I Wish to Remember...

Poppy is on the cusp of some huge developments. She can now stand while supporting herself against a play-table for about half a minute. On her own. No help. She isn't sitting on her own yet, but she's getting there. She tried to push herself forward when she was on her stomach yesterday. She can occasionally bring a morsel of food to her mouth, but she's still figuring out what happens next.


The following vignettes are all about Rosemary:

She called our long-haired cat "kitty-fur-walking." Pretty accurate description.

She found a small stone. "It's a rock! Baby rock!" She then proceeded to sing, "Rock a bye baby..."

She saw cracks in the bricks of our garage wall. "Uh-oh! It's broken!" She patted a broken brick and consoled it, "It's awwight. All better! Give a hug!" She hugged the wall.
I said, "Aww, that's sweet, honey. C'mon, let's get to the car."
Except she found another cracked brick. "Uh-oh! It's broken! It's awwight. All better!"
I started to say,"Okay, Rosemary, that's enough..."
But she kept going, "Give a kiss!" And she kissed the wall. TWICE.
"Rosemary, get your lips off the wall!"

Today was monumental. Remember when I said I was working on getting Rosemary to say hi to Ms. Sue?The reason we were going to the car this morning when she kissed the bricks was to go to Barnes & Noble. Storytime is on hold until after the holidays, but we still drove up there to get out of the house. In spite of some huge meltdowns at the house earlier, Rosemary behaved beautifully while we were out. She was social, talking to other kids and adults. She listened to me when I said it was time to go potty or time to leave. She didn't give me much response when I asked her if she'd say hi to Ms. Sue, but when we did see Ms. Sue later, Rosemary babbled to her at length and then asked for a hug. Ms. Sue looked at me in surprise and I exclaimed, "Hallelujah!" It was a short hug, but it happened. And that is amazing. When it was time for us to eventually go, Sue said, "You have my heart!" as we walked away. :-)

14 months

It'll be 15 months in 6 days, so let's get this post going...

I love her so, so much. I can not believe the love and happiness that pours out of me when I see this face.


She is getting huggy. She hugs Pooh, she hugs her doll, she hugs the cats. Anything squishy that she can get her arms around, she will pounce it. And the smiles that come with the hugs, oh man, such radiant, beautiful smiles.


She also is a whiz at pushing buttons now. She can make her Gloworm glow and her talking baby talk.



Oh, these moments that we cherish now because we know they won't last forever. I haven't been able to capture it on film yet, but when she crawls towards something she wants, she swings her head from side to side as she plants her hands with purpose across the floor, and she makes a "nnnnnn" sound that rises in pitch at the end. My little scuttlebug. I hope she'll be walking soon, but I know I'll forever miss the crawling head swings. Speaking of walking, we are not there yet. She will cruise across the house with whatever aide she can get her hands on, be it her Wheely Lion, her Alligator Walker, or a chair, but when Senpai or I try to get her to take a step away from her crutch, she won't do it. Not yet. She is standing independently more frequently now that she is wearing her orthotics, and for that I am extremely grateful. Just one more step.

Developmental and Speech Therapists from the local Early Intervention chapter were here today to see if R needed their services. After they had interacted with R and asked me questions about her for an hour, they told me that they knew within two minutes of walking in our front door that R did not qualify for treatment. She had tracked them across the room when they came in and pointed and babbled. I told them that she said "doggie" and "dog" to the Pokey Little Puppy doll she had picked up during Storytime earlier in the morning. She also can say-- not clearly enunciated, but the meaning is there-- "I did it," "done," "this," and "What is this?" My smarty cupcake. She put puzzles together with the therapists, found hidden toys, and babbled her little heart out (she was in a very talkative mood today). That isn't to say she doesn't need improvement, though. The speech therapist pointed out that R does not imitate, and she doesn't make lip sounds. I've been given lists of words to teach her, the notion to use flash cards more often, recommendations for early learning dvds, and instructions to feed her smoothies through a straw to get her pursing her lips more. I'm on it. As far as the dvds go, I'm not sure I'm entirely sold on the Your Baby Can Read or Bumblebee Kids movies. Amazon reviews are either "It's stellar; it works!" or "It's too boring for my kid to pay attention to." I need to do more research.

So that is the cupcake at 14, almost 15 months. I'm so in love.