Can you handle more video?

I'm on a roll. More video! (Apologies for inane commentary by Mama in most of these videos.)

In which Iris helps Daddy play the guitar (this was in February):

This one is recent. In which Iris drops her truck and retrieves it:

This is from our March visit to Iris's great-grandparents in Virginia. Here, Iris demonstrates her excellent yoga form:

More downward facing dog, complemented by banging some balls:

Phew. I think that's enouugh video for now.

Matt just called to tell me that Iris just walked across her room for the first time this morning!

Videos!

Hello bog readers. I am finally getting video up! I figured out that if I upload them at work, the connection is fast enough. So, without further ado, a selection of Iris-themed videos from the last month or two:

Iris "walking" with Mama in the back yard:

Iris at the dinner table (the melt-down at the end was unexplained and didn't last long):

Iris playing in a pile of cards:

Spring Is Here

The past few weeks have been beautiful: the flowers are blooming, the grass is growing, the days are getting longer.

Iris now walks everywhere, holding onto one of our fingers. This is an improvement, as it is easier on our backs! She actually took her first steps on Saturday, although she hasn't repeated the feat since. We were very excited, of course.

Iris had her fifteen month appoitment recently, in which we learned that she is average height and weight, so that is good news.

A few photo highlights from recent weeks. More photos on flickr.

"Walking" with Mama in the backyard.

Toothy grin.

With her new friend Begemot. This was an Easter gift from the Eckelman-Brouhards. She loves her Begemot (Hippo in Russian) - snuggling with him and climbing on him.

Sitting on the glider, in a rainy day outfit.

Very excited at dinnertime. I have some video from this particular evening that I'll try to get up - she was being very vocal (i.e. loud)!

Swinging in the backyard with Mama.

Playing with an Easter Egg.

Happy Spring!

Spring is finally here and we are all enjoying it tremendously. Iris hits fifteen months this week. For the last three weeks she has been obsessed with walking, balancing on our fingertips. She hasn't taken any steps on her own yet, but we figure it's got to be soon. (We hope it's soon, as walking around with her is back-breaking!) It's been great to spend so much time outside. We've been working on our yard, curious to see what will grow and sprout and bloom that we didn't even know was there. We're also back to riding our bikes a lot, which is great. We take Iris to and from day-care in her bike trailer, which has been so great to have.

We took Iris to a neighborhood Easter Egg Hunt, where she met the Easter Bunny (she submitted to having her photo taken in the general vicinity of the Easter Bunny), and hunted for some eggs in the underbrush (we pointed her in the right direction). We also got to dye eggs and do some hiding and hunting of our own with the Eckelmen-Brouhards, who came to visit. Earlier, the Joneses came down and we had a nice visit with them.

Here are some photos:

Brian, John, Iris, Gwyneth and Karen in front of our house. You can kind of see the azaleas blooming.

Iris reaches for an egg, hidden on the ground.

Iris and the Easter Bunny

One of her favorite games lately - dump a ton of cards on the floor and sit in the middle of the pile, pushing them around. Sometimes she then starts putting them in a drawer. Very helpful.

Mama and Iris having lunch in the backyard on one of the first warm days!

Hannah and Iris go for a ride in the Burley.