Lego City

We recently went to see this very cool Lego city. According to the promotional materials, the cityscape had approximately half a million bricks and took one builder 500 hours to create.



It's the DragonCon parade, going down the streets of Atlanta! (And what a clever way to use so many Lego figures.)



Juniper was entranced and delighted with the whole exhibit and especially loved the Lego food.



Aaron is overjoyed that he has been able to pass on his childhood love of Lego to Juniper.

Walking!

Hazel took her first tentative, unsupported steps on Monday. She was free standing and holding a toy that she didn't want to put down and was just far enough away from me that she couldn't quite reach me. When she wanted to come to me, she looked down at the ground--obviously thinking about dropping the toy and crawling. And then she took two and a half wavering steps and plopped down in my lap, toy still in hand. She looked pretty excited about her accomplishment, but maybe that's me reading my own pride into her expression. She's had a few repeat performances, always just a few steps at a time, and never when Aaron is looking. (Though both grandmothers have seen her in action and can vouch for her brand new skill.)

A great day for UP

Fernbank adventures

Over the holidays, the Fernbank Science Museum had some performances and decorations celebrating different cultures around the world. Juniper joined in with other kids in learning some dance moves from an African dance company. She was about two steps behind, but that didn't stop her from having a blast. This is a photo that's worth opening full size; I don't think you can see her giant smile in the small photo on the blog.



Hazel is now old enough to be aware of and interested in new and unusual things that she sees.



There was lots of pointing and exclamations of "boah!" which is her standard way of indicating "that things there!"

Moa, mama

At 14 months, Hazel has two words and several signs. Her first spoken word (mastered right around the start of the new year) is mama; she pronounces it clearly and uses it correctly. Her second word is more, which sounds like "moa" when she says it. Moa means more, and it also functions as an all purpose statement of want. She'll point at something interesting (a book, her doll, my phone) and demand "moa, moa, moa" until she gets what she wants or is successfully distracted with something else.

For a while, she has known the signs for milk, food, more, and all done. As of tonight, she apparently also knows bath. After dinner, she started patting her belly and trying to take her shirt off while saying "moa, moa, moa." (The sign for bath is to make a thumbs-up fist and scrub your chest, so belly-patting is a reasonable baby approximation.) She was delighted when Aaron figured out what she was telling us and started her bath.

Hip hip hooray for communication!

Our very own Crumpet

It is officially the end of the Christmas season in the Honeycutt-Dill household. We took down our tree today.