When Sarah was little she would listen to whatever I wanted to in the car, which was more often than not, NPR (Morning Edition on the way to work, All Things Considered on the way home). When she was about 1, she started to protest the talk radio, and luckily we had recently acquired a mix of kids music from a first birthday party, so my ride to work shifted from Renee Montange to Raffi and The Wheels on the Bus. Where before she let me know she was sick of my radio choices by becoming a bit fussy, she now actually requests songs when she gets into the car. We have the "ahh ahh" song (If all the raindrops were lemondrops and gumdrops, oh what a life that would be. I'd stand outside with my mouth open wide, ahh ahh ahh ahh..... etc.), the "tut tut" song (A peanut sat on a railroad track... and the train ultimately goes "toot toot"), and "nana" (I'd like to eat, apples and bananas). In addition, she can clap, nod, spin, and stomp along with if you're happy and you know it, and repeats some words (such as yummy and whoa) from others. It's to the point now where as soon as we get in the car, if I put on anything (even other kids cd's) she continues to say "ahh ahh" until I put on the song she wants to hear. And as soon as a song is over she says "more" in a pseudo British accent letting me know that we need more music, now. Adorable side note, she hasn't quite figured out that she is supposed to sing along with the songs, she "ahh ahh" or "tut tut"'s after the appropriate part in the song.
I did realize yesterday though that I should probably start to more closely monitor what she's watching/listening to. She does pick up and mimic very well now, and though it made for an excellent episode of Modern Family, I'd prefer that her vocabulary at this point remained limited to body parts, animal sounds and foods.
Friday, May 4, 2012
Tuesday, April 17, 2012
Words
At her doctor appointment today (where I learned that Sarah is a giant baby in the 82nd percentile for weight, 80th for height and 90th for head) the doctor asked me what words she was saying. Apparently the average at 18 months is 4-14, and babies that grow up in bilingual environments tend to have delayed speech, but even so I realized I wanted to start compiling a list of words that Sarah "knows" as of 18 months.
(In no particular order other than the order T.J. and I remember them while also watching the Blackhawks game...)
Mama
Dada
Nana
Doggie
Oh no!
Mine
Mah (more)
Chicka (Chicken)
Abble (apple... though this is in the abstract... she doesn't like apples and I'm not sure she knows it applies to juice)
Hola
Bye Bye (as of this past weekend)
Eye
Nos (nose)
aibane (airplane)
Ouch
Then we have the words that have a few meanings....
Kuck (truck and stuck)
Ah Dee (All done, but can also be Auntie and Andi, a friend at daycare)
Baby (baby, but also Bailey)
Bebe (Binky, often shorted to "bee" but also Toby)
And of course, there are the animal sounds...
We used to know kitty cats went "meow meow meow" but we seem to have forgotten that
But the dogs go "Ruff ruff"
Cows go "moooo"
and Ducks go "Quack"
Her favorite current book is "Moo, Baa, La La La" and she can fill in most of the animal sounds at this point. If the multiple times a night reading of this book continues, I suspect we'll add horse, sheep, and rhinoceros to our animal noise repertoire.
(In no particular order other than the order T.J. and I remember them while also watching the Blackhawks game...)
Mama
Dada
Nana
Doggie
Oh no!
Mine
Mah (more)
Chicka (Chicken)
Abble (apple... though this is in the abstract... she doesn't like apples and I'm not sure she knows it applies to juice)
Hola
Bye Bye (as of this past weekend)
Eye
Nos (nose)
aibane (airplane)
Ouch
Then we have the words that have a few meanings....
Kuck (truck and stuck)
Ah Dee (All done, but can also be Auntie and Andi, a friend at daycare)
Baby (baby, but also Bailey)
Bebe (Binky, often shorted to "bee" but also Toby)
And of course, there are the animal sounds...
We used to know kitty cats went "meow meow meow" but we seem to have forgotten that
But the dogs go "Ruff ruff"
Cows go "moooo"
and Ducks go "Quack"
Her favorite current book is "Moo, Baa, La La La" and she can fill in most of the animal sounds at this point. If the multiple times a night reading of this book continues, I suspect we'll add horse, sheep, and rhinoceros to our animal noise repertoire.
