Firsts

Ana, here are some firsts for you:

Yesterday you drank from a straw! It was Diet Coke, which I would have never had in the cup if I thought you were about to figure straws out. Welcome to the world of drink boxes!!! Now, we just need to figure sippy cups out.

Today, you took the spoon and fed yourself porridge. You used both your right and left hand equally and made daddy proud. By the end you had it figured out pretty well, but you were wearing quite a bit of the mush.

You are trying to figure out buckles on strollers and car seats. That kind fascinates you and you want to be able to buckle and unbuckle very badly. Not good news for me I am afraid.

You walk up and down the stairs alternating feet. You do use your hands to help balance by holding on to the next step. But alternating feet is a milestone.

You said "bye" and waived at daddy today as you went to get into the bath. You started waiving to people on Monday. (2 days ago) You also say Arf Arf in relation to Banjo and 'upa' for up (but not regularly).

Since Aidan took his bath toys with him to his bathtub, I got you some new ones. You love to take the little flower shaped cups and drink from them. You use both hands to hold the cup, but you definitely have the idea.

During the day, when you are alone with daddy and I, you talk a lot. It is clearly your Russian-baby-babble-talk. I would bet some of it would be understandable to your caregivers. It certainly has intonations like regular speech. You feel so comfortable, you just babble to yourself. It is soo cute.

You will now wander off from me and play in other areas of the house without dad or I around. Ummm.. I preferred the girl who would stay next to me. I need to get laundry done, but you are wandering around and I have to keep an eye on you.

You are putting plastic and random items like coins into your mouth much much less. I don't think you did it once today. Which is a relief given your new propensity to wander. You still enjoy unloading drawers more than playing with toys. I can't tell you how much I prefer you to unload drawers to putting stuff into your mouth. You terrified me!

Your doll stroller is still your favorite toy. You really need a kitchen set, table and chairs. I think you will love them as much. You also think magnadoodle is a lot of fun.

You will climb into your stroller, buckle up and wait for one of us to take you for a ride around the block.

I learned not to expect wonderful rocking moments before bed, but instead AFTER. When you wake up I get really wonderful rocking and cuddling time. Exactly what the doctors ordered. It is such a beautiful moment as we look into each other's eyes.

You hold your feet up now wanting me to play piggies with your toes.

You roll over in the middle of having your diaper changed like babies do. I am grateful you are smaller and lighter than your brothers. You are much easier to wrestle a diaper on to.

You have come to expect our lotion massages. You enjoy having your feet and legs done, but you make noises and squirm away when I rub your back or belly...

Cheerios don't have the magic they had a week ago.

Monday afternoon your brothers handed you a Snicker's bar expecting your usual toss to the ground and SURPRISE: you ate the whole thing.

You stayed with daddy this morning. I went to Muffins with Mom with Aidan. You slept until 9am and I got home at 10.. so it was only 1 hour. You and dad went to Starbucks. You like watching the buzzards and eating blueberry coffee cake just like Aidan does.

Collin is into hugging and rocking you. He seems to really want to connect with you. Slowly you are beginning to trust him and let him hold you. He is a gentle guy. The men in the house are wrapped around you finger tightly.

You don't heal very quickly. Aidan would scratch himself with a long fingernail and be healed by night time. You don't. I guess this will come with better nutrician, massages and love. (lack of stress does wonders)

You are loosing the habit of stroking your palms with your finger tips- not quite a fist- instead you curl your fingers in and wiggle them. It is one of your stress indicators. I see it a whole lot less.

You love to toss things down. You toss things out of your crib. You take books from me when we are in the rocking chair and toss them down. You toss food off of your highchair. You toss things from your car seat. I will admit that you never want what you toss down. It seems to be your way of letting me know that you don't want it anymore. Your brothers would toss as a part of a game. They toss, then scream. I fetch until I learn better.

More firsts and milestones to come.... only 10 days until you turn 2!!! I have some planning to do!!