Sixteen Months of Toddler Frances

Firsts: Frances can now locate her head, nose and eyes! She'll be speaking sonnets any day now. She has also started climbing into my lap to listen to books - I love this, of course.

Frequent comment: "Can you say hello?" The answer is "I can, but choose not to, so quit asking already." Someday...

Favorites: Pepperoni pizza and blueberries. The blueberries aren't strictly part of the high-calorie, high-fat diet that Frances is supposed to be on, so we mix them with full-fat yogurt and, man, can she pack them away. This warms my heart as it feeds into my Blueberries for Sal fantasies.

Health status: Much better! The never-ending cold seems to have, in fact, ended. And I believe she's gained weight since her pediatrician expressed concern but we won't know for sure for another week when we return for an official weigh-in.

One word to describe Frances this month: Helper, at least as best as she can. She helps empty the dishwasher, she helps fold quilts, and today she tried to help me make the bed, which took some determination since the pillows she was trying to place are as tall as she is. Way to strive, Frances!

Frances's greatest aspiration: Running. She tries, but mostly "running" means walking quickly while swinging her arms vigorously. Give her a couple weeks, she'll have it down.