50 Weeks - That FACE!

I suppose it is all right that we didn't get a photo for week 50.  Because this week I want to talk about something your mom has talked about since you were a few months old.  Your face and its many expressions!

You are so very expressive!  There really is never a moment that goes by when we can't see some kind of emotion on your face.  Whether it is happy, or sad or quizzical or comical, there is always an expression on your face.  It even carries over to your sleep sometimes.

We were back home visiting my parents a week or two ago and a friend stopped by and said she thought you looked like your mom, until you made your go-to scrunchy-smile face.  Then she said she knew you were my daughter.

It just shows what a unique individual you are.  Even at the young age of 11 months (almost one year).

49 Weeks - Head Banging & Da-da, Ma-ma pt 2

It's funny because you are so close to being one year old, and yet you act like you are four years old sometimes. But then there are times when you act like a 11 month old.  Case and point - when you put your back to things and bang your butt and head against them.  Let me elaborate a bit.  You frequently (read: daily) in your playing will put your back against a wall or the couch or anything you can back up to and then start bumping your butt against it repeatedly.  Then you tip your head back and start banging your head against the object as well.  It is cute and funny for the most part, except when you do it to the TV.  Now if we lived back when I was a kid this wouldn't be a problem because TVs were tube style.  They front was hard glass and fairly indestructible.  But now with the proliferation of LCD and Plasma TVs there is no telling what kind of damage you can do.  So we try to get you to come away from the TV.  This is when you act like a one year old and just smile knowing you are getting into trouble but nothing is going to happen and just laugh at your parents as you continue your evil behavior.  OK. Not evil.  But not listening to your parents is not cool.

Look at that face!  It just scream
"I know I am not supposed to do this
but I am going to do it anyways!"

The other thing to mention this week is your pronounced use of "da-da" and "ma-ma."  You have been able to make the sounds for a few weeks now, but it wasn't until this week that I think the light bulb really went off and you knew that saying "da-da" meant me and saying "ma-ma" meant your mom.  It was pretty awesome that you could identify us with verbalizations.  It is one of those hard to explain parent things where after taking care of something for so long and then suddenly being recognized on an individual level... it just feels amazing.  No other words to describe it.

And since I am posting this after your first birthday I can report that you are also dangerously close to saying "doggy," "cracker," and even (according to your mom) "cupcake."  Your speaking seems to be the last thing you want to work on.  I think that is because of a few factors.  First - you are always moving and doing things way more fun.  Which leads to factor two - you don't talk much.  And when you do, factor three, you babble in a clear enough way to get what you want and have no need to really learn to speak.  So your mom and I will need to be better about making you speak.  Much like with the sign language.  Make you speak.  And use manners.

That's all for now!

48 Weeks - 11 Months Old, Family Fun

Can you tell how difficult it is to take your weekly picture?

So this week you turned 11 months old.  Right on your monthi-versary to be exact.  So what did this last week have in store?  Well the most memorable stuff happened while your cousin, Chloe, turned 1 year-old!  Mostly it was just a photogenic weekend with family.  We did some outdoor fun in the sand-box, and some indoor fun with Bryson, Addison and Chloe.  Trenton was there, too, but he isn't old enough to be having fun yet.

It's Chloe! The birthday girl!

Outdoor fun with Addison,
Chloe and Bryon in the sand box,

Only a month apart!
Cousins can be lifelong friends.

So cute!

Really that is all I have for this week.  You have just front loaded all of your development, there is nothing left to talk about!  At least not this week.  Tune in next time!

47 Weeks - Signing, Climbing

Your mom has been diligent in teaching you baby sign language. What the difference is between baby sign language and adult sign language is I will never know.  It seems that they would have some sort of standard so it is the same for when you grow up, but for whatever reason it seems that babies and adults have different signs.  Heaven help the deaf or mute parents of a deaf or mute baby! (In actuality I do think they are the same, it is called baby sign language because they are signs commonly taught to babies.)

So what signs have you picked up with your mom's aid?  Well you know how to sign for "milk" first and foremost.  Even though we started teaching you "more" first, you seemed to have a greater desire to use the sign for "milk."  Of course that doesn't mean you always use it properly or that you really mean it.  Often times your mom and I think you use the sign for "milk" just when you are hungry, or even just when you want something in general.

That said, you do also know the sign for "more."  This one was tough to teach you because you clapped first and you LOVE to clap.  And the sign for more is to group your fingers together and touch the tips in front of you.  When we tried teaching this to you, you would just clap!  Eventually you learned to touch your fingertips together and not clap when you wanted more (I can say that because I am writing it after week 52).

And since I am writing this after week 52 I can also say that you are working on the signs for "please" and "thank you," but since you are a stubborn child these are a little harder to teach.  "Please" surprisingly caught on quicker than I thought it would, but getting the right form is tricky.  The sign is made by rubbing your chest.  And when your mom showed you the sign she rubbed her chest.  When she asked you to make the sign, you rubbed her chest, too!  After some practice you started to rub your belly.  This progressed quickly south and you currently rub your leg, if you make the sign at all.  I have yet to see you sign "thank you."

So what do you do for recess between sessions of learning sign language?  Why climb anything and everything of course.  No explanation needed.  Just pictures.

Climbing stairs...

...boxes...

... multiple boxes...

... and even climbing on cousins!

My favorite though is this progression.
Phase 1 - Start climing

Phase 2 - Successfully climb and attempt
dangerous antics

Phase 3 - Pay the consequences for said antics