Saturday, April 7, 2012
Dipping Sauce
Two things Sarah has always been is a good sleeper and a good eater. Someone asked me the other day when she first slept through the night, and though I can't remember exactly when it was, I know by the time I went back to work in January she was sleeping quite well, and I suspect it was well before that. She's gotten to the point now where she sleeps 11 - 12 hours every night, regardless of when she goes to bed. She's even gotten to the point where if she's tired enough she'll go to the gate at the bottom of the stairs, say "ah dee" (all done) and walk herself upstairs, lay down and go right to sleep without fussing. I know, I know, I'm extraordinarily lucky.
She's also always been a good eater (one of my first posts on this blog commented just on that fact) but perhaps it is the impending "terrible twos" but recently she's sometimes let me know what she wants and what she doesn't (goldfish, yes, cheerios, no). Even old staples like grilled chicken are often passed over for an extra serving of yogurt or peas. And yes, at least at this point in her life, a serving of yogurt or corn can pass as dessert to one who does not know better. In order to attempt to stem this tide of picky eating, we recently introduced the idea of "dipping sauce". The other night we had turkey burgers for dinner that wasn't going over too well with my little eater. As one cannot subsist on legumes alone, I pulled out ketchup and tried to see if that would get her to eat better. See below for evidence!
Not the cleanest experience ever, but a protein enriching one. Last weekend when we were out of town, my mom told me that Sarah was dipping her fake peanut butter sandwich into her yogurt. I guess she learns quickly.
She's also always been a good eater (one of my first posts on this blog commented just on that fact) but perhaps it is the impending "terrible twos" but recently she's sometimes let me know what she wants and what she doesn't (goldfish, yes, cheerios, no). Even old staples like grilled chicken are often passed over for an extra serving of yogurt or peas. And yes, at least at this point in her life, a serving of yogurt or corn can pass as dessert to one who does not know better. In order to attempt to stem this tide of picky eating, we recently introduced the idea of "dipping sauce". The other night we had turkey burgers for dinner that wasn't going over too well with my little eater. As one cannot subsist on legumes alone, I pulled out ketchup and tried to see if that would get her to eat better. See below for evidence!
Not the cleanest experience ever, but a protein enriching one. Last weekend when we were out of town, my mom told me that Sarah was dipping her fake peanut butter sandwich into her yogurt. I guess she learns quickly.
Saturday, March 31, 2012
How Blogging is Like Dieting
I waste a lot of time every day. Scanning facebook, reading the news online, catching up on trashy reality shows, and yet I for some reason haven't had time to keep this updated. Until I woke up last night in the same panic that caused me to start this almost a year ago, that so much is happening in Sarah's life that is not being documented and though I clearly remember it now, who knows how much I'll remember in 10 years and 10 kids later (ok, hopefully that second is not true).
So how is blogging like a diet? If you're on a diet, and then you eat poorly for lunch one day, you just keep eating poorly because you feel you've already fallen off the wagon, so why bother starting eating healthy now. I figured I was so far behind on this that why bother starting to write again, it just wasn't worth it at this point. Until I realized that every day Sarah continues to do new and amazing things. And though I'm sure I've missed some minute details that won't be reported here, that doesn't mean that she won't continue to amaze me. And actually the older she gets the more adorable things that she does. If I tried to summarize everything that she's done in the past 5 months it would be a ridiculous post (and though I know only a few people read this, I'm thinking of myself reading this in the future). So I guess I start with where she is now, and as it is spring break and hopefully I'll have some time this week, maybe I'll try to go back and find some cute pictures and update on the past. Or, like a diet I can't fix the past, but I can keep up with the future.
