What? What's so funny?

First Steps

Mercy took her first steps on Monday!  We've been looking forward to this milestone for a long time.  Hopefully she will keep gaining confidence and be walking all over in no time.  Here are some other skills and stats for Mercy, now just a few days shy of 11 months old:

25 pounds, 29 inches tall

7 teeth at various stages of descent

Points at everything (I LOVE that she can point; it's a whole new level of communication)

Says a few proto-words:  mama, dada , num-num, ti (for kitty), duh (for duck), dah (for dog), mmmmmm (for moo, as in the sound a cow makes)

Favorite food: bananas, but puffed rice cereal is now a close second

Surprising least favorite food: squash

Goes poopoo in the potty chair 99% of the time and tinkles in it several times a day.

"Brushes" her hair and "talks" on the phone.

Shakes and nods her head.

Fake coughs.

Waves hello (especially to strangers at the store).

All around great gal and super fun to be with!

We've had a lull in photo-taking, but I'll add one soon.  (SS)

Where'd It Go?

Mercy made up a game where she raises an object up over her head with both hands and makes it "disappear" by dropping it behind her, then holds out her hands to say "where'd it go?"  We laughed hysterically the first several times, so now she does it over and over, sometimes applauding herself at the end.  At first she would do it with her socks after pulling them off (by the way we finally got shoes that she can't take off--phew!).  Then she moved on to other objects and now even heavy toys and books, though since she can't lift them all the way up she kind of tosses them beside her but pretends she can't see them.   I've seen her play this game by herself when she doesn't have an audience and even trying it in her carseat too.   Funny girl.  (SS)

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!