In just the last few weeks since we returned from Virginia, we’ve been amazed to see Ada go through a developmental growth spurt. Yes, she’s had the corresponding sleep disruptions that go along with growth spurts (sleepy groan, grumble grumble) but watching her sprout new ideas and skills and talents has been worth every sleepless moment. I haven’t been able to capture them all on video, but here’s just a few.
Baby sign language :: We are getting ready to start her second semester of this class, and she’s hit a signing stride just in time. The first sign that she regularly and intentionally used? Fan. Yep, the ceiling fan. The teacher told us a long time ago that the signs kids pick up first are words that they have no other way to communicate. We suppose that fits the bill. Like every other baby on the planet, Ada enjoys watching the ceiling fan, and now loves to point it out to us and ask us to turn it on for her. Second in line was the sign for lights; lights off, lights on. She moved from there to the signs for all done, for milk, for book. Now we’re working on duck, help please, and thank you.
Identifying things :: It seems that each day I’ll ask Ada, “where is your [insert thing here]?,” and she’ll look around, find the new thing I’ve named, and bring it over to me. It started with food, then toys and stuffed animals. I knew we’d hit a milestone when we were in the kitchen, I said “where is mommy’s phone?” and she proceeded to crawl into the living room, find my phone, crawl back into the kitchen and hand it to me.
She’s also become adept at identifying her nose, head, ears, eyes, toes, and belly button. Sometimes she’ll mistake her nose for mommy or daddy’s nose, but these things all come in time. (Note: if you watch the video, you’ll never believe that nose is her favorite. But it is. Pointing to her nose, pointing to our noses, picking her nose… it’s all gravy, baby.)
Moreover, the realization that she understands much of what we’re talking about landed with a thud. What else is she understanding? Time to check our colorful language, perhaps.
Moving and grooving :: Ada surprised us all by pulling up to cruise at 7 months. We figured that by 9 or 10 months she’d be walking, if she followed a standard development curve. However, this kid was born to defy growth charts and development curves and she’s still taking her careful time to make the step to independent walking. Give her those walking toys though, and she’s a mad little baby. She races up and down our hallways and has also mastered turning herself around with the cars, which helps Mama and Daddy quite a bit!
Oh – and she also likes to put herself into a baby headstand (seriously, we’ll get a photo) and she’s starting to BLOW KISSES. Yep, it’s adorable.
Lastly, this isn’t related to her growth spurt, but we are celebrating all of our friends’ first birthdays. Today we went to Benito’s party and Ada looked just too cute not to share.
