This has been a super-eventful month! This month, you decided to have us walk you around, because sitting down and playing in one spot is old news. You were pulling yourself up to standing before, but you're really really into it now, and will take every opportunity to cling to mama or papa so that you can wiggle your way into a standing position. You will then stand there and whine until we take your hands and walk you around. Please keep in mind that you hadn't really crawled at all until this week. Just this past week, we decided we should probably push you more to crawl, so you are now doing a commando drag. Thank goodness for sticky fingers, because you are all upper-body strength! With all this new walking, you're really becoming independent. We used to be able to walk you around wherever we wanted, but you will now turn your upper body to the direction you really want to go, and then whine until we help you walk over there. You are so busy busy busy!
Your "vocabulary" has also really expanded and you've added lots of sounds. We think that you really love to hear yourself talk, because you will spend a good chunk of your playtime babbling happily to yourself. Your sound of choice is still "dada", but you're adding some M, N, G, and B sounds. We think you'll be a real talker once you find your words! You're also clapping and waving really consistently in response to others doing it to you, and you've also started shaking your head, "No." When you shake your head, you smile, so we don't think you understand what the motion means, but you are starting to understand when we say, "No," to you! You definitely stop what you're doing for a bit and look at us with a guilty look before trying again. And again. You are persistent! Just the other day, you thought it would be fun to play with tissue paper. Every time you put the tissue paper to your mouth, mama told you, "No," after which you gave her a look and slowly lowered your hand. We have a video, and you should definitely ask to see it, because you are ahhh-dorable.
This month, you bit mama while breastfeeding, but after a stern, "No!", you haven't tried again. Good thing, too, because your first tooth (bottom right) broke through last week! We've been feeding you food in bigger chunks because you're really good at mushing it around in your mouth, and now, with this tooth, we know you'll really master the chewing thing! Your pincer grip has been amazing for a few months now, but you are getting much better at feeding yourself without smushing the food between your fingers. This month, you also decided that you could share your food with us! When we open our mouths wide (and you aren't too hungry yourself), you will put food into our mouths for us! Papa actually eats what you give him, but mama only pretends. We're so thankful that you have a sharing heart, and that you think it's fun! We hope it will continue with things other than food!
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| Baby-led weaning inspired messes = banana beard |
You've had lots of new experiences and met lots of new people. Generally, in a new situation, you like to stick with mom and dad at first, but once you've settled in, you're happy to explore with other people. This month, grandpa Osakabe and mama took you to the local splash pad. You didn't like the cold water in your face, but really loved to reach out to try to grab the streams of water. We're hoping for more hot days so that you can continue to get used to fun water activities.
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| So maybe the first splash pad experience wasn't that enjoyable |
Did I mention you like bubbles? You and mama played on the balcony on a rainy day, mama blowing the bubbles, you trying to reach out to grab them, and mama having to restrain you so that you didn't hit your head on the concrete ground from leaning out too quickly. Our condo unit is small, but we're trying to find more activities so that we can still have lots of fun!
Your mama is heading back to work in 2 months, and she is going to miss witnessing all these milestones in your life! As always, we want you to know how much we love you, and how much we hope you know that God loves you!
Love,
Your mama and papa bears
