One of the teachers at Penny's daycare thinks she is just about the cutest baby ever to come down the pike. Which is pretty gratifying for Matt and I, since we are, of course, convinced of the same - but we know we're somewhat biased.

She isn't one of Penny's teachers; she's one of the teachers for the 3-year-old preschool class, I think. Anyway, she has a habit of coming into the infant room to visit with Penny, and taking her on little field trips to visit with her class. She's quite smitten.

Last Friday, when Matt went in to see Penny, the teacher told him, "I've got a Valentine's present for Penny."

Matt said, "Um, okay, sure." He didn't think too much more of it, really, and went on to visit with Penny.

When he went to pick her up at the end of the day, one of Penny's teachers said, "You might have to make two trips [to take all the stuff out to the car]."

Matt usually handles Penny and her empty bottles and her soiled clothes and her blanket all in one trip, and was confused.

"[Penny's Fan (I can never remember her name)] left some stuff in her crib," the teacher explained.

Matt went to look, and - holy cow. There was a cute little Valentine outfit - shirt and pants - and a stuffed animal. A white gorilla very nearly the size of Penny, with "Love" embroidered over its heart.

I'm still trying to decide if this is adorable or just a little bit stalker-spooky, but Penny adores her love-gorilla.

Pretty women / walkin' with gorillas down my street

Valentine's Day, we got Penny all tricked out in her best Valentine style. Pants from her Grandma Jill, a shirt from K.T. and Kevin (reading "Cute, petite female seeks intelligent male with full piggybank. Must enjoy fingerpainting and stuffed animals"), and Valentine socks and bib from - once again - Grandma Jill.

As is his tradition, Matt had an enormous bunch of tulips delivered. I should have expected it - not only is it tradition, but he asked me a few weeks ago, "theoretically," whether I'd prefer flowers delivered on the 13th at work, or on the 14th at home. (I told him once that a big advantage of delivered flowers - as opposed to hand-delivered ones - is that flowers delivered at work allow one to show off to others at the office.)

This year, they let him pick colors (or at least make ranked suggestions), so they were red and pink and purple - a very lovely combination. They'll be even prettier when they start to open.

We went to the Brandts' for Valentine's Day dinner. Kris made us a wonderful, Atkins-friendly dinner, and much fun was had by all. Even Penny, who up to that point had spent the day having a hysterical crying jag about every two hours.

Emma was completely fascinated by Penny. Once we had managed to convince her that it was okay, she was thrilled to give Penny hugs, kiss the top of her head, and pat her gently on the head. (Penny was mostly oblivious to Emma's affections, but she did watch Emma walking around with great interest.)

We had brought along two toys for Penny to play with. Penny sat on the floor mat and played, and Emma crouched in front of her. While Kris finished cooking and Matt and Braz talked to each other, I got to play this scene over several times:

Emma: What's she doing?

Me: She's playing with her toy.

Emma (picking up other toy): I'll hold this for her.

Me: Okay, you can hold it for her.

Because Emma was moving the other toy around right in her field of view, Penny would quickly drop the current toy and reach for the one Emma was holding. Exactly once, Emma asked, "What's she doing?" and I answered, "She wants her toy now." After the first time, every time Penny reached for the toy in Emma's hands, Emma would give it to her.

Me: Penny says, Thank you, Emma!

Emma (picking up the discarded toy): I'll hold this one now.

Me: Okay.

It was rather adorable. Emma explained to me in great (and largely incomprehensible) detail about how her cousin Annika (who, by the way, is not "my cousin" or "Annika" or even "my cousin Annika", but "my Annika") is also a little baby. But not as little as Penny.

I'd meant to take some pictures of Emma and Penny together, but it completely slipped my mind. Alas.

An advancement in Penny's progress: She's sitting very well these days. While we were at the Brandts, she sat on her playmat and played for a good hour, and I only had to correct an over-balance once in that whole time.

It seems a small enough thing, but I'm very proud.

--Liz