Uh-oh!

I got Toni to say, "Uh-oh!" hahahaha... i love it! She doesn't always get it so perfect each time, but she's working on it. I think it all started with one day we were in the car. Junior was driving and I was in the backseat with her. That song by Beyonce, All the Single Ladies, came on. When that part came I sang to Toni, "Uh-uh-oh! Oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh! Uh-uh-oh!" You know what I mean. And then Toni goes, "uh-uh-uh!" It was so cute! Then it occurred to me that saying "Uh-oh" is probably hell of a lot easier than saying "mama" or "dada." Don't get me wrong she says both but indiscriminately right now. And I don't think she can say it on command. So I decided, let's start with "uh-oh" since it's easier. And it proved to be a good decision b/c now when we try to get her to say it, she'll copy. I have a great video of this! I'll have to upload that when I can. I'll load it to the entry so stay tuned for it!

Other new things? Yesterday she discovered her nose. Yes like that. See she has her pointer finger working pretty well now in that she can't point it. So far she hasn't specifically pointed at just one thing, but she points... and pokes... and yesterday... it was in her nose. yep. Mind you.. after she had her hands in her mouth AND she wanted to put them BACK in her mouth after she discovered her nose. Sigh... that weird phase begins. Don't get me wrong. All phases are exciting, but still this one is also weird. Luckily we caught her hands before they went into her mouth and cleaned them off. But I'm sure we won't be able to do that every time.

She's also learned to copy the breath in and out action through your nose. So if I do it to where you can hear it, she'll do the same. We'll go on for about a minute sometimes just doing that. hahahaha....

ALSO, she's practicing to blow. Sometimes I blow on her and she likes the wind effect. Just the other day, she tried to copy me. And though she hasn't perfected it, she's getting there. YAY! Hopefully by her first birthday she can blow out the candle!

I can't believe her first birthday is in about a month and a half!!!! And yes... you have been reading my blog THAT long. I thank you. :)

Throwing Phase

Toni has reached the throwing phase, definitely. And I think we reinforce it by picking up what she throws and giving it back to her. Initially I thought she was dropping toys. Now I see she is throwing stuff and is probably obeserving the parent picking it up, giving it back to her and she throws it again. How many times will my mom or dad pick it up? Yeah... I caught on after a while so now I leave it. If she's playing in her crib and she throws a toy out, it stays out. I have found myself bending over and picking things up several times so now i leave it. She has this train toy that her Ninang (Godmother) Rachelle gave her and it comes with blocks witht he alphabet so there are 26 blocks. It's a great toy but since she is in the throwing phase... you get my drift. The other day all her blocks were in the little car of the train. She would take one out and throw it at the amoir and watch it bounce off. There are 26 blocks. You do the math. And I... left it all out to lay until she took her nap. hahaha! Are you kidding me? Clean that up and watch her do it all over again? But it's cool. It's another milestone in a way. She's learning cause and effect. However, there is a time when it's a no win situation. When we're at the store, and she's sitting in the child seat (with her cart cover of course!) and after a few minutes she gets ansy. usually giving her a toy or merchandise will keep her happy and occupied. But NOW since she is in this throwing phase... yep you guessed it. She tosses it out of the cart. Well I HAVE to pick it up. And giving it back to her... just tosses out the cart again. I try to catch it before it falls and sometimes I succeed and sometimes I don't. And if I just don't give it to her and put it in the main cart area, she'll whine. Sooo.... you get my drift. BUT still, she isn't half as bad as some other kids I've seen. So I'm thankful for that.

She's still as happy as ever too. And quite the social baby! When we're at a store and someone comments on her, she just has this HUGE smile but she gets a bit shy and she'll kind of hide her face on me but enough to where she can still peek at the person that said something. People love it too. Sometimes she'll interact with them and babble a bit or make some faces. She's so social. It was kind of funny b/c today we were at Target and this couple was saying, "how cute.." etc, etc. She smiled, buried her face in my chest and then made a few faces at the couple. Right after that, this old lady was looking for something in the aisle we were in and Toni kept smiling at her. The lady was so happy to see Toni just smiling at her she said, "what a smily baby!" So the funny part... next this guy is walking by us and so Toni looks at him and starts smiling... and he's just walking by and she has the cheesy smile following him walk by. Poor thing. As he was walking away, her smile dropped and she had this look as if, "what just happened?" since he didn't even seem to notice her. hahaha it was funny to see her try and process that. But yes, definitely a social baby!

Is she walking yet? nope but she is walking more when we hold her hands or when she's holding onto something. And she is trying more and more to stand on her own without holding anything. I really hope she can walk by Easter so she can easter egg hunt! But if not, it's ok... I can at least hold her hands.

Almost a toddler

Holy smokes! I'm getting really bad at this. I don't know why so much time lapsed between this post and my last. It's been over a month!!! I think for a while we were so focused on Toni's road to recovery and that bundled with work just took over our free time. I've been so exhausted that I've been sleeping early these days. Once day I put Toni to bed around 8pm which is normal for her. The abnormal part is I went to bed too. And I STILL got up late the next morning. It's crazy. But today she was dead tired. It was a bit strange. But allowed me to do some things I never have time to do. But we'll get to that. Right now it's catch up time!

So after Toni's sickness things just started happening one right after the other like she was trying to make up for lost time! She was crawling much, much faster and started to pull herself up on furniture. Then she started eating twice what she was eating, babbling more, laughing more, playing more... and now pulling herself up to stand on furniture is a breeze. I really think she doesn't need the furniture for help. Its'more like security to her. But she does try standing on her own. It's soooo cute to see her try. I think it's because the act of her trying or practicing to do anything is amazing in itself. It's its own milestone. And then when she does stand on her own for a few seconds it becomes a a big deal to her. She claps or laughs and smiles or all of it! She's still such an amazingly happy baby. I love it!

She can mimic some things we do and responds. She even initiates conversation, though it's babble. But it's like she's really trying to say something to you (or sometimes to Jake) or question something. It's great. My goal? To get her walking by Easter so she can easter egg hunt!!!