Baby sign language

I just have to say, I'm a huge fan. If you're thinking about trying, do it! It couldn't be easier! I tried implementing a few signs with Eva when she turned 6 months old. The only one she really picked up in the first month or two was "all done," which we did every time she was done eating in her high chair, and anywhere else if it ever applied.

I also tried teaching her "more," "hungry/eat," and "thirsty/drink." She didn't really seem interested in any of these until she turned one year old. But then it happened so fast and so easily! She seemed to have caught on overnight, and was suddenly able to tell me if she was thirsty, hungry, or wanted more of something. It is AMAZING! To this day I am still impressed, not to mention little chubby baby hands making signs are the cutest thing you ever did see.

Granted, she would still be able to communicate with me and I'd be able to figure out what she wants most of the time, but there are those times when she's just walking around the house being her busy little self, and she'll sign to me that she's thirsty out of nowhere. I love it! So teach your baby sign language already!

The end.

Now here's a blurry picture I'm going to send to the GAP for her baby modeling show.

 

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6 flags

6 flags on a Monday the week before school starts is a bad idea. My experiences with six flags here in Atlanta (both amusment and water park) have been awful. Crazy long lines mean mostly waiting and not many rides. Definitely not worth the steep ticket prices, and I refuse to ever go again unless we get flash passes. Now add in a baby who had an allergic reaction to sunscreen and it becomes even worse. And then also add in that George had all the money and he got off the last roller coaster ride after dippin dots was already closed so we didn't even get that. It was still fun though, despite all of my grumblings. We went with Spencer and Sonya and all their girls so at least we were able to enjoy each others camaraderie.

 

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Baby baby baby

Eva is so funny. 'Nuff said.

She went through a weeklong phase of making the above silly face...and then it turned into scowling, as is pictured below. I blame her cousin Issi, who couldn't stop scowling during their visit here :)

Thank goodness for pocket bibs! She likes to bite big chunks of food off and then realizes they're she doesn't want to chew them so she spits them out...and catches them in her bib.

I was taking pictures of us snuggling (me pretending to be asleep) and then after I left her to finish sleeping by herself I was able to look back at the pictures, and realized she might have been pretending to be asleep too! Hah! Or it was just a random eye flutter I happened to catch.

She loves climbing up on stuff (fireplace mantle, the low shelves at Baby GAP with clothes on them, dishwashers) and apparently up into bathroom cabinets too. Poor baby couldn't figure out how to get out.

And then I started to wash her hands, and it turned into a sink bath.

She seems like she will be walking any day now! She likes holding our hands while walking through the house and walking across the living room and down the hall with her walker.

Oh and I got some cloth diapers to try (just to intersperse with disposables). So far I love them, but she hasn't pooped in one yet so we'll see...

 

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Her newest tricks

Yay I can finally put videos on here! Yesterday I documented Eva's 2 newest tricks, clicking her tongue and clapping. She just figured out how to clap yesterday, and already she's practicing whenever she can. I'm trying to teach her some baby sign language, such as "all done" for when she's done eating, and clapping has now replaced that. She also forgot how to wave bye bye and hello (she waves hello to a baby giraffe calendar picture in our hallway) and has replaced those with clapping. And she stayed up extremely late last night in her bed just clapping away. She has already gotten much better than the video shows.

As for her tongue clicking, she's been doing that for about a week now, but I just discovered yesterday that she knows exactly what I'm saying when I say "Eva can you click your tongue?" Even if I'm not making a point to talk to her, or if its in a longer sentence, when she hears that phrase she starts clicking away. Smarty pants!

 

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Turtle Turtle

George found a turtle outside next to our AC unit, in some reeeeally long grass. He was hunkered down for the night, but we picked him up anyways and moved him to the front yard to show Eva. She wasn't quite sure what to think about this animal because he was kind of weird. Although at the end she became quite interested and wanted to follow him into the bushes. He ended up burying himself under a bunch of grass clippings, and I mean really buried himself good! The next day we had to poke around the grass clippings to see if he was still there (he was) but we never saw him come out again. And then yesterday we discovered he was gone for good.

Onto other tidbits, her hair is getting long enough to get messy and even a little curly sometimes. I LOVE it. This is the dog she always looks for outside the window when she's in her high chair, and also every time I walk by that window while holding her. She gets excited whether she sees him or not because she knows that's where he should be. She also likes giving kisses and snuggles to her other baby cousins who are too little to get away...specifically baby Jameson and baby Ollie. It's the cutest!

10 months old

My baby will be 10 months old tomorrow! (I am a little late in publishing this post, whoops) She is super AWESOME, has learned how to scream for fun, loves ALL animals (sometimes she sees them before I do and will let me know by making some very high pitched and cute noises), and other babies and small people aka children, and has started loving shoes- both eating them and wanting to hold them and wear them (at least I think she wants to wear them). 

