She is officially walking, in case I haven't mentioned that yet. She was taking five or six steps between us a few weeks before her birthday and then, the week after her party, she just took off. One second she was using the furniture to hold onto with one hand, the next she decided she was capable of doing it herself and just kept walking. It was about a week after the 4th of July that she officially started walking more than she would crawl. Now there is no stopping her. She's very proficient and hasn't had too many falls so far, thank goodness. She really only runs into trouble when she tries to carry too many things or too big of a thing in her arms (her baby doll + her Fisher Price Puppy = trouble). For the first week we tried to keep her off of our hardwoods because the concrete slab below them isn't very forgiving. That didn't last long at all, as she is determined to "go, go, go" as she attempts to say and can't be contained.
Another thing that astounds me is her comprehension. I cannot even count the number of words that she understands now...it's got to be hundreds. She picks up things even if I only use them a few times a week and locks them away in her memory. She'll exhibit this by going to the object I name or pointing to it in a book. Her verbal vocabulary is growing quickly, too, though the pronunciation can be difficult to pick up on unless you're around her enough to know what she means. She's great at "Ma-ma"(though she calls me "Mi-mi" a lot too), "Da-da", "Bye-Bye", "No-no", "Uh-oh", "Eye", "Nose" and "Baby". She says "Bu" or "Ba" for a million different things - book, bear, belly, bubbles, butterfly, beads, bow, button, bird, ball, and bracelet to name a few. Other favorites: "Mo" is more, "Gee" means keys, "Og or Do" is dog, "Du" is duck, "Ee" is ear, and "Mou" is mouth.
She is also getting very good at animal noises. When you ask her what a sheep says, she'll say "ba", for cow it's "Mmmm", cat is "ME-ow", and dog is a mix between making a "w" shape with her mouth without much sound for woof or a sort of "arf". The funniest is elephant. David and I always make the arm motion for the trunk so when you ask her what an elephant says, she'll usually throw her arm up in the air and kind of blow out of her mouth. It's hilarious!
She can follow two-step directions very well. If I tell her to go get something and bring it to me or put it somewhere, she usually can without me having to repeat it more than once. She also has dozens of phrases down and can respond accordingly. If I tell her we're going to do laundry, we're getting ready to go, it's time to take a bath, etc. she knows exactly what it means. She also knows exactly what "no-no" means, but still tries to push the limits on occasion. My computer, for example, is a big-time no. Still, sometimes when I'm working on it she'll walk up and stick out her index finger and inch towards it. Then she'll look up at me and say "no-no" as if she's trying to convince herself. A few weeks ago, she slowly moved her Little People dog towards it and used it to touch the keyboard, as if that was somehow okay. I quickly informed her that touching it using something else is a no-no too. Occasionally she'll walk by the TV, stairs, or my camera and just start saying "No-no-no-no". Great. That's what Mommy sounds like to her, I guess.
On a more fun note, she seems to be noticing music more and more. She'll "dance" by bending her knees and bouncing a little or holding her arms out and moving them up and down like she's snapping. Apparently I do that a lot with her musical toys and never realized it until she began to mimic me. (I have a feeling that won't be the last time I don't realize something I'm doing until she starts copying it!)
Her favorite toys these days are her baby dolls, stuffed bears, her "See and Say", and her Little People (the bus and blocks they came with are sometimes added bonuses). She also loves her Fisher Price purse, mainly because of the keys and the bracelet inside. She'll put the bracelet on and walk around showing David and I over and over again. Books are a major favorite, too, which I am so thankful for. I'm pretty sure she would sit in my lap and let me read to her all day long.
Speaking of favorites, her love of food is definitely growing as her menu expands. The most recent new successes are chimichangas, burritos, chicken kabobs, spaghetti, and several other different types of pastas. She's had a little bit of ice cream a few times and loves it. Her daily menu is a waffle, pancakes, or oatmeal, a fruit, and either cottage cheese or yogurt for breakfast. Lunch is a vegetable, a fruit, sometimes leftovers, and cheese. Snack is milk and fruit, plus cheerios. Dinner is usually whatever we're eating, but I always try to include a vegetable, a protein, and a carb. She still does jarred vegetables quite a bit because she'll tolerate them more than the raw form. I know I need to take lunch up a notch, but that's hard when I usually just do a protein shake or a frozen Healthy Choice for myself. Maybe we'll start trying sandwiches. I also haven't done eggs yet, so we'll give that a shot soon too. She has not eaten fast food, chocolate, or junk food yet, either, but I'm going to try and hold off on those as long as I can. There will be plenty of time in her life for that. She definitely needs work on chewing and pacing herself. We really have to watch her and only put a few pieces of the food on her tray at a time because she crams them in with no self control. That also sounds like something she got from me.
Her separation anxiety has pretty much disappeared. For a while, there were a few times a day I could barely leave the room without her crying. It wasn't all the time, but when it hit, she was serious about needing me to be right there. I think once she started walking and realized she could get to me easily, it helped a lot. Now she'll wander out of the room and I'm the one that has to go looking for her! The only time she fusses when we leave is at church nursery, and I'm sure that the tears are dry as soon as we walk around the corner.
I am really trying to instill a servant/helpful spirit in her but letting her do little things with me and then praising her for her help. For example, she loves to help put clothes from the washer into the dryer, or carry them from the dryer to Mommy and Daddy's room. She gets such a huge smile on her face when I say "Thank you, Audrey! You are such a good helper!" Sometimes this backfires, though, like when she'll randomly pick up laundry from the hallway piles and bring it to me, or go put stuff I'm trying to fold back into the dryer. We'll get it the hang of it eventually. For now, it's well worth the lesson.
We do lots of outings to keep my sanity and expose her to different people and places. She tolerates her stroller and her car seat very well. We upgraded to her big girl car seat a few weeks ago, but are still keeping it rear facing as recommended by the "experts". (More on that in an upcoming post on my other blog.) She loves to people watch and just kicks back, sucks her thumb, and takes it all in. She is never short on compliments from strangers, which of course make me beam with pride. Everywhere we go, we have people come up and tell us how cute she is. I usually let her out of her stroller to walk around a little and that really draws attention, especially of grandmas!
I think that's all I've got for now. I'm sure I'm forgetting a million little things that I know will be fleeting memories all too soon. It really does happen quickly and I try to remind myself to soak it up and take mental and real pictures as often as I can. There are nights when David and I creep in her room and sigh over how huge she looks in her crib. She's such a beautiful, sweet baby girl and we are so proud to be her parents!
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