half way around the sun

The Thursday after our last post, Ofelia started daycare. Two days a week - parents have lives too, right? One of our biggest fears of this exposure was her still-building immunity. Sure enough, come Sunday she had a fever. Her first fever! Stay calm... it's normal... it's just the body's way of fighting off viruses... stay calm... We were at the emergency room just after midnight. Hospital staff chuckled pleasantly before sending us off. It never developed into a real cold. Despite this, we kept her home the following week to let her system recuperate. Fiki loves daycare. The facility is warm and friendly. They play bird songs in the infant room at nap time. Fiki doesn't usually nap long during the day. She loves to play with the other babies and is always happy when I come to get her in the afternoon. Favorite activities include looking at people & smiling, floor time, and the bouncer. Yes, she's quite the bouncer these days! Not inclined to crawl, Fiki's moving straight to walking. While she can't stand up by herself yet, she's definitely comfortable upright and stands readily with support. She's also sitting very strong these days (although tumbles are still common). Her attitude and attention have seen much development. No longer content to lay around for any length of time staring at things, Fiki loves to be on the go. Go go go! Walks, drives, new places, these are the things that soothe and interest her. She had a blast on our first road trip! We went to Santa Fe to visit our friend Rachelle and explore the land. We saw piggies, collected rocks on the banks of the Rio Grande, and danced as a matter of course! Shortly after our return, I started signing to Fiki, simple things like "Milk" and "wash" and "walk" and "light". She hasn't signed back yet. Spoken language must be difficult with swollen gums, because Ofelia still just coos, squeals, laughs, and mumbles her grumbles incoherently. But since we've been a family for so long - a whole six months! - we understand one another just fine.