Eliza declares her choice for president.
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Category: Brand_New_World
Formerly the blog for my daughter Eliza, where we posted from her birth until she began Kindergarten, now all the old posts are integrated into Pattern Recognition.
Favorite books: still loves her lift-the-flap books and recently has discovered Eric Carle’s 10 Rubber Ducks. Also likes any book, magazine, or catalog with babies in them.
Favorite TV shows (the only ones she pays any attention to): Yo Gabba Gabba and Sesame Street (especially when Elmo comes on the screen)
Favorite foods: pasta with tomatoes, toast (plain or with cheese melted on it), yogurt, broccoli
Favorite hobbies: pulling up on everything, cruising all over the place, practicing standing without holding onto anything, playing with her stuffed animals, “brushing” daddy’s and mommy’s hair
Favorite toys: remote controls, telephones, talking Elmo phone, all of her stuffed animals and dolls, anything she can reach but isn’t supposed to have
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Trying to Walk
The daycare reports that Eliza took 2-3 steps yesterday, 10/13. However, we have yet to see it for ourselves. She continues to “cruise” like crazy, though. In this photo, she has somehow managed to make her way to the kitchen table and then get trapped underneath. I got her out, but not before a total meltdown (just after this shot was taken).
I was gone for three days for a conference. By the time I got back, she had gotten a lot stronger and braver. She’ll pull up on anything now and tries to go everywhere. We’ve sort of given up on real baby proofing, since we barely have time to shower and go to the bathroom, much less baby proof. Instead, we just watch her closely and follow her around. Consequently, she’s starting to learn the word “no,” although she still smiles when mommy says it. Bad sign.
We spent this past Saturday morning at Bearwallow Farm in Nancy, KY. Bearwallow is a classic Fall endeavor, with hayrides, pumpkin patch, petting zoo, and much more.
Eliza had a blast! She got to pet a goat, watch bunnies, and see how big a llama really is. She won’t remember it, of course, but it was still fun for us to see her react to all the new experiences.
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Antibiotics, round 2
After two nights of coughing and interrupted sleep (for all of us), a slight fever, and a terrific crabby spell that would not go away, we decided to take Eliza to the doctor yesterday. Once again, a little cold had gotten angry, this time turning into a slight ear infection and some upper respiratory junk that could have turned into an infection if we waited any longer. So, we’re on round #2 of augmentin. Sigh.
In other news, lots of fun developments lately. She’s eating more with her fingers (favorite things right now are toast and mandarin oranges). We discovered that she prefers a straw to the standard sippy cup. And she has started to point! A little thing, but it’s pretty cute. If she’s concentrating, I can ask her questions while we look at books, like “Where’s the dog?” and she’ll point to it. It’s clear she’s starting to understand more. Words we think she definitely knows are: clap (she does it when you tell her to, even if you don’t model it); dog; cat; hi; bye; bath; book; Daddy; Mommy; shoes; teddy bear; in / out (she can now take things out AND put them back in). There may be more. We’re anxious to hear her say her first word. I’m pretty sure I’ve heard her say “Dada” on purpose a few times (when going to him), but you never know.
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Day in the Park
Today my Dad came down to visit his Grandkids, and we decided that the weather was so nice we’d picnic in Coolidge Park. Great fun, and both Eliza and Parker loved it. I’m not sure what Ellie likes most, but its probably a toss-up between the fountain and the carousel.
She also had her first taste of Pizza, and her first taste of Clumpies Ice Cream today.
If you enlarge the pic, you can see her top teeth shining through!
IMG_5388.JPG, originally uploaded by griffey.
Favorite hobbies: creeping / army crawling all over the living room extremely fast; standing at her musical play table; chasing the cats; reading with mom or dad; playing peekaboo with Dad; clapping, sometimes for no reason whatsoever; pulling her own hair (because it’s there); splashing in the bathtub; putting things inside bowls, buckets, baskets, etc.
Favorite books: all lift-the-flap books she can get her hands on. Some of her absolute favorites are by Karen Katz (Where’s Baby’s Mommy? and Where’s Baby’s Belly Button?, for instance). She also likes the Caldecott winner First the Egg by Laura Vaccaro Seeger and Go Away, Big Green Monster, by Edward R. Emberly. And absolutely anything by Sandra Boynton, although Opposites, read in silly voices, is one of thebiggest hits.
Favorite foods: What’s not to love? It’s food. She eats pretty much anything, although she still prefers pureed to chunky. We’re working on that. Accidentally had her first Ritz cracker the other day (long story) and thought she had died and gone to heaven.
Favorite toys: She is into a stuffed animal phase. A little soft tiger, her “Ugly Dolls,” and a teddy bear with a red ribbon that her Pop gave her are her most beloved friends right now. Also enjoys playing with everyone’s shoes (even at daycare), pieces of paper that she can crinkle / tear, spatulas and other stuff from the kitchen, and “roll arounds” from Fisher Price.
Milestones and more: Has two top teeth as well as two bottom teeth now (whew!); just had her first cold and survived; can pull up onto just about anything from seated position; is still working on her sounds (she is trying out ga ga ga now).
Lots more fun to come!
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Illness update
After 8 days of the cold that wouldn’t go away, yellow snot, cough, and all, we called the doctor. She prescribed amoxicillin, which we realized wasn’t working after 5 days. The doctor switched her to augmentin, which seems to be doing the trick. Today was the first time in 14 days I didn’t have to wipe her nose. Whew. This first cold / sinus infection has been a doozy. Thanks, daycare!
This picture was taken during one of our many “shower treatments.” I would put the shower on hot and shut the door. It helped her breathe and sneeze / cough some of the junk up. At one point she found the toilet paper, and I just let her enjoy it. Bad mom.
Now she’s teething (top two). So far, it hasn’t been as bad as the hell of the bottom two. But she isn’t her jolly self, either. One is almost out (an edge poked through today) and the other is not far behind.
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Knees
So, I’ve decided that Eliza just doesn’t “get” that her knees have any sort of function. She creeps forward on her belly pretty fast, but won’t actually crawl on all fours. In fact, she doesn’t even do the characteristic “rocking” of the pre-crawler. She never gets up on her knees period. Also, she can’t yet put herself in the sitting position from her belly. If only she could put her little knees under her and lift her butt in the air, new things would start happening.
Most of her little “friends” and her cousin are crawling now, but we’re thinking she might just skip it all together.
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Standing up
I realized that I hadn’t spoken up here in a long time, but it’s mainly due to the fact that I’m having too much fun with Eliza to write about it. đŸ™‚ She’s come so far in the last two months it’s hard to enumerate all the changes: standing, cruising, scooting, clapping, not to mention things like sleeping through the night nearly every night. She’s fast-forwarding to toddlerhood all on her own, weaning herself down on the amount of formula she’s drinking with no input from us, eating more and more real food, and is just a little bit of balance away from running around the house on her own.
My favorite thing right now: shes learned to play peek-a-boo, and if you give her a cloth will cover her head herself in the clumsiest way she can, hold it for a second or three, then pull it down looking for you. Adorable.