This month really seems like she is moving from a baby to a big girl. As much as I want her to be a baby forever, she is really fun at this age. It's perfect that spring is here right when she is very interested in her surroundings and is becoming more mobile.
She is currently dealing with her first respiratory cold. It appears to be a common cold with runny nose, congestion, and cough.
We've been joking that she may not have taste buds because she still thankfully eats about anything. By the speed at which she downs raspberries and blackberries, I think it's safe to say she loves them. She also seems to like beef, chicken, bread and loves, loves, loves cheese! I suppose she can't help it, having two cheese-heads for parents. She is doing better with taking bites of food (well, the best you can "bite" with no teeth!) rather than just shoveling in all she can fit in her hand.
My grandma said my mom didn't have any teeth until she was after a year old. I have heard teething can be hereditary, so maybe Annabel is taking after my mom. Supposedly there is a decreased chance of cavities for babies who get their teeth later; that would be great!
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| She absolutely loves to have us smell her socks or shoes and respond with "pee-ew" or "stiiinky." It never gets old. |
One morning I opened her door and actually jumped a little when I saw her standing in her crib!! She hadn't even been pulling herself at the couch much, so I was quite shocked to see her standing there proudly! The first time she attempted pulling up by the couch, like it was in slow motion, she put both hands up and then bit the edge for a third point of stability....so funny! She's not furniture walking yet and really doesn't seem to enjoy standing in general very long, but is up on all fours crawling and up on her knees to get to things. Occasionally she gets into a bear-crawl position.
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| We've had gorgeous weather the past couple weeks, so we've walked the river a few times. Conveniently there are a couple ice cream places along the walk. |
This past week my dad was talking to her on Skype and asked her about her shirt and pants and she was pointing to them. I had no idea she knew what those words meant. Since then, we've been asking her about her hair, toes, belly, and ears. She also seems to know who her cat Pierre is, what toy is her chicken, what a bib is and some of the basic things like change diaper and eat. I think one of the neatest things is having babies reveal what they know. It's especially cool to see the things they just pick up on by listening and through observation.
I like this stage because although we are teaching her what to touch and what not to touch, there isn't discipline. Although, it appears we may be on the edge of that or maybe not quite yet. I don't know how this all works! All I know is that part does not sound fun.
Eric and I have been laughing at her level of excitement lately. At church, she really bobs her head, waves her arms and claps to the music. At a local elementary school play, her favorite part was the end when everyone clapped for each cast member. She loved that we were clapping multiple times and she was yelling "yea" while clapping herself. We were at a dinner the other night and everyone was introducing themselves and Annabel was clapping after each person said their name!! She really knows how to show her support!
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| This week she has LOVED looking out the window onto the busy street. She enjoys this for 15 minutes at a time. |
She started swimming lessons and she seems to really enjoy the water. This has been her first time swimming and I'm glad I didn't take her earlier, especially with the work of packing up and undressing, dressing, etc in the winter. The younger babies do just fine, but of course get tired, hungry, and cold sooner.
It's hard to believe that next month Annabel turns one! We are really looking forward to celebrating with family!
She's getting so big, I can hardly believe it. Yay for mobility! But simultaneously, Boo for mobility! It's really when the discipline starts--teaching them the word "no" and their limits. My personal opinion is that the house should be baby-proofed, but within reason. There are things in our house that the boys have access to, but are off limits (the fireplace poker set, for example, has always sat on the hearth) and Austin's only paid attention to them (at all) like twice (in his entire life), because he learned quite quickly what would happen if he touched something that he wasn't supposed to (he gets a swat to the butt). We have used "No touch" instead of simply "no" when telling them to not touch something, so that the word No and Touch are separate concepts to them. The pokers, for example, are on the hearth and on the floor next to the hearth is the basket of toys. Just saying no when he gets over there would have made it confusing since all the toys on the floor are fine/not off limits, but the poker set is something he's not allowed to touch. Hopefully that's making sense... Also, Raising Godly Tomatoes and Shepherding a Child's Heart have been my favorite discipline books. But we believe in spanking, so if you don't, you might not like them. I've already started giving tiny swats to Graham (7 months), when he's attempting to roll over on the changing table. He doesn't understand what happens, but when he feels the sting to his butt/thigh, he stops in his tracks and I reinforce that there is to be no rolling on the changing table. He doesn't understand all those words yet, but does understand the sting. Anyways... that's plenty. Sorry to make such a large comment! And yay for swim lessons! Austin has loved the water from an early age too.
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