Miriam at 13 months

Rachel was too sick to go to church today so she stayed home with Grandma and we took Miriam thinking we'd have a nice, relaxing Sunday without having to worry about children squabbling over crayons and toys or hitting, pinching, hair-pulling, and fights over who gets to sit in mom's lap. And we were right about that part, really, because we didn't have any of that this week. But it wasn't a nice, relaxing Sunday at church because today was the day Miriam decided to start walking.

We couldn't hold her or carry her or rely on her to sit in one place. She was up and moving all day.

During primary she was playing in the back of the room. My friend April pulled out some balls and Miriam was chasing them around—on two feet. And then April's little guy came in to toddle around. He stole one of the balls Meme was playing with and she totally chased him down. Well, she kind of totally chased him down. Since she just started walking today she was wobbling all over the place while he was literally running circles around her. April made him give the ball back because the look on Miriam's face was pitiable.

She's to the point now, though, that counting steps is pointless. We're talking room-crossing feats, dozens of steps at a time.

And to think...yesterday she was up to eight steps. Maybe this is what they mean when they say "growing by leaps and bounds."

Miriam is also talking a lot more and being more communicative in general.

Yesterday she was signing "more" at me but I didn't know why so I started asking her questions about what she wanted more of.

"Mama!" she said, still signing more.

So I picked her up and she gave me a big hug. And it was awesome.

She can also shake her head "no" and nod "yes," though sometimes her answers are confusing. She is pretty consistent about shaking her head no if we say the word "don't." Along with head gestures she has learned willful disobedience. She has started to crawl away from us when we tell her "Come here," and will pause in her crawling to shake her head "no" before continuing on down the hall. I don't know yet if she can shake her head while walking. Her balance isn't that great yet so I'm not sure that she can.

Miriam can also say:

Buh (book)
Nuh (nurse)
Muh (more)
Duck
Nose
Cuhcuh (cracker)
Cheese
Wazza (What is this?)
Dat (that)
Mama
Dada
Hohoho

She can also:

Woof
Meow
Quack
Moo
Baa
Roar
Trumpet like an elephant and wave bye-bye, as well as make any number of  unintelligible gestures and sounds. Most anything she can't fully communicate is summed up with one syllable: uh! We hear that all day long.

Sometimes it will be accompanied by an object. She'll bring me a cup and say "Uh! Uh! Uh!" or she'll bring me the diaper rash cream and say "Uh! Uh! Uh!" (true story; it happened yesterday; and, yes, she does have a bit of a rash right now, which was apparently bothering her) or she'll hold up her dish at dinner and say "Uh! Uh! Uh!" or she'll stand by the baby gate and say "Uh! Uh! Uh!" or she'll point to something she wants and say "Uh! Uh! Uh!"

One day those "uhs" will be replaced with real words. The debate is whether that will be less annoying or not...