Time Flying

Shaela is developing so fast, it is really quite amazing. I get baffled by how her spoon size has changed in a matter of months. When we first got her, I had to scrape bananas with a spoon to feed her, because pieces were too big for her mouth and she couldn't handle them. I would always reach for a tiny baby spoon. I wondered why they made so many other baby spoons so big, it didn't seem to fit into her mouth well and would get food everywhere. Those smaller spoons began to be coveted at feeding time. Well now, she is using our teaspoons and the baby spoons seem quite inadequate, especially to my daughter who has a voracious appetite. Has her mouth grown that much? It is all pretty amazing.

Her favorite thing to do now is "tent!" Justin made her a tent out of the silky comforter on our bed, which she loves already. She can't seem to get enough of "tent!". She is so cute when she exclaims it, "tent! tent!". It is interesting how she can pick up a word so quickly and others not. She also says "down!" very emphatically while pointing to the ground as well (especially from her high chair).

Her second favorite thing is drawing with a pen. She is quite expressive and likes to draw spirals and circles and the occasional star and fishies (I think). Drawing seems to calm her down when she gets cranky. When she writes on herself or the table, she quickly points it out and makes a disgusted noise (like who did this!?).

She has been quite moody, with great wonderful highs, where she squeals with delight (very cute!!!), to very cranky hitting spells (mostly hitting in the air now, thanks to "time outs"). She is teething. Her molars are now coming in. The homeopathic remedy had been helping immensely with her moods. She is vocallizing so much now and so loudly, very cute.

She can recognize several more letters of the alphabet and some numbers now, and will point them out when I ask her. It is funny how when we introduce new things, she will really like some and not the other. For instance, I put up foam numbers on the shower wall when she takes a bath. She threw down most of the numbers and wanted to hold onto the "8, 3 and 7". She can pick an 8 out pretty easily in print. I heard that the Chinese think that "8" is the best number, maybe it is ingrained somehow.

She loves her piano and plays often. She even will play the piano with her feet and butt occasionally.

She understands so much and is much more patient when we explain things. But sometimes when she is in her car seat and is cranky, I count how long it takes to get home and she calms down. She seems to like learning and gets cranky if she is not stimulated. It definitely keeps us on our toes.

Her favorite food right now is rice pudding. She is like a rice pudding addict. Whenever I go into the refrigerator, she comes in and tries to grab any plastic container that is the same size as the rice pudding and wants to take it out. When I ask her if she wants rice pudding she always says, "AHHHHH!!!!!" with a big grin.

She is so cute in the morning when we get her from her crib. To Justin, she will sign "all done" with the crib thing, or "help" to get her out. I usually am excited to see her in the morning and take her out probably a bit earlier.

I love seeing her first thing in the morning....speaking of....
Gotta Go.
Lots of Love and Blessings,
Debbie, Justin and Shaela