We finally got her a crib, which apparently is easier to put together when there is not an extremely helpful little girl right by your side wanting to help you use the allen wrench on all the screws. Nonetheless it is finished, and now I just have to learn how to get her to sleep in it.

 

Her favorite play area in the house is the entertainment center, where she opens all the doors and proceeds to remove all the CDs and DVDs from their shelves. When she is done with that she moves on to emptying the mess of papers from the middle compartment. I also had to put up a barricade around our plant as she loves scooping the dirt from the pot not the floor.

She also has made the transition to sleeping on her belly with her buns in the air. This wasn't the best picture of it but you get the idea.

Oh and she is sooooo good at standing on her tippy toes. Like full on pointe some of the time. Without point shoes! Like it ain't no thing!

This here is her learning how to wear shoes...she likes eating them and holding them and looking at them but standing on them is kind of weird.

And I had to document her wrinkly feet and monkey face. This is after she had a bath and refused to sit down in the water for the first 10 minutes

Fun with cousins

Gaaaah I hate when I'm one sentence from finishing a blog post and then my ipad dies and it's not saved. Just had to get that out there in case anyone thought I liked it.

On a happier note, we got to spend 4 fabulous days with my nephews Trey and Miles and we had sooooo much fun! We made tons of good food (it's way better cooking for more people and with more helpers!), enjoyed the pool, and went to Stars and Strikes. I got my newest high score in bowling - 148 thank you very much - and was 1 pin shy of getting a turkey. Eva rode her first tiny carousel and stayed on great all by herself! Until she fell off. All the way from the horse to the floor. Oh it was sad. But George got the whole thing on video and some people think its pretty funny so we will see if it ends up on AFV. We're all hoping she's not brain damaged and that her tailbone is ok.

Other fun things - Eva likes to put small but large things in her mouth just to hold them there...below she has a walnut in her mouth she found on Liz's floor. She found out she could climb to the top of a flight of stairs, with no idea how to get back down. Miles found out he could do fancy writings on photos with one of my ipad apps...the first picture (featured below) turned out super cute, and then things started getting crazy with all the captions that him and Trey started cranking out. Eva might need a baby bra. Aaaand...wait for it...she loves dogs now! She fell head over heels for Ginger, and I've been begging George (on behalf of Eva) for the last full day to get a dog. It's not working yet.

Last but not least I was reading Eva a book called "Dear Zoo," in which you lift up flaps to see different animals. I make their noises too for all the ones that have noises. Today we were reading it and Eva wants to read it a second time in a row, and at the end there is a doggy. I make the woof woof noise and then she starts making a noise that is more like an oooo oooo noise but that sounds like woof woof. Then 30 minutes later I read it again with her to show George and sure enough she makes her doggy noise right on cue! So I guess she's super smart because she knows what's important.

The end.

Baby girl doll

Everything that I haven't yet posted about...

















Spring & JT & Jack & Tommy & Ruby left forever :( Eva asks every day where they went...with her eyes since she can't talk yet. I am kind of a mind-reader.





We also had Lauren spend one day and one night with us, which was super great! I happened to leave something in her room and this is what I found in the morning --- we really ARE related! Well only in the stuffed animal obsession part - I don't think I've ever made my bed that nicely. But now I have something to strive for!

Eva is a master gardener and loves eating rocks and dirt. She also has an affinity for dandelions.
And our tulips were thebomb.com this year. Except now all the petals have fallen off and they are hideous! What to do what to do...

A few weeks ago this chubby baby found the corner of our kitchen and proceeded to play naked (her choice) for half an hour, entertaining herself...its so funny that she can totally entertain herself now, usually without any of her own toys. (side-note -today i heard her being incredibly quiet for about 5 minutes in our hallway/bedroom entryway. I realized that is not normal so i went to check on her and sure enough she had found a little bag i filled with teeny tiny objects i didn't want her to get into and she had dumped them all out and was trying to eat them one by one! I'm still not sure if she swallowed a miniature pool ball but i don't think she did.) Anyway, if you look real close at the picture, I documented her picking up a piece of scrap paper she found, holding it in her mouth for a bit, spitting it out, and then trying to get it back into her mouth. She is so much like a little dog sometimes I love it!





 I also have to give a shout out to "baby-led-weaning." This DOESN'T refer to her stopping nursing(albeit in a sense it does?) but rather weaning in this sense means eating their first foods. So it should be baby-led-feeding, although that is not the coined phrase. And it is so confusing any time i talk about it. But still, I love it! I feel like Eva can eat anything and I don't have to worry that much about her. If you need to read more about that do it here.

And she plays the piano like a champ! She loves standing on everything and anything.

 This makes it really hard for her to go to sleep. Ever.