Al's Audibles: All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth

I'm still not certain, but it seems that Kate is finally getting at least one of her two front teeth. Nothing has poked through yet, but it seems to be swollen and she has been cranky the last few days. What a lovely Christmas present. Maybe we'll be able to see it by Friday.

Besides little bouts of crankiness here and there, Kate has been such a joy lately. She is now 17 months old (and yes, still only has two teeth), and the last three or so weeks have been way too much fun.

*Though she's been in a front-facing car seat for over two months (she's still not 20 pounds), she still says, "WHEEEEE!" when we take off anywhere.
*Some switch went off in her head and she can talk. She can speak in sentences, most of which start with "I want". She frequently says things like, "I want some", "I want a bite", " I want candy", "I want juice", "I want Mommy", and "I want cookie". Though she refuses to drink anything but juice, she saw a drinking fountain last week and said, "I want water." I didn't even know she knew that word! When she asks for something, I always ask her what she says. Her reply is, "Please!" She also says, "Here!" every time she hands me something. Other things that have surprised me:
-She climbed onto the toilet seat and said, "Up high." I don't recall ever saying that to her.
-One day she was walking around the house looking for me, saying, "Mommy, ARE you?"
-She is still so clingy to me, but the other day as I was trying to sneak out to go to book club, she said, "Bye, Mommy!" and didn't cry at all.
-I was talking to my mom on the phone the other day and after I hung up, Kate said, "Bye, gama!" How did she know who I was talking to?
-Over a month ago I figured out how to get her to say words: just ask her what ____ says, and she'll repeat the word back to you (except if you say an animal. Then she'll tell you what that animal says). She is pretty good at repeating words and continues to get better.
-She can identify (meaning point to and say their names) all of the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse characters (I think she likes it better than her sister does), most of the Sesame Street characters, some of the princesses (Ariel, Belle, and 'White'), her grandmas and grandpas, and many of her cousins, aunts, and uncles.
*She got pretty sick a few weeks ago (as did I). All she wanted to do was sit on Mommy's lap all day. It was no fun having her sick, but I enjoyed snuggling with her all day long. Ada was very good during all of this, until she got sick. One night they took turns waking up crying, and Ada threw up in her bed. I took them to the doctor, and luckily it was not the wrath of the swine. I thought it was inevitable.
*She loves to throw things, especially down the stairs, and especially after she has grabbed them away from Ada.
*She has many nicknames. To me and other family members, she's still Baby Kate. To Ada, she's Katie, Katie Stinky, Kay, and Cake. To my mom, she's Katie Scarlett. I'm sure the list will continue to grow.

This picture was taken months ago, but it is a picture of Kate's first modeling job! Her aunt Alysia made the adorable tutu and she sells those and the leg warmers at a boutique in Ogden.