Personality Plus

The little lady of our family has gone through quite a surge in her development this past week. Perhaps it's the high mountain air, or being surrounded by so much adoration here at her grandparent's house. Either way, I thought I'd best take a moment to record a few of her latest accomplishments...

Walking! Yesterday girlie took about 7 unassisted steps toward her VoVo and then got so terribly excited about it that she was giggling too hard to stand. Today we got a couple of repeat performances. She's not off and running, not yet. She still much prefers to hang on to one of our fingers with a little baby death grip and lead us around toward her desired destinations, or sometimes just in a circle. She's developed quite a bond with her Grandpa, who follows her lead on circuit after circuit of the house and yard (and even appears to enjoy himself while he does it).

Babbling! She's gotten all chatty this week too. Not so many recognizable words, but a whole lot of syllibication. Lots of “wo-wo-wo” and “er-ra-oo-rao” and other interesting phrases, said with much pursing of lips and seriousness. She's all about saying “hi!”-- says it to people, chairs, any small object she can put between ear and shoulder and use as a phone. The past two days, for some reason, she's added an “s” sound to the end of the word. So now she quickly and enthusiastically chirps “hice!” to everyone she meets. “Hice!” paired with her charming smile and a big open-handed wave... she's really irresistable.

She also waves “bye bye” now and prefers the European variety, with her palm facing toward her body.

She's beginning to repeat words and parts of words, more often. Today? Cracker (Crack-o and later Crack-ie) and Duck. Clear as day.

Of course, interspersed with these moments of very clear communication are a lot of grunts, whines, points, leans, grabs, and cries as our opinionated little darling seeks to gain some control over her world.

Favorite activities:

Walking in loops around the house
Getting up into Jack's booster seat (seriously, she LOVES this booster seat)
Baths (she tries to climb into the tub herself)
Anything Jack is doing (cute story: Jack was playing with the fishing game, the one where little fish move around in a pond and open and shut their mouths and you try to catch them... he caught a fish and, silly boy that he is, put it on my head. Moments later, Ivy grabbed a fish out of the pond, looked at it, looked at me, and then, very soberly, reached up and placed it on my head too.)
Climbing up onto things
Being outside


Favorite toys:

Grandpa's “Best Supporting Actor” medal-- she carries it in one hand on her walks and tries to put it around her neck. Another favorite game with this is, “Demand that someone get the medal down and then demand that they hang it up again. Repeat.”
Tupperware containers, with lids
Pill bottles, with lids
(She really likes lids. And she's getting pretty good at getting them on and off. Uh oh.)

She is starting to be able to play with the Ipod (in a slightly more appropriate way than chewing on it), though she has a tendency to press the button a lot and thus end the game she was playing. (Buttons. I should mention buttons as a favorite toy).

She is so affectionate. She'll grab our hands and arms and hug them to her, right between her shoulder and chin. She loves to press her forehead into our faces and lean in for kisses.

Her hair is getting so long! Little ringlet curls above the ears, and plenty of hair to clip to the side, which is a style that seems to suit her wide-eyed, bunny nose little face.

OK, I know that's not really a development per se but it does add to the overall impression that, all of a sudden, we don't have a baby any more. We have a little girl who lives in our house, a little girl who charms everyone she meets, who looks like a cherub and approaches the world like a rugby player, who suddenly understands the world and can begin to act on it, who loves her brother and her dog and her grandparents-- really who loves just about everyone and everything. Mostly sunny, that's our girl. And growing so fast.