Getting Brighter Every Day, Until She Goes OCD on Me...

Yesterday was a GREAT day in terms of language. In the morning she picked up her ball and said "ball" without me asking what it was or prompting her, when Jason left for work she waved and said "bye bye", and later in the afternoon she identified her book as well. These are good steps! Hooray! However, today she hasn't said much of anything, so she's just going at her own pace. And a few moments ago that consisted of walking in circles around a few of her chosen toys for a few minutes. Last week I think she did it for about fifteen, just round and round and round... It's kind of weird and hypnotic all at the same time. But she does tend to get "involved" in certain things. She didn't want to eat her peas in her chair, but when we took them into her room, she was all about eating on the go. She would come over to me and grab a pea from the bowl, run away to hide behind the door and eat it, and then come back for another one, repeating the cycle. When there were half a dozen peas left, she just squatted down in front of the bowl and rapidly put them in her mouth one by one and then ran away again.

I wish I could see adults doing that...

She also had her first real day of coloring on Sunday. She finally "got" what it was all about, which was pretty cool, but mostly she wanted to take the crayons and examine them in a corner of her room. And by examine, I mean eat.

Hooray for More Space

It looks like we are actually moving. Well, if the inspection is goes well. It's just in time, too. Alexis definitely needs more space to be roaming around, more space to cause chaos, more space to fill with her antics. Speaking of antics, here are the latest ones:

1. Pseudo-somersaults: She likes to stick her butt up in the air, put her head completely upside down, and then ALMOST push herself over. She did it once, kind of, and landed sideways, which was pretty awesome. Jason likes to help her bring those somersaults to fruition, complete with some extra rough-and-tumble time. Which she adores.

2. Toy box play zone: As opposed to playing with the items INSIDE of her toybox, she chooses to play with the toybox itself. She has become very adept at climbing in and out of it, so she like to hang out there, play with her toys, read a book, make a few phone calls... I had to move it from the side of the couch because she was using it as a stepping stone to get on top of the couch, and we're not allowing that until we move and can arrange things more safely.

3. Drawer love: (No, I'm not talking underwear...) I haven't figured out an effective way to put locks on the bottom two drawers of her dresser. The problem is that her skill set has progressed from simply opening and closing the drawers and putting things inside of them and taking them out again to opening and closing the drawers and putting herself inside of them, occasionally semi-closing herself in. The first time I saw her standing in the bottom drawer was a few days ago, and while it is awfully cute, it's something she can't be allowed to do, and I've had to scold her for it. And she did it a LOT today, and got scolded every time. And sometimes when I do it, it's just about the saddest thing you could ever possibly imagine the way she scrunches up and explodes into tears. Then, of course, I take her in my arms and comfort her immediately. These are the times when it's hard, when she needs to learn that she's going to be told no and that there are consequences to doing things she's not supposed to do, and I have to be firm without being harsh. Quite the challenge.

4. Utensils: She had sweet potatoes with her dinner today, and with a little bit of guidance, ate almost all of them by herself with a spoon. Hooray!

5. Stomp the yard: She has figured out that stomping is fun. And clapping. And sometimes dancing. And even occasionally spinning. That's a pretty funny one to see.

No pics this time, but I'll try and upload the pictures of her relaxing in her box next time. It might be a while before I update due to the move.