Thursday, January 8, 2009

A run down

I'm not feeling up to crafting a really nice and well written blog entry, since I assume that doing so would make me admit to myself that I'm procrastinating from doing other things I need to do, like finish thank you notes and laundry. But, I did want to share how much Roxanne is changing before she changes again. Just as long as we're all clear, I'm not really writing a blog entry instead of doing things that need to be doing, I'm just posting some notes that are important. Yes.

Roxanne has been changing on a daily basis for the last month or so. It's really strange. It's like a switch got thrown on her first birthday and her development has just taken off. Here's a little list of some new things she is doing:

*During her last cold, we kept having to attack her with tissues and saline spray for her runny nose and she absolutely hated it. But at some point I realized that if you let her hold the tissue and told her to blow her nose, she will hold it up to her face and make a sniffy sound with her nose. I think she got it from her dad (from his example). When her nose really was runny, it was actually a pretty productive thing. These days, she just does it for show, and I often give her a paper towel at the end of meals so that she can "blow her nose" and then shred the paper towel into teensy tiny pieces. She also enjoys pulling her socks off and "blowing her nose" into those, too.

*She has still not really taken off with her walking, but she's getting better. Last night I stayed at work until about 10:15 to babysit Ben, and I let Roxanne and Ben have a lot more freedom than normal as far as their play parameters. Roxanne kept pulling up on the couch or ottoman and then taking three or four steps after Ben. That's the first time she's taken steps other than from one surface to me. She has also started taking steps between furniture pieces, or from pieces of furniture to the wall. It's funny watching her cruise along the wall. She's like Spider-baby. I guess I thought she would go from taking her first steps to really walking really quickly, because Ben did, but she's taking her time. I'm not in a big rush, since this wobbly time is so cute to watch.

*She has learned that fussing gets results. This is a problem. It really only dawned on me the last couple of days that she had started manipulating me with crying, believe it or not, and now I've got to read up on the best ways to curb it. I think it started because she's been feeling so bad while her molars are coming in and I've been spoiling her. I've read that at this age babies get more difficult as far as their being more clingy, more fussy, and sleeping poorly, since they are often meeting so many milestones, like walking and talking more and getting their one year molars. This has definitely been true for the baby girl. She's starting to come out of it, but the last few weeks have been rough. She wouldn't let her daddy hold her and she wouldn't let me out of her sight. But if I did leave her with Justin, she would flip out if he left her alone for a second. We're both trying to maintain that tough balance between patience/empathy and not letting her totally rule the house. So far, she pretty much rules the house. Oops.

*She has learned the art of the fake laugh. We fake laugh in the car a lot, but after a few minutes, it usually turns into a real one. The best part about it is that she seems to know when it is appropriate. Like if she hears anyone else laugh, even on TV, she does it, too. It's a very obviously fake laugh that is so funny to watch.

*She is getting much more sensitive to approval and to our moods in general. You can watch her read your face in different situations, and she's an astute student. She gets offended sometimes, and has a highly pitiful reaction. Like this evening, when I was laying on the couch and she toddled over to me and bit my foot. I didn't see it coming and yelled out "Ow!" almost as an instinct. She looked very very surprised and spent about 20 seconds transitioning from a shocked pout to a genuine wail. She also does this when you tell her "No" in a stern voice. But only sometimes... Her and Ben have been fighting over toys a lot this week, I think since they are re-establishing the baby pecking order, and that has caused quite a bit of fussing. From her, not Ben. On the flip side, they have also been extremely affectionate with each other, giving random kisses, hugs, head pats, etc. throughout the day. Yesterday they even laid on the floor facing each other and took turns patting each other gently on the face and head. They are so cute. They also like to show each other their bellies sometimes. Which brings me to another new thing. Roxanne has started pulling her shirt up to show off her belly.

OK, I think that's all I've got for now. I promise to post more often. Even if it's just these listy things. I don't think I have a huge audience, but I know nothing alienates blog readers like infrequent posting. Plus, let's be honest, I love writing about the baby. It makes me really think about her and how she's changing and growing. And sometimes when I go back and read old postings, I just am thankful that I have this blog. Reading entries from 2007 is especially fun. I can't even remember being pregnant any more, so reading about it is good. The cankles. Oh the cankles.

1 comment:

kramsell said...

Adorable, I can't wait to hear her fake laugh:) Looking forward to seeing you guys next weekend at Ella's party.