This little girl is getting so big. She is starting to say more and more new words. She says: mom (ma), dad (da), Hailey (hay-yee), Papa, Rara, baby (day-dee), puppy (pup, or puh-poo), banana (nana), please (eez), thank you (tant-yoo), hot (ha), shoes, duck, up, help, monkey (ah-tee), book (buh)... and I'm sure there's others that I can't think of at the moment. Just recently it seems like she is picking up a new word or two a week.
Besides spoken words she is still really good at motioning for what she wants help with. She pulls my hand and leads me all over the place. She positions my hands right where they should go to do what she wants me to do. She points. And she puppy dog whines. I really don't know what else to call it. She has been doing this since she very first became vocal, since her birthday or before. If she wants anything she makes a high pitched noise over and over that resembles a puppy dog whine. I don't know how else to explain it. Keira is also a master and the no-head-shake. If she doesn't want something she lets me know by whipping that head back and forth. Occasionally I'll get a nod for yes out of her too.
Keira imitates Hailey and the older kids they play with. She wants to be right in the thick of things too and tries hard to keep up. Hailey was playing hide-and-seek with my dad just on Sunday. Keira watched and began covering her eyes hiding behind a wall and said what sounded like 1-2-3. Then she would jump out from the wall screaming and laughing.
Keira loves to read books- on her terms. We still can't finish a book and tend to skip all over the place. She usually has a favorite page in the book she searches for and likes to spend a long time on. Her favorite books are any with pictures of animals.
We love to do puzzles together. If we're not reading books, Keira and I are down on the floor dumping out puzzles and putting them back together. Keira has a decent amount of patience. She takes her time and turns pieces around and tries again. Eventually she gets frustrated and asks for help. If I hand the piece back to her and encourage her she usually is good to try again. One of my favorite things she says is "I-did-it!" or "I-got-it!" after putting a piece in, or after accomplishing any sort of task. She loves to build with legos and can spend a good amount of time playing with Mr. Potato Head.
Keira also loves her baby and hugs and carries it all over the house. Like any girl, she loves to push the baby in the stroller. Baby never has clothes on though. If she is dressed Keira asks me to undress her. I get in trouble when I put her clothes back on.
Most of our markers and some of the crayons have their tips bitten off. Keira loves to color, but she also loves to put them in her mouth. When they aren't in her mouth, she does love to scribble on paper, usually quickly moving from color to color. She tends to throw a fit when I put them away.
Keira is our trouble maker. That little girl gets into everything. She went through a phase of playing in the toilet. Once I found her holding a cheese stick in one hand and swirling her other hand in the toilet. I just hope the cheese stick didn't get dipped in. I've also seen her stick her hand in right after Hailey used the toilet and before she flushed. So gross! She thinks it's a fun game to rip off toilet paper and drop it in the toilet. And once she submerged my new-to-me ipod in the toilet. Luckily Kyle saved it by sticking it in a bag of rice.
She is also a climber. Keira has been caught standing on top of the table in the playroom, and jumping on Hailey's bed (which requires her to pull out the drawer under the bed, climb onto the drawer, and then pull herself onto the bed using the bedspread as leverage.) She also likes to climb from either the couch or the Monster Sak onto the small ledge that runs the length of the family room. It is just barely wide enough to fit her body. She gets a kick out of running and jumping on the couches in the living room and climbing all over and sliding down the Monster Saks in the family room. Her latest trick is to hold onto the side of the couch in the living room and to arch her back as far as she can go. One of these days I just know she is going to let go and get hurt. I know kids get into a lot of things, and I know there are kids more active and curious than Keira, but this girl is a whole different child than Hailey. We're still trying to adjust to Keira's antics.
Keira can be a bit wild, but she is also quite clingy. She is outgoing and friendly when I'm near and holding her hand. But if I'm not right next to her (or sometimes when I am!) it is quite the opposite story. I have had people just look at her (usually men) and have her burst into screaming tears. At the park she likes to hold my hand and lead me all over. It can take her a little bit of time to feel comfortable enough to explore on her own. At the same time, Keira is not cuddly. Not. At. All. She has never fallen asleep in our arms. She refuses to cuddle with me. But she often wants to sit in my lap.
Keira is finally in nursery! Happy day! She cried the first 6 weeks or so. But... this last Sunday was a breakthrough. No crying! I think she is finally adjusting and getting used to the idea. Hooray!
This girl is so fun. She makes us all happy and adds a whole new dynamic to our family. The past six months have been fun seeing her personality come alive.
Back! Is there anything grosser than kids playing in the toilet? Why do they do that? One of my friends told me that she caught her son dipping old tissues into the toilet water and then sucking the water out. Now I don't feel so bad about the gross things my kids do because that one takes the cake!
ReplyDeleteYou're right, the old tissues is way disgusting. That does make me feel better. I've only put Keira in time out twice, both times because she was playing in the toilet. I'm hoping we're out of that phase, it's been a month or two since she's dipped her hand in.
DeleteThat's supposed to say ack, not back. Autocorrect. :)
ReplyDelete