Our Giggle Princess

Ariel's new favourite game is to run away from her parents giggling.  Toddler tag is simply a joy to watch and be a part of.
Enjoy!

Two more cute Ariel stories:
1) Ariel frequently visits with and kisses her unborn baby sister.  I sometimes prompt with, "Where's your baby sister Ariel?", and she lifts up my shirt to expose my belly and gives her sweet, sweet kisses. She did this a lot today.
2) Apparently 16-month olds have the capacity to be worried for the well-being of another human being.  I really did not know this for sure until today.  Auntie Alexis and almost 7-month old cousin Isla  came over for a visit and Alexis had just finished changing Isla.  As she was tidying up her belongings, Alexis briefly left Isla lying on our carpet floor.  Ariel and I came upon this scene of Isla laying there by herself.  Ariel walked right over to her, and my first thought was she's going to step on her, but what she did instead really surprised me.  She sat beside Isla and reached for her with both arms.  She looked at me, pointed to Isla and did her hand signal for "help!"  Then she reached for Isla again, almost with a strained look on her face, but like she really wished she could pull her up, and said, "Uh-oh!"  Ariel was clearly distressed and worried that Isla had hurt herself and needed some help up.  I was and am amazed by this simple gesture - so compassionate and sweet.  Her actions remind me of what a great big sister she's going to be!  (We'll omit the story of her stealing toys out of Isla's hands while she was playing with them...that just wouldn't fit in well here)

Some photos from today's visit:

Isla chatting away

Alexis and Isla

Ariel doing some more cousin spotting

Sharing toys

Eating toys

Taking a ride on the big girl bus

As an aside, I have started reading a book called, "Down Syndrome Parenting 101", written by Natalie Hale (2011).  My initial reaction is that I'm going to like this book, and I'm just a few pages in:)