So where are we now. Sarah has 12 teeth (four on top, four on bottom, though her bottom right one outside the middle just came in even after four molars). She understands almost everything I ask her to do, but her spoken language is still limited to "doggie", "ah dee" (all done), "baaa" (baby) "ouf" (out) "uh oh", and "choof" (shoe). She still loves to play peek-a-boo (it can entertain us in the car, that mirror that allows me to see her was a fabulous purchase!) though pointing out body parts is a fun game too (so far we're up to head (which was first), nose, ear, eye, toes, and tummy, complete with lifting up her shirt).
Though the last post I had was her first steps on her birthday, she started walking for real on Thanksgiving. For months she was good at toddling around holding on to just my one finger, so when she decided it was time to walk she took off and hasn't stopped since. She now not only walks, but runs, climbs ladders, crawls up and down stairs (though recently she has taken to wanting to walk down stairs, which makes me exceptionally nervous). She still LOVES playing with the dogs, and asks for them first thing in the morning (after greeting us with throwing her bunny out of her crib with a big "uh oh").
So much more has happened I'm sure, but this seems long enough for now! Sarah, I'm sorry I haven't kept up with this. I PROMISE to be better this spring... or at least if I fall off the wagon I promise to try to get back on.
So how is blogging like a diet? If you're on a diet, and then you eat poorly for lunch one day, you just keep eating poorly because you feel you've already fallen off the wagon, so why bother starting eating healthy now. I figured I was so far behind on this that why bother starting to write again, it just wasn't worth it at this point. Until I realized that every day Sarah continues to do new and amazing things. And though I'm sure I've missed some minute details that won't be reported here, that doesn't mean that she won't continue to amaze me. And actually the older she gets the more adorable things that she does. If I tried to summarize everything that she's done in the past 5 months it would be a ridiculous post (and though I know only a few people read this, I'm thinking of myself reading this in the future). So I guess I start with where she is now, and as it is spring break and hopefully I'll have some time this week, maybe I'll try to go back and find some cute pictures and update on the past. Or, like a diet I can't fix the past, but I can keep up with the future.
So where are we now. Sarah has 12 teeth (four on top, four on bottom, though her bottom right one outside the middle just came in even after four molars). She understands almost everything I ask her to do, but her spoken language is still limited to "doggie", "ah dee" (all done), "baaa" (baby) "ouf" (out) "uh oh", and "choof" (shoe). She still loves to play peek-a-boo (it can entertain us in the car, that mirror that allows me to see her was a fabulous purchase!) though pointing out body parts is a fun game too (so far we're up to head (which was first), nose, ear, eye, toes, and tummy, complete with lifting up her shirt).
Though the last post I had was her first steps on her birthday, she started walking for real on Thanksgiving. For months she was good at toddling around holding on to just my one finger, so when she decided it was time to walk she took off and hasn't stopped since. She now not only walks, but runs, climbs ladders, crawls up and down stairs (though recently she has taken to wanting to walk down stairs, which makes me exceptionally nervous). She still LOVES playing with the dogs, and asks for them first thing in the morning (after greeting us with throwing her bunny out of her crib with a big "uh oh").
So much more has happened I'm sure, but this seems long enough for now! Sarah, I'm sorry I haven't kept up with this. I PROMISE to be better this spring... or at least if I fall off the wagon I promise to try to get back on.
Tuesday, November 1, 2011
Happy Birthday to Me
I was listening to a commercial on the radio the other day about weight loss (I think it was acutually a commercial for Aetna or Kaiser or something like that) and it said that even if you take two steps forward and one step back, that is still one step forward, and that is progress, and not to think too poorly of yourself if you fell off the wagon, because you did still make forward progress. I'm taking that to heart not just in terms of my exercise program, but also in terms of this blog. So I haven't written in 2 months. That doesn't mean I should stop now, especially since so many exciting things are happening.
I may do a totally seperate post for the fact that Sarah is now 1! We had a fabulous party with fabulous family and friends in town, but hopefully I'll get around to writing more about that later. So instead I'll focus on milestones we've reached since August 31st.
