Daph Stats: Month 9
*How have I not posted this yet?! Daph's been nine months for two weeks! Here goes...
My Dear Phodellia,
In the last month you have become so incredibly mobile. On Thursday, February 9, you finally succeeded in achieving forward motion. We spent several days encouraging your army crawling by putting bracelets, phones or keys a few feet in front of you to motivate you to keep practicing. You now cruise around army crawl style without any prompting at all and are currently working on the traditional hands and knees crawling. You get up on your hands and knees and rock back and forth, but haven't quite figured out how to move forward with them yet. You can also transition smoothly from a sitting position to your belly now without face planting into the carpet - a big accomplishment!
One of my very favorite games we play is "Gonna Getcha" where either Daddy or I crawl towards you while saying, "I'm gonna get you!" in a slow, drawn out voice while plopping one hand down after the other. Without fail, you freak out, the anticipation of a tickle making you squeal and giggle and fling yourself onto the floor head first, as if we won't be able to get you if you aren't looking at us. It's the cutest thing ever! I also love this same game when either Daddy or I are holding you. You fling your arms around our neck and burrow into our chest while laughing with excitement. It's the best feeling to be the one holding you!
You are still obsessed with mirrors and are quite narcissistic when you see yourself. You army crawl up to yourself and laugh and smile, totally wooing your reflection. Daddy and I got quite a good laugh when you started giving yourself kisses and bonking your head into the glass because you just can't get close enough to yourself. Speaking of kisses, that is your latest trick. Whenever we ask, "Kisses?" you lean forward and plant an open mouth slobber on our cheeks or lips. The first time you did it, we were thrilled, because it is the first time I knew for sure you knew what we were saying to you.
This month, you've been way more helpful with little things like pulling your arms out of your sleeves when we're changing your clothes or putting your legs into the pants, rather than squirming all over. You also like to hold your very own spoon while I'm feeding you or delicately place bite-size bits of food in your mouth to feed yourself. You like to hold the bottle yourself and I always get a good laugh seeing you swig your bottle with one hand, pull it out, look around and then shove it back in frantically as if it's going to disappear if you don't chug it fast enough. In some ways, this independence is not very fun when you decided you very definitely do not want something and push away the food (making it splatter all over you or the high chair), or smack at my hands if you don't want to change out of your clothes. These sometimes escalate into tantrums, but we're getting better at figuring out how to communicate with each other and spare ourselves the dramatics.
I've noticed that when you are experiencing something new, whether that be a person or place, you get extremely quiet and silently observe everything around you for as long as it takes you to adjust to the new environment. However, once you've decided you are comfortable, you grin and rock back and forth with excitement. We still can't go anywhere without people admiring you and most often you ham it up and delight your audience with a two-toothed grin.
You LOVE other babies, whether they be in person, on a movie, in a book or in doll form. Your favorite book is pictures of babies expressing different emotions. It's pretty lame, but you laugh every time you see the front cover and can't wait to grab it and grin at the babies inside. You love to be around other kids, especially other babies and it makes me wish we were in St. George still so you could play with your cousins more often. Auntie Cassie said the last time you were at her house, you discovered a baby doll in the play room and were fixated on it the entire time she tended you. I think I know what someone will be getting for their birthday!
It is enchanting to watch you make new discoveries on a daily basis and become more curious about the world around you. My goal is to try and facilitate new wonders for you to explore each day and watch the lights dance around in your eyes as we enjoy together all that our Heavenly Father has blessed us with. This is a beautiful life we get to live little lady and it only gets better! Grow on little one.
Love you forever and always,
Your Mama
My Dear Phodellia,
In the last month you have become so incredibly mobile. On Thursday, February 9, you finally succeeded in achieving forward motion. We spent several days encouraging your army crawling by putting bracelets, phones or keys a few feet in front of you to motivate you to keep practicing. You now cruise around army crawl style without any prompting at all and are currently working on the traditional hands and knees crawling. You get up on your hands and knees and rock back and forth, but haven't quite figured out how to move forward with them yet. You can also transition smoothly from a sitting position to your belly now without face planting into the carpet - a big accomplishment!
One of my very favorite games we play is "Gonna Getcha" where either Daddy or I crawl towards you while saying, "I'm gonna get you!" in a slow, drawn out voice while plopping one hand down after the other. Without fail, you freak out, the anticipation of a tickle making you squeal and giggle and fling yourself onto the floor head first, as if we won't be able to get you if you aren't looking at us. It's the cutest thing ever! I also love this same game when either Daddy or I are holding you. You fling your arms around our neck and burrow into our chest while laughing with excitement. It's the best feeling to be the one holding you!
You are still obsessed with mirrors and are quite narcissistic when you see yourself. You army crawl up to yourself and laugh and smile, totally wooing your reflection. Daddy and I got quite a good laugh when you started giving yourself kisses and bonking your head into the glass because you just can't get close enough to yourself. Speaking of kisses, that is your latest trick. Whenever we ask, "Kisses?" you lean forward and plant an open mouth slobber on our cheeks or lips. The first time you did it, we were thrilled, because it is the first time I knew for sure you knew what we were saying to you.
I've noticed that when you are experiencing something new, whether that be a person or place, you get extremely quiet and silently observe everything around you for as long as it takes you to adjust to the new environment. However, once you've decided you are comfortable, you grin and rock back and forth with excitement. We still can't go anywhere without people admiring you and most often you ham it up and delight your audience with a two-toothed grin.
You LOVE other babies, whether they be in person, on a movie, in a book or in doll form. Your favorite book is pictures of babies expressing different emotions. It's pretty lame, but you laugh every time you see the front cover and can't wait to grab it and grin at the babies inside. You love to be around other kids, especially other babies and it makes me wish we were in St. George still so you could play with your cousins more often. Auntie Cassie said the last time you were at her house, you discovered a baby doll in the play room and were fixated on it the entire time she tended you. I think I know what someone will be getting for their birthday!
It is enchanting to watch you make new discoveries on a daily basis and become more curious about the world around you. My goal is to try and facilitate new wonders for you to explore each day and watch the lights dance around in your eyes as we enjoy together all that our Heavenly Father has blessed us with. This is a beautiful life we get to live little lady and it only gets better! Grow on little one.
Love you forever and always,
Your Mama
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