My daughter has sprouted in the last few weeks. She's much more vocal in front of people. She grabs our hand to take us someplace if she can't vocalize her needs. She took me to the kitchen to get her a banana the other day! She's even holding make believe cellphone telephone conversations with her play phone. She uses her hands alot while she converses which is hysterical. I also love how she will walk around the house with the phone against her ear 'chatting'. I suppose I do that alot.
Now, I'm trying to help her vocalize her needs. So instead of whining when she needs something, I try to use a one word descriptor so she can speak her needs. It's kind of hard but after awhile you just get used to walking around the house and saying what you are doing or what an item is.
She's unfortunately learned that she can remove the tabs of her diaper and does this frequently during her sleep. Gone are the days of simple white t-shirts as pajamas. We've now got pants on her but occasionally during the late night diaper changes, they've been forgotten. This of course leads to potential leaks which is why I'm writing this entry at 5:20am. Thank goodness for our protective mattress pads.
I'm getting to a point where I'm not so obsessed with her food intake. I'm still monitoring it but I'm not as freaked out that she has a lot more grains than I'd like her to. The simple fact is, grains, mainly whole grains, are easier for her to eat by herself and that allows me to eat when she eats, clean up a little or let her eat a snack while I do something else around the house.
She's mastering the fork. I mean she usually can stab a 3-4 pieces of her food and get it into her mouth during a mealtime. Spoons are a little harder.
I'd like to say that she eats all her meals at the table but that isn't true. Snacks usually are in the kitchen or on the go as I'm doing something else. I try to do the meals at the table but sometimes, and most of the times with her Dad, she eats it standing next to us at the table or in the kitchen.
She's a breakfast fan though. She'll wake us up and take us to the kitchen or the dining room table in the morning. She prefers a scrambled egg and some yogurt with fruit in the morning. That is probably the biggest meal of her day. She then proceeds to snack every 2-3 hours until dinner.
I've noticed she seems to recall toys she played with as a baby. I rotate toys every now and then to keep them 'fresh' and she gravitates to certain toys that I played with with her when she was a newborn.
I also notice that some of what we've tried to instill is coming forth. TG will sit quietly and thumb through a book or two every day. She'll pull books out from her bookshelf and bring them to her chair and 'describe' it to us.
She'll pick up items and put them away or give us items to throw away. She picks up the furballs that have amassed during our dog's annual Fall shed and toddles them over to me to throw away.
She'll gently pet her stuffed animals just like how we show her how to pet our family dog.
She also seems to be an observer. In a room full or rowdy toddler boys, she'll watch them running and throwing things around. If she finds something interesting, she'll go over and play with an item but isn't phased by the commotion or sudden emotional outbursts that are common in a group full of 2 and unders.
She's also a cautious tryer. She'll call for us if she needs help and if we tell her she can do it, she'll assess it and most of the time will attempt it or occasionally call for 'backup'. I'm glad to see that she's not always depending on us. I credit my husband for this.
By the way, if you think leg warmers look cute on a baby, you should see them on a walking toddler. She looks absolutely adorable with her leg warmers. She walks around at home with a onesie and her socks and legwarmers. It's very sporty looking.
When she lays down for her nap, she grabs her lovey and instinctively pulls off her socks and leg warmers and lays them next to her. It's hysterical.
I've been slowly reading about potty training as she's now been telling us when her diaper is wet or dirty. She still doesn't tell us when she has an urge to go and I don't expect her to at such a young age but I figure it's better to read up about it earlier than later. Plus, keeping a potty around for her affords me the luxury of going to the potty myself without her tugging at me.
I feel like this past month was a whirlwind of growth and activity. Just when you think you understand something, a new ball is pitched at you. It keeps you on your toes.
