Announcement for Chapter 9: 7/28/02

At long last, there are now 21 new photos [age 18-23 months] on Sarah's web site,, in the latest chapter, "Chapter 9: Big Toddler: In Which Our Heroine Informs Us, 'I NOT a Baby! I a BigToddlerBoy!'"

This chapter highlights this spring and summer's events, including Passover, the Solstice Parade, Pride, and the 4th of July.

The biggest changes since February are that Sarah not only walks but runs, skips, jumps, and can kick a soccer ball. Most of all, she now talks like a BigToddlerBoy, using an astonishing variety of 5- and 6-word sentences and sentence combinations (such as that interesting quote about her gender). As befits royalty, she often employs an imperious tone ("Mama get this!"). We strive to make her reflexively append "please" and "thank you" to these demands, hoping to ingrain the habit befire she's old enough to object.

She still remembers her signs, but only uses them now for emphasis; for example, she impatiently signs "swings!" if we're being particularly pokey when going out the door, and her fervent admonishments of "Park! I want to go the the park!" do not appear to be getting through our thick skulls. Parents are so slow...

Sarah has recently become interested in puzzles, and in making block towers and sandcastles (and not merely to knock them down). She remains very loyal to her dolls (Bubbeleh, Dolly, Pizza Baby, and Music Baby) and carefully takes their temperatures and listens to their chests with her doctor's kit. She continues to love all kinds of books, and has developed a passion for all of the Winnie The Pooh characters, particularly the most elusive one, Christopher Robin. We taught her how to play Poohsticks at Carkeek Park. And, of course, she still loves playgrounds, swings, and slides, especially when she can enjoy them with her friends from our playgroup, Jojia, Cecilia, and Sarah Kate. She continues to grow into a delightful and fascinating little person, and we remain her very lucky moms.