Watch Her Grow...

This Week's Foci: Sound and Movement

 Interactions with Materials

• She found the coasters in the kitchen cabinet and loved tasting, touching, and dropping them all over the floor.
• She's really enjoying items that are small enough to fit in her hand comfortably, but large enough to easily manipulate, like the shapes that accompany a shape sorter (although I have not put out the sorter, as it's above her current level).  She likes to see and feel all sides and, of course, bang the shape on the ground.

Unrelated picture, but too cute to have missed publication elsewhere.

Interactions with Others

• Still in the separation anxiety phase. She'll crawl over to someone new and sit at their feet, smile, laugh, and sometimes even reach up.  
• She has expanded her speech this week.  She's started chanting "mamamamamama," seemingly when she wants me or wants to nurse.  Although it is hard to determine this as this are rather common wants currently.  But, she also started saying "babababa," and she only seems to say it when Daddy is in the room, so maybe she is starting to distinguish some words.
• Another speech made a return this week after a few months of repression. We call it the pterodactyl as it resembles the noise I've always imagined one of these beasts would make.  The noise typically presents itself during dinnertime or in lines at stores.

Interactions with Space

• As seen here, she moved from cruising to walking around with her wagon and anything else that she could push.
• Today she successfully stood up (defined by me as both feet solidly on the ground, fully supporting her weight) without the help of me or any other solid object.

Interactions with Life

• I once read an article about mothers' favorite memories of their babies, and one mother mentioned the face her children made when they first tasted ice cream. So, given my love of ice cream, I've always thought that would be something to look forward too. Well, this week that was knocked to the side when Q-ball was introduced to medium-spiced, organic salsa. There was a moment of delay, followed by bulging and confused eyes, complete reddening of the face, and repeatedly opening and closing her mouth.  I promise I don't like to see my baby in pain!  But, it was funny, and after the initial shock, she was asking for more!

To see the rational and purpose for the Watch Her Grow series, please check out this post!