Update for the baby book

Well, one of my goals was to finish her baby book before she turns 1. This is not going to happen. Things change when you have an almost-toddler. It is very hard to get anything done while she is awake because she un-does anything given the opportunity and because I want to play with her. By the time she takes a nap, I am tired, too, because I've been running around after her to make sure she doesn't bust her head open. I had to bribe her with every toy in the house just so I could finish making dinner tonight.

Some details for this week (for Mike and the grandparents):

She has been recognizing and saying words for several things in public. She got really excited when we saw the big concrete balls outside HEB today. She pointed to them on the way in and on the way out and said "ball, ball, ball". I didn't notice them at all until she pointed them out to me, hehe. It was pretty cute.

She got her 8th tooth this morning. I am relieved that she will be fairly symmetrical for her Christmas/birthday/family pictures! She has 4 on top and 4 on bottom.

She doesn't walk all the time but will walk at least 75% of the time if she is going somewhere close. She has figured out how to turn around while walking, though she sometimes loses her balance. Her favorite thing to walk to is mommy, whether mommy is expecting it or not. Then she walks to something else, then back to mommy, repeat, repeat, repeat.

She says 'mama' a lot more frequently than she used to... she's also decided that bananas are 'nanas' instead of "banas". She was so excited when we picked out the bananas at the store today.

She will mimic the word mama, dada, nana, baba (or anything that starts with these same sound) on command.

She is a happy little girl and loves to smile and laugh and play games. She brings me joy daily!

On Saturday we were getting ready for John's birthday party. While she was napping, I laid out her dress, tights, and bow so that we could change and go to the party when she woke up. She hadn't worn a bow in at least two weeks. When she crawled into the living room, she immediately picked up the bow, said 'bow' and tried to put it on her head. Unfortunately, she wouldn't keep it on her head, so she had to go bow-less to John's party.

She had spaghetti for the first time at small group last night. She was not very interested in eating it with her hands, so I tried feeding her with a fork... and she loved it! This is the same girl who refuses to eat anything from a spoon 90% of the time.

We are starting to have some little temper tantrums. It is strange because sometimes she reacts normally to a situation and sometimes she throws her head back, stiffens her body, and screams. Sometimes we even get real tears. She did this three times today when I was putting her in the car seat. She did it when I was putting her in the grocery cart (which she normally LOVES) and in the stroller. She is starting to do it if I take something away from her. Diaper changes are the worst. I was changing a poopy diaper today and she ended up in the bathtub. I'll leave the details to your imagination. Mike owes me about 9 months worth of diaper changes, so I think I will let him enjoy this little activity while he is here :)

She is doing a much better job of communicating during meals. She either points or makes the "more" sign when she wants a drink of her water (as long as her cup is visible). If the cup is not visible, she gets very upset when she is thirsty.

She still loves to read books and will keep handing them to me until she is ready to move on to something else. Mike was thrilled to hear 4 rounds of "Peek a Who?" on the webcam. She is also very particular about which book gets read. She tosses books aside until she finds the right one.

She is not very interested in a breakfast meal of solids. I am going to continue to offer it to her if we are at home. She is still napping and sleeping very well at home but it is a hit or miss in the pack and play. I think all of my friends need to move to our neighborhood so that playdates and naptimes won't conflict :)

I need to get this last one on video to do it justice. She is still obsessed with the Christmas tree and says "hi" while waving whenever she sees it. She never forgets to wave to the tree. I don't even say "hi" or "wave" before she does it. She also waves to Boss most of the time.