Walking, Talking. You Know, Being Awesome.

I got an email from my cousin Peggy today saying she loves the recent pictures, and that she's sure if Bine were walking I'd OBVIOUSLY have shared that information immediately.

Um...well...

We have a good excuse, honest. She's been doing a little step or two here and there for some time now. I think the first was in Colorado? But in the north of Norway, with that fresh mountain/sheep-poop air and lots of time to contemplate her goals in life, she took it to a different level. Trouble was we didn't have fast enough internet to share.

As for her vocabulary, the first official word came out on the plane from Newark to Oslo. We were taking off and Bine suddenly stopped nursing, looked up into my eyes and said, "HI!", in a very chipper little Bine voice. She's happily used that word (and tone) at least 7,000 times since, always charming whatever stranger she's encountering and sometimes managing to postpone bedtime because it is just so damn cute.

Since then she's added "takk" (Norwegian for thank you), "bop" (baby/doll), and "up." If you ask her what Bine says she answers "Oooooooh." When asked what pappa says she laughs and tucks her head down because she knows the answer is "Now I'm coming to eat you up!" in a scary pappa bear voice, accompanied by tickling and neck-gobbling.

Here, ladies and germs, is our almost-one-year-old daughter walking and saying words.