October 14, 2026- Hana passed another mini-milestone today. She decided to walk up the stairs. She did so, twice: Up to the mezzanine and back down, with me providing support and control; all the way up, with her father doing the honours. The second time, she drawled into my bedroom, looked around and went back out. We still won’t need a gate, until she is actually walking on her own. That, however, looks to be a matter of weeks-not months. Good thing we already have the gates on hand.
She is sleeping more independently and no longer wants to be rocked to sleep. When she is tired and in need of a nap, she will come up to whoever is minding her and put her head against their chest. She is then carried to the crib and will curl up to sleep.
This evening at dinner, Hana talked a lot, in between bites of food and “bantered” with her father. We can pretty much decipher what she’s saying by watching her body language. She also points at the object of her attention, usually so we can explain its use.
HANA’S NOTE- I am curious about a little box that is plugged in. Papa says it measures something called carbon monoxide, which he says can hurt of kill someone. I guess I won’t be touching that box.
EXPANDING CIRCLES: Illinois- I have sauntered back and forth through the Land of Lincoln about 25 times-first in a van going from St. Louis to Columbus, in 1972, and just about every time I’ve since traveled between Arizona and Massachusetts. Chicago has been a a major point on many of those journeys, especially when I’ve stopped in at the Baha’i House of Worship, in Wilmette, about forty minutes’ drive from the Loop.
The turf- Illinois figures prominently as a part of the Mississippi River Valley, from Galena in the far north to Cairo, at the confluence of the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers. The state is mostly prairie in the northern and central regions. Southern Illinois has some uplands and is more forested. Illinois is drained by the Mississippi, Ohio, Illinois, Rock, Des Plaines, Kankakee, Kaskaskia, Sangamon and Wabash Rivers, along with their tributaries. Lake Michigan forms Illinois’ northeastern boundary.
First Nations- Illinois is the ancestral home of the Illini, Ojibwe, Sauk & Fox, Potawatomi, Kickapoo, Kaskaskia, Miami, Shawnee and Iroquois people. The Mound Builders culture was prominent in Illinois, from 1700 BC to about 1200 AD/CE. The preserved mounds at Cahokia are the largest and most prominent burial mounds of the Mississippian Culture. Other preserved mounds may be found at Rockford, Galena, Albany, East Dubuque,and Quincy.
Conflicts between Native peoples and white settlers/U.S. Army occurred in Illinois from about 1802 until 1832, when Black Hawk’s War concluded with the Battle of Bad Axe, at the junction of Iowa, Minnesota and Wisconsin, then all considered the Northwest Territory. Illinois provided militia men for the Army during this conflict. One of them was a young Abraham Lincoln, whose attitude towards First Nations people was not helped by his experience in the war. Today, the Prairie Band of the Potawatomi Nation has a reservation near the town of Kansas, Il. Many Native peoples also live in Chicago as well.
Where I most feel at home- Wilmette, Chicago (Wrigleyville) , Normal, Lake Forest, Effingham, Vandalia, Dixon, Cairo
Where I most feel at peace- Wilmette, Cahokia, Ferne Clyffe, New Salem
NEXT- Missouri
