Penny took her first steps yesterday.

Matt was visiting her at daycare, but she was ignoring him. So he paused to pick up another baby who was begging for some attention. Penny stood up (and only a few days ago did I see proof that she knows how to stand up without holding on to something) took two defiant steps, and sat down again.

She then, of course, refused to repeat the stunt, but several of the daycare minders saw it, too, so Matt had confirmation that it wasn't just random wobbling and wishful thinking.

And then in the evening, I was sitting on the kitchen floor playing with Penny while Matt washed dishes, and she was trying to reach for the handle of one of the cabinets. It was just out of her reach... So she did it again - she took two little steps. Taken together, they only carried her about an inch and a half forward. Just enough to put her in reach of the cabinet handle. But they were definitely steps, definitely unassisted.

There's a produce stand that's opened up for the summer right on my way home from work. I stopped yesterday to pick up a couple of tomatoes and cucumbers. And I went a little crazy and bought some butter beans (a subspecies of lima beans, yellowish in color and somewhat sweeter in flavor) and an eggplant.

I haven't eaten butter beans since I was a kid. And I hated them then. And eggplant, I've only ever had in moussaka, where it doesn't really taste like anything. I'm not sure why I bought either, except that I've been craving vegetables more in general lately, and I wanted some variety.

So I froze most of the beans (they're not Matt's favorite, so most of them will probably end up in soups). And I cooked the rest. (I didn't like beans at all as a kid - I used to pick the kidney beans out of chili - but I've since developed a lot more appreciation for them.)

And I sliced the eggplant, breaded the pieces, and fried them. They were very tasty, if somewhat bland, so I got out a can of tomato sauce, added some basil and salt to it - voila! - instant dipping sauce!

Matt and I have missed Italian food and pizza. But I could do lightly fried vegetables with tomato sauce occasionally. It's not the healthiest preparation, but oh well.

Penny, I might note, decided she really liked the tomato sauce. She must have had three or four spoonfuls, licking it off my finger. Definitely her mama's daughter, hee.

Oh, and she seems to be sleeping better. Her naps yesterday were both an hour or more. And last night she went to bed a touch before 7:30, and didn't wake up until almost 6 this morning. I woke up at 5:30 and couldn't go back to sleep, but if she keeps sleeping this way (oh, please gods...) I could really get used to being able to sleep until 6...

Dammit, I just now realized that we forgot to put her drops in her ears this morning. Damn.

Well, not much we can do about it now.

--Liz