Opera Lungs

Mercy has learned two new vocal tricks.  One is SCREECHING! She likes to squeal somewhere in the range that only dogs can hear and wine glasses break and then laugh about it. Second, when she is a bit calmer she will look up at mommy and sing a quiet little song of love sounds. Can you say dramatic personality?

Swings, Wings, Growings

It seems Mercy has outgrown her daily swing naps.  For a long time we could depend on at least one three hour nap a day in the swing. But alas, with the onset of her pulling herself up to a sitting position, the swing has lost its grip on her and safety has fleeted. It seems like she sleeps a lot more at night though so I guess it's a trade off. She seems to be rapidly outgrowing just about everything lately. We just jumped up to the next size of clothes. The other night I put her to bed and soon after heard her stirring. I went in to check on her and found her holding each side of the crib spread out like an albatross. Fortunately she was able to be wooed back to sleep with her wings tucked back in.

Baby Got Skills

diagram 1a: baby grabbing toes

Mercy has been trying to show off some skills for a while now. We've seen the two-fisted sandwich, the back to belly roll, the raspberry blow and recently the two foot grab (see diagram 1a above). We haven't captured it on film yet but she has also learned the sweet skill of right hand karate chop or as they say in Japan shuto-uchi.

Guess who had Japanese food for lunch today,

Sayonara

After Bath Exercises

Mercy has been working on her arm strength during tummy time after her baths.  She gets really vocal when she is on her tummy. She makes loud sounds that sound like a mix of effort and frustration. I guess that means she is putting all her energy into it. I'm sure she will be crawling soon once she learns to move her arms forward along with her legs.

All Aboard the Daddy Train

Well here's the after I get home from work setup.  Mercy loves being outside and looking at all my junk in the garage as I try to sort through it.  I put her in the carrier in the mornings before work too.  We've managed to put away most everything left in the center of the garage from the move into the shelving units. Thanks for the moral support Mercy! (I don't usually walk around with Mercy wearing a headband and glittery shoes like you'll see below.  That was her mother's idea.)

In addition to this little outfit, I have been shopping for a shotgun. No seriously, I am gonna buy a shotgun and polish it for the next 16 years.

Look at the family resemblance. From birth Mercy has looked a lot like Sara's baby pictures.  She is starting to show a little more "Sandoval" now too.

Coolest shoes ever. Thanks Trish. Mercy can't keep her balance on her own yet but she stands and supports her own weight.  Maybe the shoes will motivate her.

Mercy's World

Dad's Birthday Gift

I received some very nice birthday cards and gifts today.  A much needed new wallet, some winning lottery tickets and gift cards were among the swag. As nice as these all were I must say that the absolute best gift, something I have been looking forward to for several months now came from my daughter. We were playing near and far where I made her run away from me and then back to me. After a couple of times she really liked it and gave me her very first giggle. I kept doing it and got about four giggles out of her. It's hard to describe why but it made me so happy. In the past I was somewhat apprehensive about fatherhood but moments like this really throw all your doubt out the window.