Party of Four?

we officially have a walker on our hands. she’d been getting closer and closer for the past few weeks and her biggest (only?) hurdle to unsupported walking was being completely uninterested in moving forward without someone holding both of her hands. occasionally, i could get her to walk forward while just holding onto one hand, but that was only to get to my other outstretched hand and she would cry and fuss the entire way. i tried cheering over her complaints to show her it was a good thing, but she would have None Of It. it was clear by the lack of weight pressing into my hand(s) that she didn’t need them to propel herself forward and regain her balance on the next step. like learning to stand, it worked best when there was a perfect storm of distraction and interest. if she got too excited, she would be frustrated by her slow progress and drop to her knees to crawl over.

this weekend we travelled to Bryan, TX to visit some friends, and i had hoped that the extra distractions and excitement would do the trick. i didn’t have to wait long.

when gina and i returned from the grocery store yesterday, ryan declared that she had taken several steps (4 or 5) in pursuit of their cat (kitty mae). she only dropped to her knees when she reached the cat (the awesome, completely docile cat that lets her do almost anything and when she has had enough, she simply gets up and walks out of reach). this morning, she did it twice again, and easily tolerated the one-hand lead around the room. the only time she protested was when she was too tired or excited to deal with the pace.

speaking of steps, her favorite activity at our friends’ house seems to be scaling their staircase. she’s seen stairs before at her grandmother’s house, but climbing them was something she did slowly and cautiously. not so anymore. she races to the top of the steps any chance she gets and will only tolerate being removed so that she can scale them again. ryan has started working on going down the stairs safely. she crawls for a while, but when she reaches the section of the stairs with a bannister, she stands up and lowers herself while clutching the poles.

we’ll be in texas for another 4 days. who knows what other skills she’ll pick up!

as predicted by many charlotte-fans, she’s gone from zero words to a new “word” almost every day this past week.

she very clearly says “hi.” she says it with a wave when greeting (or noticing) someone. it occasionally sounds like “hi there.” which may be her attempt at “hi ” only she hasn’t grasped that quite yet. this has probably been going on for about a week.

she also points at dogs/puppies when she sees them and says “doggie” (“dgah-ghee”). she does this fairly consistently, and doesn’t really use that sound combination at other times with purpose, although it does come out quite often when she babbles.

along with “hi”, she’ll also wave and say “bye-bye” (which, since she doesn’t get the b-sound, comes out “duh-die”). this one is quite the crowd-pleaser since she does it every time we get out of the elevator, or when she’s being carried away from *anyone* at the store, mall, street, etc.

still no clear mama or dada (i think everyone’s “name” might be dada to her). i think the next words might be shoe, sock, or zipper, since those seem to be the most reinforced words.

as far as comprehension, she very clearly understands “give that to me,” “can i have that, please?”, “not in your mouth”, “arms up” (for taking off clothes, getting in the high chair), and is working on “what is that?”. she can sign “milk” (which really just means “cup to drink out of”), if you point and ask. she’ll fairly regularly say “doggie”, but most of the rest of the time she just sort of stares at you with an “i don’t know” look on her face. i guess that means she understands the question, though.

along those same lines, she loves dancing to music, especially while watching herself in the mirror, and will even move along with “head, shoulders, knees and toes” and “hot potato.” we caught her doing the “mashed bananas” part in the car today and it was a-DOR-able.

• her hair is still very blond (but occasionally looks a bit reddish), and not too long
• her eyes are still crazy-blue (the most common outburst from a stranger is related to her eyes), but they’re a bit grayer (like mine) than they were a few months ago.
• she (still) only has 6 teeth. (4 on top and 2 on the bottom)
• at her one-year checkup she was 26.5 inches long and weighed 23 pounds. that’s a bit over 50th percentile for both
• she “can” eat anything except peanuts, tomatoes (too allergic while i was breastfeeding), and chocolate (i just don’t trust she won’t be allergic like i was so i’m waiting for the right “moment” to introduce it)
• she likes meat and starches, not so much with most veggies (especially cauliflower).
• her favorite shows are imagination movers, handy manny, little einsteins, sesame street (especially “elmo’s world”), and the mickey mouse club. the wiggles are falling out of favor, as has jojo’s circus.
• her favorite toys are anything electronic with a button she can push that lights up and/or makes noise.
• she loves this small stuffed penguin we bought at the zoo. it’s one of the few plush toys she hugs and kisses (by smashing it against her face while smiling and laughing ;)
• her favorite books are ones with a few pictures she can point to and “name”.
• she does not tolerate sitting for a story and prefers to read at her own pace (open book, flip book upside down, close book).

pictures?

