We don’t have scientific proof, but everyone we’ve seen recently thinks Jocelyn is definitely in the middle of a growth spurt. Her clothes seem to agree, although she is sad to grow out of some of her favorites. Today, she’s wearing a colorful ensemble that was a gift from Nana & Papa.

The outift is definitely too small, but on the bright side … “Soon, these will be Capris.”

Music is a streaky thing in the Martin-Keller household. Jocelyn’s musical taste is very palatable, but it sometimes gets a little stale. Sometimes we listen to the same CD over-and-over again several days in a row.

This is easily Day 15 of “The Secret Garden” Original Broadway Cast soundtrack. Mary’s garden has bloomed many times now, and Uncle Archie’s life has been saved multiple times over. The music has even inspired our own garden to produce the first blooms of Spring: Bulbs have produced yellow daffodils and pink cyclamen, while our New Zealand Tea Tree’s pink flowers keep coming out. Apparently, our whole yard is indeed wick.

Someday, Felicia will sit peacefully in a chair for more than a few seconds. Until then, chairs have no purpose …. except for helping her walk. Big chairs, little chairs, rolling chairs, rocking chairs, high chairs …. it doesn’t matter. She pushes them all around the house while walking behind them. We have some fancy plastic walking toys cleverly designed for this purpose, but they have been rendered unnecessary. It’s much easier to grab the nearest chair and slide it along the hardwood floors.

They say history is written by the winners, and since I’m the one doing most of the blogging … I’ll also do some bragging: Felicia has uttered her first intelligible English word.

She clearly and consistently says “Da-Da” when seeing me or looking for me, irrefutably establishing those two syllables as her official first word. Read it and weep, Ja-Ja, Ma-Ma and Na-Na.

It appears to be official. One child won’t drink milk, and the other can’t. After a week of testing (following nearly a year of our “allergy hold”) Felicia’s allergy to milk has reappeared, which probably means it’s here to stay. Perhaps it is another shocking blow to her Wisconsin heritage.