I love books!!!

Forgot to mention in the 13 month update how much Amelia just loves books! It's so much fun to figure out which end opens easily and the pictures inside are sooooo interesting. She even makes up her own stories ... or is she reading?

[photo dated 10/25/06]

13 Months Old

Every day is more fun! Amelia is just jabbering up a storm and it's sooo cute. We have no idea what she says, but we respond to her like we're having a conversation and she responds as well, so I guess we're saying the right things back to her! Her new "word" is doy. I think she is saying toy, but we're not 100 percent certain yet. She also likes to do this thing with an "ooh" sound that sounds like she's going from one note up a fourth (Daddy says third) and back down. More musical than an ambulance, though.

She is walking everywhere and is discovering all sorts of new things around the house. She is also getting curious about trying things on her own that she sees Mommy and Daddy doing - like opening the kitchen cabinets. So far it's still fun for us to watch her world expand as she walks around a corner following one of us out of a room or discovers Tigger in the corner of the sunroom. She does really well getting down the slight step from the kitchen into the sunroom, and back into the kitchen. She is really patient with herself and very methodical. She's also very stubborn and independent. We have noooo idea where she gets those last two traits from! (LOL ... poor girl has a dose from each of us!!)

Comprehension

It seems like Amelia is starting to really understand what we are saying to her or at least understands that we are talking. She looks really interested and then babbles something. There's also a lot more mimicking and give and take in interactions with toys, etc. It's so cute and wonderful. She picks up so fast on things. You just show her something a few times and then she tries it herself and breaks out in the biggest grin. She is so delighted when she is able to do something.

Ever since she was about five months old I thought she was just so great and every day I would think "Wow, this is the best age yet!". At almost 13 months, I still find myself saying, "Wow! This is the best age yet!"

Seriously, I just want to spend time with her - playing, feeding, teaching and taking care of her. Too bad there are so many obligations.

This is my new favorite picture of her:

[pictured dated 9/23/06]

Balloons!

Amelia loves balloons. (Okay, what kid doesn't?) She got her first one at Party City when we were shopping for her birthday party supplies. It was a yellow one that the clerk just handed to her and she was totally delighted. The leftover balloons from her party were a big hit with her at home. She loves how they bounce and move so easily. And she doesn't mind if they pop - she thinks it's funny!

Today she got another yellow one and had so much fun. I tied it to the button of her jacket and it would blow out in front of her. She'd chase it and of course it would still be just as far from her. It seemed kind of cruel but oh, so funny, too! And she has enough sense that she would reel it in from time to time anyway.

We are having SO much fun with her. She is just so happy, easily pleased and down right content.

[pictures dated 10/14/06]

Just Ducky!

Amelia's first word, other than dada, is duck. It sounds more like 'Dut', but we count it as "duck" and her first real word because she says it every time she sees a duck. It's so sweet to see her recognize a duck among her toys and say "Dut!" with a huge smile as she reaches for it. She loves her rubber duckies and has them in about three different sizes. For her birthday, Tia Polly y Tio Cristian gave her this wonderful Rubber Ducky for the bath tub. (A couple of months ago they also gave her the one she is holding.)

In honor of her first word, it was decided that she must be a duck for Halloween. Through the magic of e-bay, I found this bargain that arrived the other day and had to make sure it fit before the big day!

oh, but you can't see the tail! So we must also post this one:

[pictures dated 10/7/06

Walking!!

Amelia has been standing for a while, even standing up from the floor, not to mention the squat, stand, squat, stand routine as she drops and picks up a toy repeatedly. She wasn't taking any steps forward on her own at all, but would take off walking as long as you held her hands. So, for her birthday, I pulled out this push toy that Aunt Amy gave us when she was 6 months old. The first day, she would follow it when it moved away from her. By the second day, she was pushing it around like a pro. By the third day, she was using it like a walker, kinda of putting it to her side as a stabilizer and dragging it alongside of her. Then day four came and at kindermusik, Amelia took a few steps toward the xylophone! All by herself. That became her pattern for a few days - she'd walk about four steps before dropping and crawling - the much more efficent mode of travel, after all. By Thursday she was taking about six steps and they were larger and steadier. She is well on her way and it's amazing how patient she is about it. At daycare she walked all the way from the couch to the TV, but it took her (as Granny Jan said) about 30 minutes! But that's Amelia - in general, she keeps trying at something rather than getting frustrated immediately. Let's hope she continues to be so focused on whatever she is learning and discovering!

[picture dated 9/24/06]

Hug for Mommy

So Amelia was kneeling or maybe she was actually standing on her changing table this morning after being dressed for the day. Yes, that's a dangerous habit that I'll be working on breaking soon, but for the time being I let her kneel, squat, stand as she's discovering how to move while I hover with my hands at the ready, just in case she loses balance. Part of the fun in letting her play on the changing table while I hover is that she is basically eye level with me. It started out with changing time being a playful time so she would not be a fussy baby during diaper and clothing changes. I had a mobile up and she would talk to it and try to touch the pastel colored balloons with her feet or hands as they went around. After a few months she was too close to them, even while laying down, and it was time to put the mobile away. Soon after, she was able to sit up and then it was fun to let her sit and play with things after being changed. She liked grabbing her socks for sleeping out of the diaper caddy and dropping them on the floor. Lately, she likes to pull up and try to play with the blinds. (Reeaallly bad habit.)

So, as I was saying, Amelia was either kneeling or standing on the changing table this morning. The next thing I knew, she put her hands on my shoulders, pulled me towards her and then wrapped her arms around my neck! Of course I hugged her right back, which was an excellent opportunity to remove her from the table. But, wow, it was so cool to be hugged on purpose by my little girl!

[picture dated 9/19/06. This morning that shirt was too small!]

In the Box!!!

I looked up from the computer and look who was in her little toy tub!! (This was after she used it as a "walker" to get from one side of the room to the other.) I know every little baby does this, but this is the first time for Amelia! Of course, as soon as I got the camera, she decided she needed to get out and started to stand up.

Today is a day of firsts ... she took a few steps at kindermusik. She was going after the xylophone! And she took a step or two at Nana's house later. And she's taken a couple at home. The thing is, she knows that crawling is really a whole lot faster and after the first tentative steps she drops to her butt, leans forward and takes off. But it won't be long until she's walking and then running all over the place - because if you hold her hands, that's exactly what she does!