on tip toes
- The biggest physical development in the last month is her use of silverware.  She's suddenly become a master of spoons and forks!  I didn't know if she was quite ready when she was asking for one, but she got it down very quickly.  So, usually these days her meals involve her own spoon/fork plus my spoon shoveling in bites between the ones she navigates herself.  She's loving pasta, watermelon, quesadilla, crepes, ice cream, yogurt, turkey, and she even had a few sips of milk without spitting it out (finally).
- Probably the most fun part of life w/ Lucy right now is her language development and the way she'll mimic us.  She has a lot of words these days plus she's willing to say just about anything we ask her to say.  My favorite recently was when we asked for her to say "Costco".  Too cute.  The other day I asked the kids who wanted to check the mail.  Isaiah said, "I do!" and Lucy repeated "I do!"  She didn't really know what she was saying, but seriously, "I doooo" in her little voice is about the cutest thing you can imagine.  She surprised us with the word "giraffe" the other day.  We also really like the way she says, "Oh, Baby" "Oh, Man!" and "oatmeal."  I know she says a lot that we miss, too.
- She has fallen in love with "The Wheels on the Bus".  Pretty much every time I sit her on my lap facing me, she asks to sing it by doing the wheel motion with her hands.  I ask if she wants to sing and she gives a big, enthusiastic nod.
- Oh yeah.  She's a great nodder and that is a crucial way we communicate these days.  Are you asking for a drink?  Nod.  Are you looking at a bug?  Nod.  Are you saying you want a pretzel?  Nod.  Are you ready for night night?  Nod.  She shakes her head for no, but that one gets more confused.
- She loves reading books.  She says book ("bk") and brings us books all day long.
- She goes to bed at 7:30ish, nurses at 4am, and then sleeps until about 6:30.  She naps twice a day, usually 1-2 hours each time.
- Her hair is getting longer and has some little curls to it.  It's long enough for ponytails now!  She melts my heart in ponytails.
- I've succumbed to giving her some of her own tv time.  She gets to watch Praise Baby or a Baby Einstein movie when I'm making dinner or just needing her to be still somewhere for a few minutes.  She really prefers to watch it with other people and the kids are usually more than glad to watch with her.  She points and then looks at one of us to show us.  She'll laugh or squeal with delight!  "Can you believe it?  It's a puppy splashing in a puddle!  So wonderful and funny!"  Somehow she's started covering her mouth and squinting when she laughs.  Pretty cute.
- She's adding to her 4 teeth.  Right now she's cutting at least 2 more bottom front teeth and a molar.
- Finally, our favorite Lucy trick right now is "Incredible Hulk"  She strains her face and muscles and is very cute.  Hard to explain, but it was something she started doing on her own and we attached it to the command "Incredible Hulk".  We're plotting about getting it on America's Funniest Home Videos and earning $10k.
Here's a few pics from today.  You'll just have to look past how blurry they are.  She doesn't sit still for long.

"Incredible Hulk"

This is how she laughs when she knows something is funny and we're all laughing -