I do have much to share: In the speech department, 22 m/o Sage is saying more and more extended sentences. I think I counted a 9-word sentence a week or so ago. She can sing the full alphabet song (I'll try to get a video of this soon!) as well as other songs like Baa Baa black sheep and The Itsy Bitsy Spider. She's starting to use pronouns, "I want that", and often says please and thank you without prompting.
Cognitive developments: She has begun playing pretend in full force. She rocks, feeds, bathes, and nurses her dolls, cooks on her new Christmas stove, and plays actively with her new Christmas doll house. Perhaps her favorite Christmas present is a set of wooden "cuttable foods" which she enjoys cutting, eating, and sharing with friends and dolls. Here's a little video from Christmas morning:
motor skills: She can build tall towers of blocks, as shown here:
She can also spin on one foot, and has added that to her charming dance repertoire. Here's a video of her dancing for us just after watching the Nutcracker ballet:
Here's another video of Sage and cousin Adelie dancing together (taken with our far superior new digital camcorder! Thanks, Aren!)
We spent Thanksgiving in Kentucky with the Whites, AND Grandma Jan, Grandpa Darrell and Uncle Eric came down too, so Sage got to be with everyone for her second Thanksgiving! We all had an absolutely wonderful time visiting. Christmas was in Minnesota/North Dakota, but we got to be at the Wartmans for the McLain Christmas too. The travel was rather stressful, but it was worth it to spend such special times with loved ones whom we don't see near often enough.
Here are some various pictures from Thanksgiving through Christmas:
Decorating Christmas cookies with Emma:
Getting ready for the big plane trip with her new backpack:
What a cute little traveler!
Getting into her stocking on Christmas Morning:
Look, she got a cow!!
Here she is with her brand new baby doll, made by mama:
Here she's rocking her new baby. How sweet she is!