1) We now have 5 (1/2) teeth. Two on the bottom and pretty much four on top (though one is stubborn and doesn't want to pop through)
2) Our vocabulary has expanded. Her first word was "doggie" (which she can now apply to more than Bailey and Toby. When we see dogs on the street, hear dogs barking, or even see pictures of dogs in books or our friends dressed up as dogs on Halloween, all gets the Sarah point and "doggie"... though she may have thought a chicken was a dog as well?). Other words we've mastered are "day day" (dad), mmmmmum (mom), ah oh (uh oh), ah gee (all gone) and "alley" (hello, often with a phone held to her ear)
3) We've been attending Gymboree together, and unfortunately the entire world does not have mats below it such as it at Gymboree. Gymboree has taught Sarah lots of climbing skills - however, this doesn't stop Sarah from lunging off furniture, with no abandon to how high it is. She has however begun going off some things feet first... some things.
4) Few foods are an obstacle anymore. Though dinner most often consists of chicken (though she prefers the "fake" morning star farm tenders to real ones), vegetable (green beans are her favorite) and a fruit (bananas please!) she did have her first piece of pizza last night.
5) Sarah has become a pro (almost) walker - first with her dinosaur, then with a single finger of mommy or daddy, and today she took three steps by herself! Before when I would let go she would just stand there hovering, but today when I let go she kept going! She may have even gone further, but I was so excited a scooped her up and gave her the biggest hug. What a fabulous birthday gift from Sarah!
I'm sure I'm missing some major or minor accomplishments, but hopefully I'll keep up with this blog more often to record them. But first steps are something I wanted down in writing... not like I would forget the best 32nd birthday gift ever.
I may do a totally seperate post for the fact that Sarah is now 1! We had a fabulous party with fabulous family and friends in town, but hopefully I'll get around to writing more about that later. So instead I'll focus on milestones we've reached since August 31st.
1) We now have 5 (1/2) teeth. Two on the bottom and pretty much four on top (though one is stubborn and doesn't want to pop through)
2) Our vocabulary has expanded. Her first word was "doggie" (which she can now apply to more than Bailey and Toby. When we see dogs on the street, hear dogs barking, or even see pictures of dogs in books or our friends dressed up as dogs on Halloween, all gets the Sarah point and "doggie"... though she may have thought a chicken was a dog as well?). Other words we've mastered are "day day" (dad), mmmmmum (mom), ah oh (uh oh), ah gee (all gone) and "alley" (hello, often with a phone held to her ear)
3) We've been attending Gymboree together, and unfortunately the entire world does not have mats below it such as it at Gymboree. Gymboree has taught Sarah lots of climbing skills - however, this doesn't stop Sarah from lunging off furniture, with no abandon to how high it is. She has however begun going off some things feet first... some things.
4) Few foods are an obstacle anymore. Though dinner most often consists of chicken (though she prefers the "fake" morning star farm tenders to real ones), vegetable (green beans are her favorite) and a fruit (bananas please!) she did have her first piece of pizza last night.
5) Sarah has become a pro (almost) walker - first with her dinosaur, then with a single finger of mommy or daddy, and today she took three steps by herself! Before when I would let go she would just stand there hovering, but today when I let go she kept going! She may have even gone further, but I was so excited a scooped her up and gave her the biggest hug. What a fabulous birthday gift from Sarah!
I'm sure I'm missing some major or minor accomplishments, but hopefully I'll keep up with this blog more often to record them. But first steps are something I wanted down in writing... not like I would forget the best 32nd birthday gift ever.
Tuesday, September 13, 2011
Wednesday, August 31, 2011
We're safe (for now)
I've been blessed that Sarah has not shown too much interest in independent moving. Though she's loved to be vertical since birth, and sat up rather early (pictures by 5 months have her sitting up without my help) she wasn't so much into crawling and she doesn't appear to be in any hurry to walk.
