Milly’s been trying to imitate things we say lately, to varying degrees of course.  I think she’s starting to try to say her own name now, which comes out as sort of a “Mih-mih.”  She first did it either when we were upstairs and she was looking in the full-length mirror or when we were walking downstairs looking at pictures.  I think it was the former, but I know she did it later in the nursery when Amanda was around.

After we put Milly to bed last night we watched Supernatural.  Amanda asked if I wanted to go ahead and watch Persons Unknown, but I was about beat and knew I’d fall asleep.  I did nod off, and at whatever point she went to bed she took care of me.  She let me stay on the couch instead of bugging me about going upstairs, put my phone (which was sitting in front of me on the couch) somewhere that it wouldn’t fall and covered me (and I think Bruce) up with a blanket.

Harvey woke me up by tramping down the stairs around 2:00 or 2:30.  I let him and Bruce out then took care of the same business they were taking care of before we all went back upstairs to bed.

As we do every Sunday, Amanda got up and showered, I got up and showered, then we tag teamed getting Milly ready and headed off to church.  We saw the Nowaks in the Grow Zone line, which is great because Sarah just had surgery on Friday and that meant she was feeling better.  Amanda said that she had told her she was feeling much better than she had just the day before.

After church, we went home, where I put Milly to bed while Amanda went back out to get bagels.  Sunday morning bagels with ham, egg, and cheese seem to be becoming a bit of a tradition.

We thought about going out to the beach, but Milly wasn’t napping well and was cranky (plus we were feeling lazy, but we’ll say it was mainly the former).  Milly would act tired and we’d put her down then she’d either scream the whole time or she’d sleep for a short while before waking up and making her displeasure known.

We had a nice evening with her though.  As much as she was in need of a nap, it wasn’t hard to make her laugh when we played with her.  Holding our hands, she walked down the driveway and wanted to play in the sand in front of our mailbox (years of runoff from the yards in the neighborhood).  We didn’t think that the best idea, so I took her to the new sandbox in the backyard, but she didn’t stay there very long and got in a chair on the patio.

By this time Milly was pretty filthy (fortunately I’d thought to take off her dress, so she was just running around in a diaper), so Amanda went inside to draw a bath for her.  Milly wanted to follow her in though, so I bought Amanda some time by letting Milly climb up the stairs.  We’ve been doing that a bit lately, staying close behind her all the while, of course.

Milly enjoyed her bath like she always does.  We played in the nursery after that for a little while.  There’s a cardboard box that used to hold some diapers, I think, that Milly has taken to playing with.  Amanda first did it a couple nights ago I think.  Milly sits in the box then you can peek at her or stick your fingers through the handle holes or push her around on the floor.  She enjoys it.

Milly ate after that and went down to bed just fine.  Amanda and I watched a bit of TV before Amanda went to bed.  Right now I’m watching I Survived.  I can’t decide if I shouldn’t watch it because of the absolutely horrific things that happen to people or it’s good to watch to make you think about what you’d do if you were ever put in a life-threatening situation.  Either way, once you start watching one of those it’s hard to stop.  I just pray that no one I know is ever faced with situations like the ones they show.

Zach Dotsey