Mari & Ilna: What can I say? I'm enjoying this adventure every bit as much as I was on day one. Maybe more.

REAL Worlders-thanks for all the enthusiastic support. You guys are the best.

Unexpected shakeup in the schedule today, but we are nothing if not flexible. Ilna is a little under the weather so you get me instead.

That's New (1/1)

As Steve entered the kitchenhis eyes were drawn immediately to his daughter who was sitting in her high chair, lips squeezed tightly together, scowl firmly in place. When Catherine moved a spoonful of pureed apricots towards her mouth Angie turned her head away and grunted.

"Someone not in the mood for breakfast this morning?" he asked.

"Apparently not." Catherine made another attempt, but Angie pushed the spoon away. "I made the mistake of giving her a bite of my bagel earlier and now she wants that instead of her apricots."

She returned the small spoon to the dish of fruit and Angie, sensing victory might be near, made a grabby hands gesture towards the bagel sitting on the island.

"Want me to try?" Steve asked as he poured himself a cup of coffee.

"Thanks." Catherine stood and kissed him on the cheek. "Maybe you'll have better luck."

Steve took a seat on the stool in front of Angie and beamed at her. "How about a few more bites of apricot and then you can have some bagel?"

Angie pursed her lips and shook her head from side to side.

Steve looked at Catherine then back at Angie.

"Come on, just a few bites," he said as he tapped the spoon on the side of the bowl.

Once again Angie shook her head from side to side.

Steve looked at Catherine. "Has she ever done that before?"

"Not with me," Catherine said. "I think our daughter has discovered how to say no."

Once again Angie reached for the bagel.

"That's a good thing though," Steve said. "According to the book that means she's starting to define herself as her own person and learning what she likes and doesn't like."

"It's definitely a good thing," Catherine smiled. "But it will also mean some new challenges."

"We have to learn to pick our battles."

"Exactly." Catherine took a bite of her bagel and handed the last piece to Steve. "And this morning I choose not to make breakfast a battle.

Steve's eyes danced and he grinned. "This is also an opportunity," he said as he scraped the cream cheese off the bagel with his finger, spooned a small dollop of pureed fruit in its place, then replaced the cream cheese on top of it, "for us to practice our covert ops."

He broke the bagel into several small pieces and placed them on Angie's tray. She immediately grabbed a piece and placed it in her mouth with a gummy smile.

"Until she gets smart enough to figure out what we're doing," Catherine chuckled.

Steve beamed as Angie grabbed another piece of bagel and offered it to him.

"There's two of us and one of her." He took the bagel with an exaggerated 'thank you' and put it in his mouth. "We should have a year or two at least."

Catherine's assistant Jen bounced Angie happily in her lap as they waited for Catherine to return from a meeting. "You are getting so big," she said in a sing-song voice. "I was only off a week for vacation and I swear you grew three inches while I was gone."

Esther had dropped by for a quick visit after storytime at the library. She and Angie had a date with Kamekona for lunch but since they had an hour or so to kill decided to visit mommy instead of heading back to the beach house.

"Can you show Jen the new thing we've been working on?" Esther said in an upbeat tone that made Angie turn towards her and smile. 'Where's your nose? Show Jen your nose!"

Angie hesitated just a second then looked at Jen and giggled when her finger found the end of her nose.

"There it is!" Esther and Jen said in unison.

Angie bounced happily then reached out with her free hand and grabbed Jen's nose.

"And there's Jen nose!" Esther squealed. "Very good!"

Jen tickled the happy baby's tummy. "You're such a smart girl."

"Well, I have to say I agree," Catherine said as she and Lea entered the office. "But what is it my brilliant daughter did this time?"

"Mamamamama." Angie held out her hands immediately and Catherine lifted her from Jen's lap and kissed her cheek.

"Identified both her nose and Jen's," Esther reported proudly.

"You are a smart girl, aren't you?" Catherine smiled as Angie grabbed a fistful of her hair. "I'm so glad you stopped by to see me before your big lunch date."

Lea looked at her watch. "Speaking of lunch dates, I have one with the budget steering committee, so I better get going."

"Tell the governor bye bye," Catherine encouraged Angie. "Bye bye."

Angie stuffed one hand in her mouth and waved the other towards Lea.

"Bye bye." Lea laughed as she waved back at Angie then looked at Catherine. "When did she start waving?"

"She's been doing it for about a week now," Catherine said. "Up until now mostly just when Cammie leaves a room or enters one."

Lea barked a laugh. "I feel honored to rate the same treatment Cammie gets."

Steve and Catherine sat on the living room on either side of the playmat which Angie had abandoned almost immediately after being placed on it in favor of exploring the rest of the living room.

Cammie stood guard a few feet away ready to block access to both the stairs and the front door as needed.

"She's really starting to notice everything around her," Catherine smiled as Angie studied the material on the ottoman carefully.

"When you were on the phone with Carrie she spent at least two minutes watching an ant crawl across the deck," Steve said. "Never tried to grab it … just watched."

He retrieved a new set of brightly colored stacking blocks Nonna had sent from the side table and showed them to Angie who turned and crawled towards him babbling happily.

"She was fascinated by Jen's desk today." Catherine smiled at the memory. "She wanted to touch everything. Jen showed her how to buzz the intercom, and type on the keyboard, and open the top drawer and Angie just couldn't get enough."

"That's why I have to make sure I get the activity wall in the playroom just right," Steve said earnestly as he stacked the blocks for Angie. "I want it to spur her imagination in as many ways as possible. Not just letters and numbers and shapes and animals but puzzles and mazes and locks and things that make light up and things that make noise."

"It sounds amazing." Catherine leaned over and kissed him just as Angie waved her arms and sent the stack of blocks tumbling to the ground. "I'm sure she'll love it."

Angie babbled softly as she crawled off in pursuit of one of the blocks that had rolled off towards the coffee. She lifted it up, examined it carefully, tested to see if it would fit in her mouth, then dropped it and turned her attention to the coffee table.

She gripped the edge and as Catherine and Steve watched in stunned surprise she lifted herself very slowly into the standing position.

"That's new," Steve said softly so as not to startle her.

When she realized what she had done she turned towards her parents smiling broadly Their excited reactions in return caused her to remove her hands from the table's edge and clap them together which resulted in her immediately dropping back down to the floor with a soft thud.

"That's my big girl." Catherine celebrated as Angie flailed her arms happily.

Steve beamed. "She's gonna be ready for the obstacle course in no time."

THE END

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