One Shoe Two Shoe Red Shoe Blue Shoe

If any of you ever see Tempe and notice that she is wearing two different shoes, don't worry. Kate hasn't finally cracked up.
Tempe may only be 14 months old (today, even!) but she is definitely a girl, through and through. She is already very interested in footwear, and has way too many shoes for a girl who just learned how to walk. She wants to wear her shoes constantly, and if she finds another pair, she wants to put THOSE on, as well. The result is that she often wears two different shoes. Today, for example, she is wearing a sparkly red Mary Jane on her left foot, and a beat up white sandal on her right foot.
The first time we realized how into her shoes Tempe is was a few weeks ago. Daddy was getting Tempe ready to go somewhere, and he put her brown play shoes on. Tempe fussed and squirmed the whole time, and when he finally got them on and let her up, she rushed over to pick up her pink ballet slippers and brought them to Daddy, signing "Please, please". Daddy laughed and put them on instead, and Tempe was very happy!
This has happened a few more times since the first time. It's not always her pink ballet slippers, though. Sometimes she prefers her brown shoes, sometimes her red ones. It seems to depend on what she has on. Does she already have better fashion sense than her Mommy and Daddy? (Probably--most everyone does).
So, in the past 14 months, Tempe has been the proud wearer of: a pair of teal mukluks (courtesy of Dan and Jess!), brown felt cowboy boots (thanks, Grandma!), fluffy red booties with white fur trim (to match her Santa outfit), two pairs of brown shoes with pink flowers, a pair of electric pink and green sneakers (Mommy has a matching pair of Roos), pink beaded ballet slippers, shiny red Mary Janes with a bow, and white sandals bought secondhand for our upcoming cruise. I told you it was a lot!!

Tempe, the back helper

Anyone that knows Jason knows that he lives for back scratches and back rubs. For the last 3 years, "helping" his back has fallen, for the most part, to ME! Yeah, whenever we are visiting his family, his sisters Corinne and Katelyn have done their share, but then we go home, and guess what? It's all on me again.
Ever since Tempe was born, I've been wondering how long it will take us to train her to help Daddy's back so I don't have to do it all the time. Never in my wildest dreams did I think that time would come so soon!!
In fact, we didn't even have to teach her to do it. She has always liked playing with our pink back-helper, and the other day when Jason was lying on the floor, Tempe came over and started rubbing it on his back--without us prompting her at all!
It would be best for all involved if she keeps it up :)

Our First Crisis (October 15, 2007)

I guess I should just be grateful that we made it 13 months and 2 days before we had our first major crisis with Tempe. She's had her share of bumps and bruises, as all new walkers do, but this was much worse!It all started on Friday morning, when Jason was getting ready for school. He was in the bathroom brushing his teeth, and I was sitting in Tempe's doorway, which is at the top of the stairs. Tempe was wiggling her fingers under the bathroom door, and giggling when Daddy grabbed them. I thought I was close enough to grab Tempe if she got too near the stairs--well--did I learn my lesson! I could see she was headed for them, and before I knew it, she had taken a step off the top of our full flight of stairs.*As a side note, she does know how to go down stairs backwards... but now that she is walking, she thinks she is so big that she can walk down. She can't.*I screamed at Jason that Tempe was falling down the stairs, and practically fell down them myself trying to get to her. She was all curled up on the bottom step, crying, of course, and we rushed back up to where Jason had frantically come out of the bathroom. We cuddled, hugged, kissed, offered drinks of water and her pacifier, and after a few minutes, Tempe was over it and playing like nothing had ever happened. I was still shaking.So, the Andersons weathered their first crisis, and we're none the worse for wear. I was hoping Tempe would at least have learned her lesson... but no. She tried to walk down the stairs again about an hour later!