Quickie update

Alice did her first clapping a few days ago, at the end of a game of "Arms up". Very cute. She is getting so much better at walking, and hardly crawls any more at all. She loves to pick stuff up and bring it to you. She is so proud and happy when she brings you a little toy and puts it in your hand. Again, very cute. Music and dancing continue to be sources of enjoyment for this little one. She'll dance to music on the TV, music from toys, etc. and she is good at dancing while standing up. The fridge farm is a big favorite. Again, very cute.

Verbal sounds are progressing. We've heard some ma-ma-ma, or muh-muh-muh sounds. Some ba-ba-ba, na-na-na, and of course der-der-der. Liz and Alice will have der-der-der conversations sometime. Raspberry sounds are popular these days too, and one can have a conversation a few minutes long with Alice using only raspberry sounds. Her other favorite is sort of a tsss sound.

We've seen a bit of stranger anxiety lately. At Grandma an Grandpa's last week the freezer repairmen came into the living room an Alice totally erupted in tears. But it passed as quickly as it came.

Alice and Lizzie are getting along better. Lizzie has a new "playhouse" in her room (its really a sheet tacked up in the closet door, plus some decorations courtesy of Mom). Anyway, their favorite game is to take turns walking through the sheet into and out of the playhouse. Its a game that Alice started by just walking through the sheet. Then she would fall down, start laughing and the turn around and go back through. She really is a silly little one.

On a more serious note, Alice is experimenting with dropping a nap. Dad is not particularly fond of this development. It has become routine for her to take an hour to fall asleep for naps, and sometimes not at all. Part of the routine involves her "experiments with gravity." That is, dropping her pacifier and CCBB out of her crib. Side note: experiments with gravity also includes tossing much food off the side of her high-chair tray. Back to the point, it can be particularly frustrating to listen to her protest cries and cries for her CCBB and pacifier, and it can be particularly disruptive to go up to her room however many times to give them back. So, there has been some nap FAIL and some nap frustration. I remember going through some of this with Liz, and I recall it took a few good sessions of crying and ignoring for the situation to correct itself. Alice certainly seems to think that dropping her bunny will cause Mommy or Daddy to appear. SO, while Mommy is away on a trip, we are experimenting with some tough love...so far so good. The goal is for her to get the message that naptime is for napping. We'll see how it plays out, but for now, she needs two naps because she doesn't sleep that long at night.

Bye, I promise some pics and movies soon!

Arms up!

Alice continues to amaze and delight. She's such a little gem -- her personality comes through more every day, and boy is she SILLY! Lots of fun...

New tricks: Alice's main drive continues to be gross motor development. She's an adept walker now, with little difficulty stopping to bend over, pick something up, and continue on her way. She's especially keen on carrying this week -- as many little lovies as she can - her coco bear bunny (the CCBB, named by Lizzie, quite clearly); a little blue matchbox car; empty seltzer cans; cups, bowls and spoons from the kid drawer (which she regularly pillages).

Alice is a climber. She'll go up pretty much anything -- over the edge of our quite-deep bathtub, onto the armchairs if the footstool is close enough to give her a foothold -- up the stairs in a moment -- or her favorite game: up and over me, Lizzie, or her daddy. We've decided the best description for Alice is "scrappy." She's rough and tumble, smiles all the way.

Perhaps most exciting have been Alice's recent forays into language. No clear words yet, but her signing is clearly intentional. She has "all done", "hello", "bye bye" and "milk", but they all look basically the same: one or two hands in the ASL "milk" hand squeezing gesture. She knows exactly what she's doing -- if I say "Alice, would you like some milk?" she immediately smiles and signs "milk." And if I say "bye bye," she'll sign right back. Alice loves copycat, too -- "Arms up" is a favorite family game, and Alice has even started clapping when we clap for her. Very endearing. And while Alice has yet to use any spoken words, her babble is pretty impressive. She makes all sorts of syllables, coos, and giggles with a conversational cadence. Again, very cute.

I think it's safe to say Alice is thriving. :)