Laurel's been having a blast lately opening boxes and bags to see what's in them. Amy learned to put her purse out of Laurel's reach after she fished out a cell phone, pager and keys in short order. It was pretty funny to see Laurel standing on tiptoe to reach into the bag, which Amy had hung over one of the dining chairs. She also loves to take the lid off her toy box, but generally it's to facilitate climbing into and over it so she can pull leaves off the pothos or peek under the end table and try crawling under it. She's too tall to sit up under the end table now and it drives her nuts!

Today she found the best bag of all, though. Laurel loves to run around with the Qualatex hand pump for balloon twisting because it's bright red and nigh indestructible, but tonight while getting ready for bed,she found the best thing of all -- the big bag of balloons. She won't get drafted until she's at least three or so, since balloons and babies are not a safe combination. It's worth looking forward to.