Naked Days

Please pardon the baby nudity that follows - she wouldn't be mine if she didn't love to run around free as a bird now and then.  Let's paint a portrait of what Leisl is up to these days.  She is officially 16 months old (that means only 2 more months until nursery).  She has developed the Petersen temper.  Again, I blame it on genetics.  Her favorite way to lash out when she's angry is to run full kilter at the person she's mad at and bit them squarely on the inner thigh (if they are adult) and on the back (if they are child).  She has mastered her technique and can generally break the skin half of the time, occasionally drawing blood.

Her favorite victim is Darla.  Soon we will have to separate their  car seats because Leisl loves to torment Darla and make her cry.  She's not always mean though and most of the time is quite content to run around outside, following the big kids and trying to be big herself.  She has gotten brave enough to climb up and go down the slide all alone.  She loves animals - big and small and is not afraid of anything.  Ksenya was holding a snake (ick) and Leisl reached out and grabbed it (not too gently).  The other night at pack meeting they were doing a "Fear Factor" theme and had buckets of live crickets.  Leisl was fascinated by the crickets and kept trying to get ahold of them.

She is growing like a weed - mostly up up up and is getting quite tall.  She's already wearing 2T clothes and her hair is all blonde and getting long enough to actually comb (something we do at least once a week).  She has enjoyed the freedom of summer and hasn't sunburned like I thought she would (which is good since her bad mother doesn't remember to put on sunscreen).  She has a cute little farmer tan and 90% of the time can be found eating dirt in the yard, half dressed and looking like an orphan.  I keep telling myself this is exactly what a happy farm girl should be doing and the freedom (and dirt) is good for her.

She's never alone though, as there is always a big brother or sister shadowing her to make sure she's not getting into mischief.  She has an unhealthy desire to walk on the road and we catch her halfway down the drive way a lot.  She loves to sing to herself and loves to climb up and play the piano.  She is a climber and I found her on top of the piano the other day pushing buttons on the TV.

She is a tease - and loves to run away when I'm trying to get her to come to me.  She still cuddles with Daddy when she first gets up and runs really fast the rest of the day.  We have all taken to calling her "Leese"  which I swore we would never do, but it's easy and fits.  Still no nickname for the little ankle biter, although Papa Cox calls her "Boo Boo".  We love our Little Leisl!