How To Unpack

Well, this is one way to do it--just toss everything out...one...by...one.  That's a 10-month-old's method, anyhow.  We arrived back Wednesday from a great visit with our northwest family members.  It was great to see all of you!   Mercy proved to be a great traveler and very adaptable to different environments.  She was not quite herself, though, having developed a cold a few days before we left and doing some hardcore teething at the same time.  This did not stop her from joining a family hootenanny, seeing her first snow, or making friends with all the pets.  She slept on the airplane, except for about the final hour on the last leg of the journey coming home from SeaTac.  The longest hour of my life.   Fortunately the other passengers were entertained.  Chris will have to explain the most comically complicated meal ever.  All in all it was worth it and Mercy definitely has more traveling ahead of her. (SS)

The Girl Loves Music

(SS)  First of all, Mercy LOVES music.  She'll use anything as a drum, and is proud to be able to reach the piano keys all by herself now.  She also can't keep herself from dancing whenever she hears a beat (even if it's just the clicking sound the heater makes when it turns on).  So, naturally, I signed her up for a 4 week baby music class through the community center.  We finished the last class on Thursday, and I must say I'm somewhat relieved.  Basically, the class consisted of singing, doing hand motions, and playing little instruments along with recorded music.  We sat on the floor in a semi-circle around the teacher.  The other babies would sit still on their mommies' laps and basically do the activity they were supposed to be doing.  But our baby?  Our baby acted like she didn't know me the minute we entered the room.  She wanted to sit by herself.  She wanted to sit by herself in the middle of the circle!  She wanted to go visit each of the other babies.  She wanted to crawl up into each of the other mommies' laps, she wanted to crawl in the teacher's lap.   Now, she was the oldest, but only by one month, and she did seem to enjoy herself.  She was the only baby who danced, clapped, and sang along when she wasn't busy socializing or eating the instruments.  I'll keep encouraging her in the music direction, but I think we need a much more active format.  I'm also thinking of how I will handle being a mom of such a social butterfly!

More Skills

(Sara again)

Mercy is having an explosion of skills this week!  She is starting to stand up on her own from a squatting position, having already mastered cruising along the furniture.  She only lasts a second or two before plopping down, but it looks very promising.  She has learned how to clap her hands, often while head-bobbing and body-rocking in response to music.  A few days ago she woke up practicing a breathy "huh" sound, realizing that her breath can make noise.  So now we have fun getting her to imitate loud breathing like an exaggerated sigh, or a loud breath out her nose, along with "ha," "ah," and "mmmm."  She continues to have her word for kitty, but has shortened it to a whispered "ti."  Sometimes she also uses this to mean bunny and doggy.  Her toy play has become really interesting to watch and she shares her toys or books with us (thanks, a drooly wet block in my hand, so thoughtful).  She even dragged one of my shoes over to give to daddy, being pretty fascinated by feet, socks, and shoes in general.  Finally, she has great fun shaking her head (as in "no"), especially when I vigorously nod "yes" at the same time.  I don't think she really knows what it means, but it's possible.  I think she just likes the sensation, like when she bangs her head against the wall.  I mentioned the head banging to the doctor at her check up this week and the doctor asked me if there was any family history of psychological problems.  Hmmmm.  Anyway, she's healthy and all is well.

January Beach Day

(by Sara) I thought it would be a few more months before I took Mercy to see the ocean, but the weather was so ideal today I couldn't pass up the opportunity!  Here she is on the Seal Beach pier.  Though the crashing waves were kind of interesting, her favorite thing was watching all the birds.   I look forward to many more beach days to come!

Christmas Eve Panda

Mercy's first Christmas Eve was exciting.  After a quaint dinner including Reed's Spiced Cider (amazing!) we went to our Christmas Eve service where Mercy had a very vocal good time. How could she not with the open candle flames and all.  Then we came home and Mercy opened my presents for me and met her Panda rocking horse. Mainly she just wanted to eat all the wrapping paper. Merry Christmas Mercy!

Itty Kitties and Marching Bands

To begin with (or should I say to blog-in with), Mercy recently enjoyed her first parade, the Whittier Christmas Parade. I think she enjoyed dancing to the beat of the marching bands the most until she ran out of gas and fell asleep. 

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She has also begun using her first and only word consistently (other than her universal do-do word which apparently means everything). She is easily excited by the sight of our cat and yells any one of the following: kikky, ikky, itty, titty, kee, and sometimes kitty. What ever happened to fondness for your parents?

Mercy Laughing

Mercy loves to play peek-a-daddy.