That's no to say she doesn't like to move - the main floor of our house has become a show room for various brands and sizes of baby gates, as we have three different brands on three different entrances/exits. That was the best $60 I've spent in a while as it's now been 24 hours since I've had to chase Sarah up the stairs. Having lost that distraction, she now goes exclusively toward the other two things she's not supposed to do - emptying off the bottom shelf on the entertainment unit and playing in the dogs water bowl, but baby steps (no pun intended). And she loves to cruise - she no longer needs an edge to pull herself up with - a wall, the refrigerator, a screen door, those are all enough of a steady surface to help her get onto her feet. And once she's there, she's quite the confident little girl - showing off with one hand or leaning up against it with the "look ma! no hands" face. But that's the end of her tries at mobility. If you hold her hands to try to walk with her, she pulls her feet up toward her bum, just like she used to do when you put her on grass. If I stand her up two feet in front of me, she'll stand for just long enough to realize she's standing, and instead of tipping forward and trying to walk, she'll plop down and crawl over to me. My aunt got her a learning table and a walking toy at a yard sale - learning table she loves, walking toy she hates (or at least is very much afraid of). The walking toy has some bells and whistles on the front of it, and she's more than happy to crawl around and play with those, but stand her up and have her hold on and she is not a happy camper.
I guess I should be grateful that she's not too mobile yet. It's already scary to think that I have an almost one year old, and I'm not wishing her to grow up any quicker than she is. And my mom told me I didn't walk until about 16 months, and I don't think she'll make it another 7 before her first steps. Lupita has taught her to clap while at daycare, and I suspect toddling is next. Thus far I've only "babyproofed" things that are 12 inches off the floor - once she starts standing I'll have to move my perspective up another foot.
(Family, you can stop reading now - this paragraph is exclusively for my friends who read this who still have babies at home... I mean, if you want to read it or are considering baby-proofing your house, that's cool, but this next paragraph has nothing to do with Sarah, more of a note for me). And gate preferences? I like the first years the best (the step mechanism is really nice and I think it looks the classiest... not like a house with a baby and two dogs is winning any designer awards, but...). Least favorite is the munchkin. I think the magnetic mechanism is too much. The dogs don't like any of them. All gates freak them out.
That's no to say she doesn't like to move - the main floor of our house has become a show room for various brands and sizes of baby gates, as we have three different brands on three different entrances/exits. That was the best $60 I've spent in a while as it's now been 24 hours since I've had to chase Sarah up the stairs. Having lost that distraction, she now goes exclusively toward the other two things she's not supposed to do - emptying off the bottom shelf on the entertainment unit and playing in the dogs water bowl, but baby steps (no pun intended). And she loves to cruise - she no longer needs an edge to pull herself up with - a wall, the refrigerator, a screen door, those are all enough of a steady surface to help her get onto her feet. And once she's there, she's quite the confident little girl - showing off with one hand or leaning up against it with the "look ma! no hands" face. But that's the end of her tries at mobility. If you hold her hands to try to walk with her, she pulls her feet up toward her bum, just like she used to do when you put her on grass. If I stand her up two feet in front of me, she'll stand for just long enough to realize she's standing, and instead of tipping forward and trying to walk, she'll plop down and crawl over to me. My aunt got her a learning table and a walking toy at a yard sale - learning table she loves, walking toy she hates (or at least is very much afraid of). The walking toy has some bells and whistles on the front of it, and she's more than happy to crawl around and play with those, but stand her up and have her hold on and she is not a happy camper.
I guess I should be grateful that she's not too mobile yet. It's already scary to think that I have an almost one year old, and I'm not wishing her to grow up any quicker than she is. And my mom told me I didn't walk until about 16 months, and I don't think she'll make it another 7 before her first steps. Lupita has taught her to clap while at daycare, and I suspect toddling is next. Thus far I've only "babyproofed" things that are 12 inches off the floor - once she starts standing I'll have to move my perspective up another foot.
(Family, you can stop reading now - this paragraph is exclusively for my friends who read this who still have babies at home... I mean, if you want to read it or are considering baby-proofing your house, that's cool, but this next paragraph has nothing to do with Sarah, more of a note for me). And gate preferences? I like the first years the best (the step mechanism is really nice and I think it looks the classiest... not like a house with a baby and two dogs is winning any designer awards, but...). Least favorite is the munchkin. I think the magnetic mechanism is too much. The dogs don't like any of them. All gates freak them out.
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