• her first birthday
• her one-year photo shoot check out those eyes!
• halloween, obama rally, and a few other things

oh, lots of adorable things!

• respond to “how big is charlotte” by raising her hands above her head
• respond to “how old are you?” by gesturing with “one”
• respond to “is that a hat?” by putting it on her head
• respond to “high five” and “low five” by putting out her hand and sometimes smacking yours
• put something “in” a container when prompted (doesn’t always let go and often takes it right back out)
• dance (to music unasked or just when asked. moves her head, arms, and bounces)
• clap when she hears applause (on tv, in crowds)
• push any button or anything that looks like a button
• respond to “blow kiss” by putting her hand in her mouth (we’re working on the second part)
• gesture along with “head, shoulders, knees, and toes” relatively well (even the “eyes, ears, mouth and nose” part)
• point to a few body parts (emerging skill except for “ears”, she’s got that down). sometimes she’ll point to yours instead (especially nose)

and some useful things, too!

• understand what “no”, “not in your mouth”, and “gentle” (for petting animals and not pulling hair) mean (but doesn’t always comply)
• help you dress her by putting her arms through sleeves or stiffening her legs.
• trys to put on her socks (although she doesn’t open them, just puts them on her feet)
• eat finger-foods relatively neatly, even out of a bowl instead of just sprinkled on a plate.
• nibble larger food (soft pretzel sticks, cookies) into smaller pieces (although this is usually after trying to cram it all in her mouth at once and choking a bit)
• “eat” with a spoon. (she’s got the in the bowl/in the mouth step down, but is missing “scoop”)
• “help” you get her out of car seats, strollers (sometimes this is not a good thing
• turn around and lower herself off couches, beds, and other cliffs (but doesn’t always judge the distance down ;)
• ride on your shoulders and keep her balance (so long as you hold her legs)

and some not-useful stuff ;)

• unvelcro her shoes (this is not helpful when she’s in the car)
• cry when someone leaves the room and doesn’t take her too (she stops about 10 seconds later if she’s distracted
• express her distaste in her food by dropping/throwing it off the side of her chair
• pout when she doesn’t get her way by slapping/hitting whatever’s near by or beating the table

i’m sure there’s a bunch more, so if you’re the baby equivalent of “what? she can’t tie her shoe yet and she’s already 8 years old?” she probably can. i just forgot to mention it. ;)

this is another grey area. i think the best answer is “sort of.”

i may just be very picky. to me, it’s not going to count as a “first word” until she says it without provocation consistently and accurately (if everything is a ‘dog’ then nothing is).

that having been said, she babbles constantly and is clearly trying to mimic sentence structure, and not always repeating the same sounds over and over. she points to things in books and babbles like she’s reading words. these are all things that they say come after first words, which is why i think i’m picky. she’s got lots of sounds, too. most of the basic vowel sounds and a bunch of consonants (dd, mm, nn, ng, bb, tt). zz, ss zth all come out like “th” but you can tell it’s intentional.

her first “word” will probably be “dog” (lots of visits to grandma and seeing them while we’re out), “dada”, “mama”, “sock”, “shoe”, or “zero” (she points to the “0″ on our front door while were trying to get in and we talk about it). she may already be saying “hi”, but it’s impossible to tell. almost everything starts off as “hi.” babysitters have claimed she’s said “hi dog” and “see ya” clear as day, but since i’ve also heard her say “jesus” (possibly “cheezits”) and “cigarettes” clear as day, i’m highly skeptical.

oh! and she does know a small amount of sign language. she does the sign for hungry, but i’m not sure how much of that is real. she does it when you’re asking her if she’s hungry so it might just be a mimic thing. or she’s always hungry. she definitely knows the sign for more, although it’s clear that it really just means “give me that thing so i can put it in my mouth.” she does it when her tray is empty and she can see more food. she does it if you’re eating/drinking something and she wants it. she also doesn’t always do it when you ask her if she wants more. sometimes she claps her hands or raises her arms or pushes the tray away.

we’re working on getting her to understand “all done”, “milk”, and “juice,” as well as “please” and “thank you.” she’s also got a few more gestures that we’re trying to discern. having her communicate with us in ways other than crying or fussing by talking is something i didn’t expect to be so moving.

she responds to several commands (give me that, put that in the box, where is your ear/nose, etc), so i think she’s moments away from getting it all. i expect there to be a helen keller “water” moment in the next few weeks and suddenly her vocabulary will skyrocket.

Eh. not quite.

she’s been really close for months, or at least that’s the way it has seemed since september. she started cruising and we thought “surely, it can’t be long now.” but her progress sort of stagnated. it’s not a developmental thing (she’s still months and months (and months) away from someone other than her parents being concerned), she’s just working it out at her own pace. she also hates shoes, due to not wearing the much as a baby-baby (even the soft-soled ones). trying to get her to keep them on has been quite a challenge.

i think part of the reason for the delay is how fast she can crawl. for several months, even though she could cruise very well and stand relatively well, she wasn’t really interested in moving forward that way. you could almost see it in her face. she’d think about taking a step and get this look that said “screw this. crawling’s so much faster.” she’d drop down and take off towards her goal. standing was only useful as a stage between sitting and climbing. balance was never a consideration, and it turns out balance is key.

the other “reason” i think is lack of socialization. i’ve noticed over the past year that whenever she’s around someone her size she studies them intently and the next day she can do (or is trying to do) something that she couldn’t the day before. since she’s staying at home with me, she doesn’t have as much exposure to walkers her size to give her the idea that it’s the way to go. at her birthday party, however, there was a 15 month old chasing everyone around and it started to really click for her. maybe it was just that he was getting more attention than her.

at 13 months she likes doing laps around the kitchen with her grocery cart. she’s also interested grabbing your hands and leading you around the house. sometimes she’ll tolerate doing it one handed, but the speed gets her down. she requires lots of cheering to convince her this something she wants to do. we’ve had a few moments where she’s taken a small step on her own, but that’s usually just to fall into someone’s waiting arms. there is no dismount ;)

standing is much the same way. she’ll pull up with ease (and has been for months), but to keep her standing, you have to distract her and/or then cheer her on. she’s up to almost 10 minutes in the same place (assuming there’s something worth watching on the tv) and can even bounce around while she’s up there and compensate with her balance. she’s really good at falling safely, though, which is very important. it’s also a good indicator of how tired she is. sloppy falls means it’s nap time.

a couple of days ago, i nabbed some videos of her current progress:

standing:

pushing a cart:

i’m looking forward to christmas and exposure to her walking cohorts to really finish off the lessons.

i forgot to mention that i put a bunch of the pictures from our sitting with portrait innovations on flickr.

so…it’s been a bit since i’ve updated. it turns out that chasing after a crawling baby is kind of time-consuming. the turn in the weather has allowed us the freedom to take more walks and such, so we’re spending a bit more time outside of the house. we also had a wedding to plan, assist, and attend, etc etc.

but anyway, i’m back now, and as long as she stays on the blue mat for the next few minutes, i should have enough time to bang out an update.

we had to cancel her 6 month checkup, so we don’t have 6 month stats for you. we did end up heading to the doctor three times in the past month however (faux ear infection, real stomach bug, delayed 6 month checkup) so we’ve learned that she’s gaining about a half-pound a week. at 7 months she was 16lbs 6oz and 26 inches long. that keeps her steadily in the 37th percentile for height and weight. her head circumference is 42cm, which is a bit above average but doesn’t make her look head-heavy …at least to me ;)

part of that steady weight gain is due to a full-on conversion to formula, rice, and veggies and fruits. she takes about 8 oz at a formula feeding, and more than a quarter cup of rice at those. we’re making our own baby food, which means pureeing and storing in icecubes for use later. she takes 2 “cubes” at a feeding, and often wants more. when that happens, we give her rice because i’m overly-cautious about allergic reactions to too much fruit/veggies too soon. i had them as a kid, and her reaction to tomatoes via breast milk was pretty intense when she was 5 weeks old.

her physical prowess continues to eclipse every other development path. she started pulling and creeping around 6 months and got serious about it a few weeks ago. last week, she decided that getting up on her knees instead of dragging her legs behind her was the way to go. she struggled with getting up there and staying up there, and usually collapsed back down when it was time to move. last night, she had the whole thing figured out. she rose up on her her knees and wobbled to get and test her balance. she gets a few steps now before gets impatient and drops back down to her belly. she hasn’t gone from laying to sitting up with purpose, but she has gotten very close to “accidentally” sitting up when she’s up on all fours and decides to turn. i can’t wait for the look on her face when she finds herself sitting.

her speech development is a bit behind the curve, but i keep reminding myself that’s because she’s so focused on the physical. she can laugh, but does so rarely (although more every day), and while she babbles, it’s most often a string of “ah-bah-bah-bah-bah” than “sets” of mis-matched vowels and consonants. she loves to squeal, and thinks clapping is a riot when you help her do it. if you sing (with the radio, with rockband, or just off the cuff), she’ll smile and laugh and squeal-sing along with you.

naps and food are pretty regular, too. she usually gets about 10-14 hours at night. that 14-hour stretch includes an early morning (6-7amish) snack and then a couple more hours at the end of it. daytime naps depend on when she wakes up, but she’s still picking up about 4-6 hours during the day. up for 3ish hours, down for 2. repeat until bedtime. usually it’s 2 decent sized naps, but if we get an early start, there’s a 3rd nap around 5 pm. naps are generally book-marked with food. on average she’s getting fed every 3-4 hours for 5 meals a day. some days we only manage 4 (because she’s slept through feedings), but they’re usually followed by 6 meal days (with an *early* morning one).

obligatory milestones checklist (courtesy of “what to expect”):
(per usual, only the ones not mentioned as attained in previous months are addressed here)

6 months:

• (probably) sit without support: at 6 she was a bit shaky, but a few days with the boppy behind her and she’s sitting like a champ. i can even walk away while she’s “up” without worrying she’s going to fall back and hit her head.
• (probably) razz: can do. all the time. it’s her favorite.
• (possibly) stand holding on to someone or something: she’s good with holding onto people, but holding onto things is still a bit in the future. she’ll do it for about 10-20 seconds and then collapse downwards or fall to the side.
• (possibly) object if you take a toy away: not so much with toys, but definitely with the bottle.
• (possibly) pass a cube from one hand to the other: about 3 weeks ago (6.5 months), she started doing this with purpose
• (possibly)look for a dropped object: sometimes. she’s not big on the object permanence stuff yet, which comes in handy when we need to hide the empty bottle she’s objecting to.
• (possibly) rake tiny objects with fingers: we’ve been giving her some little “puffs” to practice eating/grabbing with. she’s pretty solid at picking them up (not so much with putting in the mouth)
• (possibly) feed self cracker or other finger food: she’s still toothless, so we haven’t done much in the way of solid-er foods like that. she doesn’t really get the puffs yet. that or she doesn’t like them.
• (may even) creep or crawl: by 6 months she was starting to creep. now (7.25) she’s pretty much crawling and creeping whenever/where ever she feels like going.
• (may even) pull up to standing: not yet, but she’s started to pull on furniture and things. her arms aren’t quite strong enough. she’ll go from sitting to standing if you’ve got ahold of her arms, though. it’s more of a “push up and don’t fall over” than a “pull” skill.
• (may even) get into a sitting position: no, but ask me again in 48 hours ;)
• (may even) pick up tiny object with thumb and fingers: she likes to pluck at buttons and those little puff things. this started about 3 days ago.
• (may even) say “mama” or “dada” indiscriminately: we’re still working on saying “ma-ma” instead of “a-ma-ma-ma-ma…”.

7 months (most of the possiblies became probablies, but most of the may-evens stayed put)

• (probably) play peekaboo: not really. again, that object permanence lesson is a bit behind.
• (may even) play patty-cake or wave bye-bye: she’s started “twitching” her hand when someone is waving bye-bye at her in a very active “do what i do” fashion, so this probably isn’t too much further.
• (may even) cruise: no. (thank goodness)

(fun fact to know and tell: this single post was written around an impromptu baby bath, second breakfast (apples, rice, formula), nap time, my own shower (because it was nap time), a bit of warcraft, first lunch (6oz of formula), post-nap play time, and nap #2 and took appx 6 hours to complete)

no checkup this month, but that doesn’t mean things aren’t happening. after staring at our food while we ate for the last couple of weeks, we finally started her on solids. so far it’s going pretty rocky. she gets about 3 mouthfuls in before she gets bored/angry/etc. by the third feeding, however, she grasped the concept of “open mouth, insert spoon.” what she does with the spoon varies, however. sometimes she swallows. sometimes she gums and grimaces, and sometimes she clamps down and everything goes out the front door.

it’s a learning process this month, though, so i’m not too disheartened. it’s a bit frustrating though. she’s a quick eater, whether she’s at the breast or the bottle, so this solid-food stuff is extra tedious in comparison. we’re also about to start weaning off the breast. i was considering weaning straight from breast to solids, but i think that’s going to take quite a while. for now we’re averaging one “solid” meal and one bottle a day, and i’m not pumping out the excess. we’re not really counting the solid meal as a meal, though. i think in the next couple of weeks, that’ll move to two times a day (consciously, not “averaging”), one in the morning and one in the evening so that i don’t get overly full in the gaps.

sorry, i’m mostly thinking out loud. you didn’t come here for that, you came here for milestones, didn’t you? well, if not, too bad that’s what you’re getting now :)

• (should be) laugh out loud: this is left over from 4 months. she laughs for certain, but still very rarely. i guess we’re not funny enough?
• (should be) on stomach, raise chest, supported by arms: rolling onto her stomach in the crib brought this skill up to par within days.
• (should be) the raisin thing: still haven’t tested this. we don’t really have raisin-sized things around.
• (probably) roll over (one way): what does one way mean? she can go from back to front and front to back just fine, but is better at one direction than the other
• (probably) say “ah-goo”: has this one down, but is much, *much* more entertained by squealing and gurgling in the back of her throat.
• (may possibly) sit without support: not yet, at least not easily, but we’re focusing on that during play time.
• (may even) pull to standing: no (thank goodness)
• (may even) stand holding onto someone/thing: she likes to stand on your lap, bounce up and down, or swing her hips like she’s impersonating elvis.
• (may even) object if you try to take a toy away: i watched her do this at a shower last week. it was highly entertaining
• (may even) work to get a toy out of reach: that’s how we’re encouraging her to crawl
• (may even) pass an object from one hand to the other: she’s doing this, but not with purpose yet. usually because she brings both hands plus the object to her mouth, but i’m not sure that’s relevant.
• (may even) look for a dropped object: not quite up on object permanence yet. she *does* like to take things and drop them out of her crib/car seat/jumper/changing table, etc. it’s a fun game.
• (may even) rake tiny object with fingers: again, no tiny things, but she will pick up links that are near by
• (may even) babble: not yet. verbal skills are still far behind the gross/fine motor ones

and a new feature: Kelly’s irrational, unfounded fears for Charlotte this month:

• autism: it runs in the family and has replaced peanut allergy as the “it” topic for the media. no other reason.
• crosseyed: also silly, but occasionally when she looks at me, they look a little “off.” i had this problem as a babe, but it was eventually determined that one side of my nose was a bit thicker than the other side, and that created an illusion.

before the next monthly update we’ll have upgraded to size 3 diapers, 6-9 months clothes, and had a baptism. if i get a chance, i’ll tell you about her very first professional portrait sitting. in the mean time, check flickr for some less-professional work.

on sunday, grandpa was holding charlotte while eating a piece of gooey butter cake. without any warning, she stuck her hands straight in the pile of sugary goodness. in the ensuing hilarity and chaos, she managed to stick one cake-coated hand into her mouth. as i pulled it out, she broke into the biggest grin i’ve ever seen.

and thusly, charlotte had her very first (accidental) taste of people food.