Fourteen months

and I almost missed it...Sept. 11, 2009. (Consider the date, and perhaps you won't blame me). Our girl is:

--standing up, but only briefly. It's as if she wants to feel totally and completely confident before she tries to take a step by herself. She is very comfortable walking holding mommy's and daddy's hands.

--babbling in a way that tells us words are near. We thought we heard her say, "Rachel" on her birthday. She says "dada" regularly and "mamamam" semi-regularly. It really does sound as if she's trying to talk, but the words are getting lost in the Babel Fish (those of you who are fans of "Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy" know what I'm talking about).

--showing an interest in puzzles, at least ones that are musical when you put the pieces together. She also loves putting things in bags and taking them out.

--a real comedian. The other day at the park, she put the empty toy bag on top of her head and I cracked up, she looked so funny!

--not throwing food to the floor as much as she used to. She will give something she doesn't want to eat to me or to Drew. And recently she figured out that we really, really like it when she puts her sippy cup in the cup holder on her high chair.

--having occasional meltdowns, which is frustrating because we can't always tell what's bothering her.

--growing teeth by the minute, it seems -- she has 12, including molars and incisors. Wow!

--still very interested in books, especially when mommy provides sound effects. She knows the page where mommy makes the most fun sound effects, and turns right to it to skip past the boring parts. We are very impressed.

--interested in everything that goes on in the kitchen, where she has a front seat from her high chair. The other night she couldn't take her eyes off me as I made a tomato tart. And when our friend Molly's daughter, 5-year-old Camilla, helped me make strawberry bread, Rachel was totally absorbed. She didn't fuss to get down at all!

--very cuddly. She has taken to leaning her body against mine when I read to her or when she's finishing up her last bottle of the night. I can't wait to read really long books to her when she's older and we can cuddle up on the living-room couch together next to a roaring fire...

--a daddy's girl when Drew is around. At those times, she shows very little interest in me unless she feels she needs a hug. Then it's back to daddy's chest. She stretches out his shirt to climb up.

--dancing. She rocks out to the music that her toys play. And sometimes she bounces when she's sitting on the floor. It's so cute!

--developing the oddest adult expressions. She's really beginning to look more like a girl and less like a baby. She still resembles Drew more than me, but her wavy brown hair is mine.

--waving goodbye. It's kind of a loose, hippy, see-ya-later-man kind of wave. Yes, she's an Oregonian.

Watching mommy sing

I spent most of this morning singing at a fundraiser at Pioneer Courthouse Square, Portland's wonderful open-air square downtown that is also known as Portland's Living Room. Pride of Portland got $3,000 from our local transit agency for our quartets to sing at the opening of the Green Line, the newest light-rail line that opened today.

It was festive, perfect weather, made even better by the fact that Drew brought Rachel and most people from chorus got to see her -- they always ask how she's doing when I go to rehearsal every week. Everyone admired how cute and tall (long?) she is. We went over to our fundraising table and noticed a picture of me holding Rachel during international competition in Hawaii. She looked so little! And unformed! Was she really ever that young?

I could see her practicing her latest trick: She stands up on her own for a couple of seconds, and then, instead of lurching forward and trying to walk, she plops back down. She does this several times a day. It's as if she's saying, "OK, mom and dad, I can stand up. Now I'm done impressing you for the day."

Rachel's eating fruit!

Not just berries, or slices of nectarines and plums. Yesterday, Drew called to report that Rachel was eating a whole plum for lunch! He had cut her some slices but she seemed to want the entire fruit. He gave her the plum, she dropped it on the high chair tray, then picked it up and ate it. The whole thing. Drew watched her closely to make sure she didn't swallow the pit.

Now I know why she won't eat the slices I cut up for her when Drew's gone. I thought it was because it was me feeding them to her rather than him. Now, I'll just hand her whole fruits (although I'll have to de-pit them before I hand them to her) and let her go to town.

Laughing girl

Drew came home on Thursday with a cute story from daycare. A little girl there, Sloane, made a funny face at Rachel and she started laughing. Rachel's laugh is so infectious that she made Sloane laugh. So then Sloane made another funny face at Rachel, and Rachel began laughing...the daycare ladies ended up watching them make each other laugh the whole afternoon!

Rachel's laugh IS infectious. She loves to throw back her head and invite us to tickle her neck. Then she throws her head into my chest and laughs. Then bends her head back again...I could spend HOURS making her laugh.

Rain, rain, rain

Right now my friend Molly and her two kids, Calvin and Camilla, are asleep on the couch. Marigold, the baby, is asleep upstairs. Rachel is asleep in her room.

We had a great day at OMSI yesterday. I only wish I'd had my camera because Camilla looked so cute climbing into the letters spelling out OMSI! She, Rachel and I spent most of our time together there while Molly and Calvin discovered the kids' play center on the second floor. As soon as we found them there, we joined them. Rachel had a ball diving into the plastic pool with balls inside. She was extremely cuddly yesterday -- kept crawling into my arms to be held!

We had takeout Mexican food for dinner, then the kids and Molly crashed. I crashed about two hours after putting Rachel down to sleep. She cried out once at around 1 a.m., but otherwise slept until 8 or so this morning.

It is still raining today -- I didn't quite expect to get the torrential blast that has been pounding the windows this afternoon -- and I've just finished researching our play options. Turns out there are at least three cool playparks within manageable driving distance of the house. Yay! As my friend Dan says, "tire them out." That's my goal today, so all of us sleep well tonight.

Dancin' Rachel

My daughter can't walk alone yet, but she can DANCE! She'll press some buttons on her toys that make music play, and she'll bounce -- either in a sitting position on the floor or standing up. It is so cute! My baby has RHYTHM!

Maybe she'll be my dance partner when she grows up, instead of Drew.

My friend Molly is coming to stay with us this weekend with her 7-year-old son, 5-year-old daughter and baby, who is one month younger than Rachel. Drew will be up in Seattle working a weekend shift, then relaxing at Bumbershoot.

Four kids, two mommies. Which side do YOU think will win??

No thank you, mommy

Rachel's latest trick: Shaking her head vigorously when she means "no." She started doing that Monday night and has kept it up ever since. I hold the food out to her, she shakes her head and lowers her eyes, and sometimes turns away.

No, I haven't seen the nod for "yes" yet.

We are trying to teach her not to throw her food on the floor and we have made some progress. When she doesn't like what I hold out to her, she puts it in my hand. Sometimes she's fickle -- if I leave my hand open, she'll sometimes take the morsel back and eat it. Most of the time, though, she means business. If she thinks I'm not getting the message, THEN she'll throw her food on the floor.

I think that's fair.

She also tends to throw her sippy cup on the floor - hurls it, really. But I've noticed an improvement this week. Now she'll hand it over nicely.

Whenever she behaves well, I'm always sure to say, "thank you, Rachel!" We are doing that to reinforce the behavior we approve of. When she has temper tantrums or does things we don't like (short of seriously injuring herself), we try to ignore the behavior or, at least, respond with a firm "no."

So far, it seems to be working.