Walk and Roll

One of the biggest events of this week was that Liam, Jacy, and Joel officially became DC-area natives again! They left on Thursday night and got in on Friday late morning. Scarlett and I went to see them on Friday afternoon after her study at Maryland's Speech and Language lab. Very cool to have them local again and fun to see the kids together.

Scarlett will be 11 months old on Friday! She seems to be changing so fast these days. She is very sweet/affectionate -- she loves giving kisses, especially to other kids/babies. She gives kisses and immediately makes an "awwww!" sound. It's pretty cute. She has also gotten a lot better about sharing. She often offers to share her chewed on food with Paul and I, and even shared her beloved cell phone (my cell phone) with Liam on Friday! Scarlett seems to think Liam is really funny. She laughs when he laughs, she laughs when he cries... just generally, she seems to laugh when she sees him. It's pretty funny. The contrast between them is kind of cool because Liam is bigger, stronger, walking, and typically pretty mellow, while Scarlett is constantly moving (although mostly on all fours), and is often at an extreme (laughing or crying).

As for Scarlett's study, the cool thing was that completing the questionnaire about her vocabulary made me realize both how much she knows and how much she knows but doesn't say. It's hard to complete a questionnaire about your baby's progress without wondering if she isn't where she should be, but during the study they seemed pretty impressed by how much she understood and was responding to. For example, there was a little toy cup, and I'd ask her what you do with the cup. She would put it to her mouth and pretend to drink! Then, she was across the room (about to take out the video camera) so to distract her I asked her to come give me the cup. She stopped what she was doing, crawled to me and handed me the cup! She does that stuff normally, but when they started interviewing me afterwards it became clear that not all 10 month olds respond to that extent. She has also been getting better about stopping when I say "no" or "don't..." and she is trying to say more words (duck, balloon, doggies, cat, Bacchus, mommy, daddy, hi, bye, yeah, touchdown, apple, etc.). It's cool to see her making connections. She understands a lot of verbs too (give, drink, push, pull, stand, walk) which makes it easier to communicate with her now.

Today Jacy and Joel came over and we went to the playground. The kids seemed to have a good time and it was tough getting her out of there. She was very excited when she realized where we were (she started shouting) and was really into the tube and the slide this time. She kept wanting to go again and again. She also spends a lot of time dancing (she loves old school hip hop!) and walking with her walker these days. We'll try to post a video.

On Saturday we had the Light the Night walk for Leukemia that we were doing in honor of Dan and Dave. She hadn't had her afternoon nap so she was a little cranky, especially in the beginning, but by the end of the night she was unstoppable (mind you that her night ended at 11:30 PM!). She even got digits from a waitress! She thought she was precious and offered to babysit! YAY!!! Always appreciate more babysitting options!
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Maybe we can set her up with our single guy friends... ;)

Scarlett has made major strides as a swimmer. Tuesday was only her 2nd class and already she is comfortable putting most of her face/head in the water- and she does it with a smile for the most part. She hasn't quite mastered the art of holding her breath (swallowed a little bit of water), but she is starting to get a feel of treading and kicking. I know I am the bias parent, but I see her as #1 in her class so far (out of 15-20). I haven't seen anyone else be as comfortable as Scarlett is in the water. Some cry, some squirm quite a bit, but Scarlett is pretty much doing everything that is asked of her. The only small issue she has is when I put her on her back. She would much rather be facing the water, but she goes with it as long as I make a game out of gliding on her back. I can't wait to see her progress after the sessions are over. Every new ability is exciting to her, and as long as we let her know she is accomplishing something, I am confident she will continue to excel.

Speaking of accomplishments, over the past 2 weeks she has taken on quite a few. She understands many commands, and we are able to stop her from doing many things she shouldn't. Not always however. When it involves something like dropping her bottle or throwing food on the floor for the dogs, its more of a challenge. Stubborn? Heck yea, and she also like to see others get excited when she performs an action. Is there anyone or any thing more excited than a dog when food is thrown on the floor? Probably not! The positive feedback is not helpful...

Other accomplishments for the past couple of weeks include the ability to wave (kind of backwards, but its still cute), a hand shake on command, high five, and "touchdown" where she raises both arms when we say the word. She has also learned to say words like balloon, duck, and bottle more clearly, and has increased her understanding of many phrases and commends we throw at her as Shonna mentioned earlier.

Scarlett does so many amazing things, that we have to laugh at ourselves when we worry about minor things like she doesn't know enough words, isn't walking yet, etc. because its just silly considering all the progress she has made as a 10+ month old baby. Are we expecting too much? :) I mean strangers are constantly coming up to us and marveling at her eye contact, interaction, and comment on how happy a baby she is. She has received multiple baby sitting requests based on her demeanor. What is our problem?!?! :)

Sorry Scarlett. Mommy and Daddy are crazy. You will understand that better in a few years... just kidding.

BTW- Scarlett is now 1-0 with her new Ravens shirt. We won't wash it until they lose... :)