Go Grace

I've been horrible at blogging regularly. Whenever I'm at the computer, I'm usually writing ESL material rather than emails or blog entries. The good news is, I finished the last unit (I think) last night, so I will be able to take a bit of a breather and relax in the evenings rather than write really boring multiple choice questions. I will be able to go to sleep earlier as well -- I really really need to do that.

While my world has been a little on the boring side, what with staying in most of the time and working, Grace's world, on the other hand, has been very exciting. It seems every day she can wake up and do something new. I realize that to people with older kids, or with more than one kid, this stuff is really old hat, but since Grace is my first, I take delight in all her new developments, no matter how small. I think it's amazing all the developments that happen in the first year of life. I really had no idea.
Here's a few things have have been keeping Grace busy:

Eating. She's been an enthusiastic eater from the start, but she's loving real food these days. I often end up sharing my own food (within reason) with her, because she'll get super frustrated otherwise. She just can't seem to get enough. Problem is, I think she's getting a little bored with the baby purees. She'll still eat them, but when she's had enough, that's it. She loves to share some whole wheat toast with me in the morning. She has potatoes and carrots a lot. I've even shared my macaroni and cheese with her -- not the healthiest, but man, did she ever whine for more. She also loves to snack on Cheerios. Cheerios are so great to keep her busy when we're out shopping.

Placing Objects. Recently she has discovered that she can put objects down somewhere and retrieve them again. It's really funny to watch her put a Cheerio on a pillow and look at it a few second, and then pick it up and eat it. Last night, she put all the Cheerios on her high chair tray into the little cup holder hole. Once they were all in there, she threw them all on the floor for the dog. She also put a Cheerio in Elmo's mouth!

Pointing. Just recently, her little index finger has started pointing at everything. She points, looks at me, keeps pointing. She likes pointing at the Christmas tree, just in case I've missed it.

Reading. She still loves going through her box of books. Before I was skeptical of how much she was actually seeing/understanding, but lately I've seen evidence that she knows a lot more than I think she does. She loves farm animals, especially chickens and cows. She tries to make animal noises (so far, animals only say "bababa" or "roooar"). I think she knows some shapes, as well. She even sometimes mimics the people in the books. There's a page in the Velveteen Rabbit with a fairy with her arms stretched towards the sky. When I get to that page, she puts both her arms in the air and looks to the ceiling. I thought it was a fluke the first time she did this, but nope, she does it every time now. There's a lot going on in that little head!

Listening to music. I have some kids CDs and she loves when I put them on. Her favourite songs are "Old MacDonald" (do all kids have a thing for farm animals?), and "The Wheels On the Bus." When I put these songs on, she gets really quiet and serious, but with a little half-smile on her face. She will occasionally clap at her favourite parts.

Watching TV. *sigh* Yes, yes, I know TV is evil, but after 3 or more hours of entertaining Grace with countless toys and books, sometimes it is necessary to take a break, especially if she is refusing a nap, another thing she is really good at. I figure, after she learns to walk, she won't want to sit still and watch much TV. She doesn't like many shows anyway. She hates cartoons. She will only watch Baby Einstein or Elmo. *sigh*

Grace is still not crawling. A couple of months ago I thought, 'what the heck is wrong with her?', but that worry has completely disappeared as she is so determined to stand and walk. She pulls herself up and loves to try to balance without holding on, without my hands on her. Problem is, if she actually succeeds and stands on her own for a few second, she gets too excited, bounces and claps, and just falls down. It's really funny to watch. I guess she's going to be one of those babies that doesn't crawl. She just doesn't seem to get it. She'll get onto her hands and knees, and then extend her legs (trying to stand up) with her butt in the air, making a triangle with the floor. It looks kind of like a yoga move. Anyway, like I said, not too concerned, because she doesn't seem very concerned, either.

She's such a good baby. I'm very lucky. I will print out this blog post for her baby book.