She's starting to be pretty consistent with saying Please "cheeeeeese?" (not to be confused with Cheese - "chis?") and Thank You. She knows the sign language but rarely uses it. I really taught her the sign for "please" because it does sound so much like cheese I wanted to distinguish it so that I know if she's saying please or macaroni and cheese - one of her go-to meals. It seems like she's learning a new word every single day, which is why I think Stephen needs to turn down the volume on some of his video games!! She has other hand signals she uses too, like one for "more", one for "star" (she rarely uses this one though), and one for "follow me". The times that I don't know what she wants are becoming fewer and far between. There are still times that she wants something and she just grunts and when she does that I either say, "Tell me what you want" or "Show me what you want" and she will say something or lead me somewhere. She loves playing with the CD drive on Stephen's laptop and she will say "open" and "close" as she opens and closes it.
She just walked over to her toy box and picked up a set of keys and yelled "Bye!" to me. She then walked over to me and Hunter (we're on the couch, Hunter's eating) and kissed both of us, then said, "Bye!" again and waved. It's amazing what kids pick up from watching us!!
For her naps and bedtime she takes a baby and a blanket in her crib with her. For naps I let her take a book too. So every nap and bedtime she goes to her pile of stuffed animals and chooses one or two she wants and then she goes to the closet to get one or two blankets. Let me tell you, it can become a load to carry her, two baby dolls, two blankets and a book upstairs to her bedroom! It's so cute though.
She just walked back over to her toys and got her baby doll and pocketbook that Nenah got her for Thanksgiving and told us "Bye!" again. I could just eat her up.
Her big game is Ring Around the Rosies as anyone who knows her is aware. If you are ANYWHERE in her vicinity and this game starts you can expect her hand to reach out to you to join in. And heaven forbid if you don't join in. Her poor uncle Josh (almost 18 years old) has been forced to do this in Belk, at family gatherings, at home... but because he loves her he does it - even in public! She also loves to sing of course and dance. She is a dancing fool!!
One day she wanted so badly for me to put nail polish on her. I put purple polish on her toes and red polish on her fingers. She was so good at sitting still! Now she wants me to put chapstick and eye shadow on her. Of course I indulge her - it's so cute!! She is a chapstick fiend and if she gets it in her hand you can believe she's going to put it on you too. There are all sorts of things in my morning routine that she wants to be a part of. As soon as she hears the shower water shut off I can hear her feet just a-poundin'. I open the shower curtain and there she is, with a grin spread across her face, holding my towel up for me. What service! Then she helps me lotion my legs (and keeps some for herself). She wants me to put deodorant on her so I do (with the lid on of course) and she wants her teeth brushed so I usually do that too. She hands me each article of clothing I need too.
She is feeding herself more, which is particularly nice as long as she's in her high chair. When Stephen feeds her she's rarely in her high chair which means we need to get out the vacuum/broom/wet paper towels more often! Doesn't matter - even if she's in her high chair there's always a small mountain of crumbs beneath her anyway.
She wants to pick out her clothes somewhat now. She's not really given the opportunity - I pick out her clothes randomly in the morning when I get her out of bed, but she will tell me if she wants a hat and which shoes she wants to wear. She clearly says socks and shoes and thinks it's hilarious to take them off in the car, especially if we're running late.
Her other new thing is saying, "That?" which means, "What is that?" Then most of the time she'll repeat what you're telling her. She's sitting right next to me now and she pulled up her pajama shirt and said, "That?" When I said "button" she said something to the effect of "button" and then pointed above our couch to the picture and said, "That?" All day long she is saying, "That?" and I am telling her what things are. I love it when she repeats the word after me.
Now she is burping Hunter and kissing him on the forehead. She is an incredibly good sister - I could not have asked for her to be any better. She's so patient when it's just the three of us here, especially if I'm feeding Hunter and she knows I can't get her what she wants right when she wants it. She's always been phenomenal at playing by herself and that ability certainly has come in handy in the last 9 weeks. Another favorite game of hers is Hide and Seek. You know if she wants to play it because she will run away from you and say, "Briiiiii!" That means she wants you to say, "Bri?" and look for her. Also, if you say, "Where is she?" she'll say "Know?" from her hiding place, which means, "I don't know." It's hilarious EVERY SINGLE TIME.
We haven't started potty training yet but the past few weeks she's let us know when she is wet. She says "poo" if her diaper is wet or dirty and sometimes when she's completely dry, which is why we're waiting for her to be consistent before we really go forward with anything. Plus, she tells us AFTER the fact. If she could tell us before she went to the bathroom we'd be in business! There have been several times that she led me to the bathroom and pointed to the toilet, but when I take her diaper off she has already gone to the bathroom in her diaper. But of course it all starts somewhere. Like I said, we're not rushing it, but I do think it's great that she is starting to become aware of it.
Meanwhile, Hunter is getting so big! He's outgrowing a new outfit almost every day it seems like. He is really chunking up and he's so alert now. Some days he doesn't take a nap all day but he is still content just to sit which is so nice. He might just sit in the swing, lay on the couch or even do some tummy time on the floor. If he is fussing you can rest assured he is about to eat or fall asleep. He's not as keen on baths as Brianna is (her baths can last up to 45 minutes!) but he is much calmer during baths than I remember Bri being at this age. Of course, my memory is awful so don't count on that being accurate. He is almost always awake during church and he is so good. I know with Brianna I walked laps along the back pews of the church because she had to constantly be moving. Hunter is pretty content as long as he has someone to look at.
I better stop writing just because Bri needs a snack, Hunter is done with his snack, and we have a mystery shop and shopping to do today! But here are some pictures and a video for your entertainment.
She wanted so badly to wear this hat. And yes, she is double-fisting drinks. At least it's orange juice and water.
Stephen's idea of giving Brianna a bath: (boy he has it rough, huh?)
She LOVES to sweep, even though it usually creates more of a mess for us to clean up...
Go Bri! She is dancing on the Wii!
Her pretty toenails: (look at her chunky knees! I love it!)
One of her shoes, one of mine!
My new nephew Evan!!
Hunter's first bath. He was 4 weeks old because his umbilical cord didn't fall off for four weeks! Yowza! Imagine the stench! Haha, just kidding :)
One of my favorite videos of Brianna. A couple of months ago I moved her high chair into the kitchen for her to eat because she could watch my screensaver on the computer. This day she was naming people whose pictures were coming up on the screen. So cute!
Oh, and there are several people she asks for throughout the day:
- Mommy and Daddy (obvious)
- Tuhter (Hunter)
- Mama* (mom) and Oma (Leila)
- Papa (dad and Papa, Stephen's grandfather) and Opa (Corky)
- Clahhhh (Claire)
- Juju (if she says Juju after Claire we know she's talking about my sister. If she says it in combination with Oma and Opa we know she's talking about Stephen's sister.)
- Joooosh (Josh)
- Lulu (Lauren)
- Neenee (Granny and Nenah)
She used to call mom and Leila "Oma" but in the past couple of weeks has started calling mom "Mama" (like Grandma).
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment