BahBahMaMaBaMaBah! - Updates

My little miss, right after a good nap.  She really is that cheerful most of the time.

Baby Loquacious is living up to her online name.  She babbles on and on and on, mostly just to hear the sound of her own (beautiful) voice.  Now that she has figured out the /b/ and /m/ consonant phonemes, I suspect (from her lip movements) that she is headed towards mastery in the /p/ and /d/.  This is great news for Daddy Hubbs, who has been patiently waiting for the day when she will start asking for "Dada."

Nothing thrills me more than to hear her babbling to herself or to her toys.  I wonder what thoughts run through her little mind when she makes these utterances while looking around the room or looking at her toes.  Are the sounds, though seemingly meaningless to me, deliberate and intentional for her?  Do they have meaning in her mind?

My curiosity is piqued further when I record her babbling, and then replay the short videos for her.  She will actually yammer away *at* her video, as though responding or conversing with the clip of herself on the screen.  Does she understand herself? Or does she simply find her own random utterances charming and entertaining?

***
My daughter is a grabber and a hitter (which means she'll be quite a little fighter one day).  She likes to grab at my hair, at the books on the bookshelf, at any piece of fabric or tissue that is in her vicinity, at any food that I might be enjoying... you name it, she'll reach for it aggressively, and be reluctant to let go.  She will also open-palm slap anything around her.  Recently, she has enjoyed hitting at hardcover books, table surfaces, my face and chest, her own head, the floor, the furniture, and the surface of her bath water.

Again, I wonder what goes through her mind when she's doing these things.  Is she exploring textures? Or is she figuring out cause-and-effect?  Does she make mental notes about the things that make contact with her hand, or is it all instinctive?  

Suffice it to say, my hair is always up in a ponytail and I try very hard to help her understand what it means to be gentle (ha!).

***
Mobility is a blessing but it's also incredibly hard to cope with as a mommy, because it means that I have to be uber-vigilant whenever she's in an open space (like the floor).  There are numerous things she might hit her head against, or fall onto if she gets too tired to continue on her path.  She's also liable to find something to put in her mouth that I do not want her to lick or eat, which means that we have to be sure not to leave anything on the floor within her reach.

Her newfound crawling/cruising skills also mean that I lose sleep, because my darling girl has begun mastering her rolling and mock-crawling techniques in her crib.  These actions (executed brilliantly while she's still asleep) cause her to wake up startled.  Crying usually ensues, followed by a need to nurse.  Did I mention that this happens every two hours, nearly to the minute? Lovely, those multiple wake-ups; they bring me back to 5 months ago when she used to do that as a newborn (and we all know what a glorious time that was).

Nursing is also affected; Baby L has a tendency now to sip and roll, rock and crawl, face plant, cry, get rolled over, sip and repeat.  It's highly annoying, especially when she's super tired and ready to go to sleep.  What used to take 20 minutes now takes 40.

***
Someone's getting a new tooth (and that someone isn't me)!  Baby L's lower left tooth has *just* emerged through her gums.  It's barely visible, but when Baby L shoves my finger into her mouth, I can definitely feel the distinct ridges of the budding tooth.

She's fascinated with the sensation of this tooth.  I see her tongue rolling around her mouth, going over the area again and again.  Maybe it's the amber necklace, maybe it's the Camilia drops, or maybe it's the distraction of her mobility, but Baby L hasn't been super fussy in recent days despite the eruption on her gums.  She drools a bit more than usual and is half-crazed for things to put in her mouth, but aside from that, she's happy as a clam.  The stimulation offered by the Gerber Infant Tooth Cleanser brush is also something she highly enjoys; she will let me massage her gums for up to 5 minutes with nary a complaint.

***
Hubbs and I are so blessed to have this little girl in our lives.  She is growing like a weed (in height, sadly not in weight), and every day her little personality shines through even more.  She is joyful and fun-loving, determined and curious.  She is active and attentive, alert and aware.  And she renews our faith, our laughter, and our awe at our Maker.