Little & Big Milestones

-No tummy aches this week and taking dairy better! Thinking it must have been the new formula and fatty foods so we are now back to eating healthy foods again (fruit, veggies, rice, wheat pasta, chicken, turkey) and adding in slowly things like milk, cheese, yogurt, and occasionally all natural ice cream. Loves yogurt, but not a huge fan of cheese unless I mix it in with her pasta. Her snacks are organic Annie's naturals cookies and baked crackers. Loves em! Cheerios, too. What kid doesn't like those? So she is getting some good fats and sugars but not too much and no chemicals and preservatives! Sticking with the GummyVites until I run out then we will get her a better, organic kind that won't stick to her teeth. (I like the fish oil idea too, Ellie!)

-Test results came in from all the blood work and all major things are okay. Hooray! They said there were a few minor red flags to discuss tomorrow, but I got the impression it is just diet/nutrition stuff. They were not concerned at all. We have an appt. tomorrow to get her shots. Poor baby! Wish us luck!

-Learning English words fast. So far she can say: Mommy, Daddy, good girl, clap, ball, cup, bowl, chair, table, shoes, socks, eyes, nose, teeth, bear, hi, bye, night-night, all done, bear, hands, snow white, swing... (There are more, too. I will add to this as I remember). With instruction, she will repeat a lot of words and names of people. We point to all the grandparent's pics often and she will say, Grandma, Grammy, etc. In Thai, she says, nam (water), ma (dog), mow (cat) and chaang (elephant). Possibly other words, but I don't know them! She will sometimes still babble a bit (it's so cute) in her language - and also sing - but honestly, I think it's baby talk more than anything!

- Can point out eyes, nose, mouth, teeth, shoes, socks, ear, hair, belly, Mommy, Daddy, cup, bowl, doll, bear, table, chair, block, etc....when asked. Still working on colors.

- She clearly hears the tiniest of sounds and turns around and says uh-uh??? When we whisper to her she will whisper back and then laugh and start talking loudly, like hey, why are we whispering??? Her hearing is really good. We always try saying something softly behind her just to make sure she isn't reading lips and we will crinkle a snack behind her and boy does that make her turn around! The other day her sippy cup (with straw) was making the strangest little squeak cause air was escaping and she stopped eating and looked around. She drank water again and then started laughing as she realized it was coming from the cup. She found this highly amusing! Couldn't get her to put down the cup for the longest time! :-)

- She understands a LOT of what we say. I will say "give that to Daddy", "on the table", "put that back", "we are going in the kitchen/playroom/in the car, etc" or "to the potty" and she most definitely gets it and will respond accordingly. Or I will say, where is Mommy/Daddy, your ball, your cup, bear, etc. and she will point or go get it. Yesterday I told her we were going to the park to ride the swings. She knows (and loves the swing). I put her sneakers on and said we have to wait for Daddy. She grabbed one of his sneakers and ran to the bottom of the steps and yelled "PAW! PAW!" all excitedly. It was really cute. So Daddy came down from his office and she was all squealing with delight.

-She can count to five in English and loves to give high-fives.

-Gives kisses freely and understands when I say hug or kiss.

- Learned to throw, catch, and roll a ball - although the catches are not so frequent! She just loves balls, though. It's adorable to watch!

- And sweeter than sweet...one day when I said I love you she said it back. Now she says it often. It is the most amazing thing ever! I might have posted this before, but hey, if I did, it is worth another mention, for sure!!!

- Eats most of what I put in front of her. Sometimes I have to prod a little for her to taste it and then when she finally does she likes it. Avocados, bananas, cheese, and blueberries where not a hit however. She tried them, but then spit them out every time and looked at me as if I was poisoning her. LOL.

- Doing GREAT with the cat and dog. She knows when I say cat and dog, but is holding tight to still calling them by their Thai names... which is fine, of course. (I still say some words to her in Thai but we have used mainly English since getting back to get her used to it). Funny, though, cause she will call the animals by their names (Chloe & Max) sometimes. We let her walk the dog and now she just loves her. Chloe is not a fan of being walked by her but she let's her anyway and has been soooo good with her. 

-Last night when I was still talking to her before bed she took her bottle out of her mouth and say la-wa-aye! and pointed to me. How cute is that? I always sing the Brahms lullaby to her first and it seems to be her favorite. Once I was singing a different song first and she waved her hands with the "all done" gesture. LOL! 

- Had her first girls night out this week! Monday I went downtown to meet two of my girlfriends for dinner who were just dying to meet Ruby. Went early, of course, and had dinner at a little Vietnamese place. Yummy! Ruby thought so too and she wolfed down 2 big bowls full and my friends marveled both at her personality and her appetite! She had noodles and rice everywhere and we all just had fun watching her. She was so good and seemed to enjoy our little outing.

-Had our first Little Gym class yesterday. It was so cute! They do tumbling and songs, counting and baby-type gymnastics. She had a lot of fun and I'm looking forward to doing this with her weekly. 

All in all, a lot a great stuff going on here. I'm NOT gonna say how great our sleeping habits are cause every time I post that she pulls an all nighter on me! Go figure? She still naps great but maybe the temperature (which keeps changing) and teething are still getting to her. Last night I let her sleep with me most of the night. She slept great, but I tossed and turned. Part of me just loves having her snuggle up next to me, but the other part of me says she's been sleeping in her crib up to this point. Do I want to change that habit now? Will it be hard to get her back in her own bed later? Not sure. I mean, if she needs me and wants to lay close to her her Momma, surely that is a GOOD thing. We seem to bond more every day and I love holding her. What to do? Guess we will just keep plugging along until the answer becomes obvious. 

More soon! Gotta go wake the little princess from her nap! Been in there 2 hours. How long are your little ones napping? Do you let them sleep if more than 2 hours or wake them up to keep them on schedule. Would love to know!