It's Happening.

Pimento is starting to talk, gesticulate, and stand on her own.

Granted, the three "words" that I've understood so far (all today!) are variations on the "ee-ee" theme.  Kitty, doggy, and pretty.  I should probably count "mama" and "dada" too, since she says them frequently enough, though I've dismissed them both as baby babble for a while.

Her greeting gesture is an open-closed-open-closed fist, and it's the same motion for animals or people.  She mixes in waving, sometimes with both arms flailing together.  Flapping.  She is the Little Bird, after all.

I'm trying to be consistent about teaching her sign language for things like "eat", "more" and even "diaper change", while infrequently remembering to sign "drink", "light" and other notables.  She may have attempted to sign back, though it's a work in progress and I can't say for certain.

There can be no doubt, however, that her desire to communicate is strong.
"Ahhhhhhhhh!" she yells, "I have something to saaaaaay!"

The surprise of her standing on her own coincided with her desire for big sister's awesome new toy, a Lite Sprite.  This ingenius playset comes with a "magic wand" that uses an electronic sensor to collect color from anything, display it, and then transfer said color (from up to seven feet away!) to a little plastic fairy with LED lights inside.  Really cool stuff, and it gives Peach a huge thrill to have that kind of power.
 
Anyone who has ever encouraged their babe to crawl by placing an expensive electronic device just out of reach will be familiar with the sudden inspiration to achieve milestones when there's something verboten nearby.  And so, she let go of my fingers and reached eagerly with both hands, stable on her own and ignorant of the expected-but-missing support.

I have no doubt the colorful, flashing, light-up toy in question (which Peach is enamored with and not eager to share) will be all the motivation Pimento needs to start walking.  Which leads to running.    

Oh, God.

Culinations

Peach helped me whip up our first pumpkin pie of the season this afternoon, while Pimento supervised from her perch in the Baby Bjorn.

This was less than four hours ago, and the pie is already half gone.  I'll admit to doing the most damage, but I count pumpkin as a veggie, so it's practically health food... Right?

Inspired by our collaborative efforts, Peach invented her first original recipe.

"Whatever you make, you have to try," I sagely advised.
"No, you can just try it for me and tell me what it tastes like."

Eventually she conceded to trying it, as long as we did it at the same time.  And then the creation commenced.

She carefully mixed sugar, cinnamon, Reddi-Wip, and shredded cheddar and then lovingly pressed the mixture into a mini-muffin tin and handed it off for a round in the already-hot oven.  A few minutes later, they were brown and bubbly.

She dubbed them Daffodil Daisies. They tasted like Candied Cheese.

Little Pimento had a taste, too.  And was the only one who wanted more.