Last week, I had the yearly 'Parents' Night' at the school where I teach. Thirteen years into teaching, I don't get as worried or anxious as I used to, but I still become a little antsy about meeting all these parents and giving them an effective presentation about what goes on in my class. This was the first year I attended the night as a mom myself, and I've got to say it was a little different. Never before had I thought how anxious the parents themselves might be on a night like this, and never before had I really wondered what it must be like to go to this thing for the 9th, 10th, 11th, and 12th year in a row as the parent of a high school kid.
One of the moms I've met a few times before, as I had her two elder daughters and this year teach her son. She stayed for a few minutes after to chat, and to catch me up on the girls and how they are doing in college. She asked me a little about Mabel, and, with a very serious look in her eye, demanded, "Make sure you write down EVERYTHING she does and when. I hate that I didn't do it for all my kids, and only for the youngest."
Years ago, you'd literally need to write things down, in a baby book, or on a tablet or something. We're lucky to have blogs in 2012 for this very purpose. I could tell this woman meant more than to jot down Mabel's first word, first step, and first tooth. She meant to record the little sounds she makes, and the first time she wore a pair of tights, or giggled at a TV show, or turned a page in a book herself. She meant for me to write things down that would really let me have a solid snapshot in time of Mabel. Admittedly, I haven't done this enough. I think I've written only a couple blogs of this nature, and so today, here goes:
Mabel is STILL in love with Elmo. And now it's not just Elmo, but any character with big eyes and a whacky voice on Sesame Street. She will stop dead in her tracks and turn her head around or upward to watch these little monsters. Sometimes it appears she's concentrating very hard on the show, and at other times, she just laughs. She's also delightfully entertained by her books, but these days wants to grab at them, and almost beat the pages like you would a drum. She can flip the pages but with a very cute lack of grace and coordination.
Mabel "military crawls" all over the place, and with more velocity than you'd expect. Lately, she has also been lifting her bum in the air a bit more, as if to do a true crawl soon. Yet, many babies never crawl this way and go straight to walking, so we will see what she decides. She's desperate to pull herself up, but doesn't quite have the strength. We give her little boosts, and once she is standing, usually up against the couch, she goes nuts with joy, and then becomes adventurous trying "look ma, no hands" and "let me walk to the right and to the left a little." It's important, therefore, for J and I not to go too far!
Mabel wants very much to remove that thing under the fridge that looks like it may just be there for cosmetic purposes-- that shield thing that covers the teeny space between bottom of fridge and floor. It's of course not really clean, though, and we are repeatedly guiding her away. This behavior is just one example of her tendency to go for the dangerous stuff. We have baby- proofed the house now, but Mabel is still curious about wires and plugs and vases. Put ten toys in front of her and she will crawl to the one wire in her visibility.
On the eating front, the little lady is now onto Cheerios-- as of yesterday, that is. She's got cereal; pureed fruits, veggies, and meats; and of course formula down. Water she drinks through the sippy, which she still doesn't quite grasp, no pun intended. The funny thing is that she is obsessed with HOLDING the sippy, but the deluge of water that drips out (it's not really a deluge, but that's what you would think from Mabel's face) seems overwhelming. Still, we get her to drink her good old H20.
Mabel is just barely into 6- 9 month size clothes. Lengthwise, she needs them, for the most part. Width- wise, the clothes are swimming on her little peanut body. She has mastered sneakers, dress shoes, and boots-- only kicking them off about half the time which is a BIG improvement from her younger days.
In terms of sounds, Mabel makes an array. None that resemble a Mama or Dada yet, but one that sounds remarkably like "Heyyy!" and a whole mess of babbles-- vowel and consonant mixes. She babbles a lot in the morning, and a good deal when she's eating. Her newest funny move when it comes to sound: blowing raspberry sounds while eating, causing the food to spray. Hard to get mad when it's so cute. Mabel laughs heartily-- at this silly "Hi- hiiiii" bit I do, and at Joe's dance moves and his dramatic sneeze bit. And sometimes unexpected and seemingly weird things just make her roar.
Other tid- bits: Mabel still smiles a lot, often at strangers but especially at her nearest and dearest peeps; still sleeps in the car a lot but sometimes just gazes or plays with car seat toys; sleeps around 11 hours per night, mostly on her side; wakes in the morning and makes, at first, cute coos, but then whines if we don't come get her; is often on all 4's in crib when we come get her, and many times at the opposite end of the crib from where she had been; screams and yells in delight which can be sweet or annoying (ha); according to T, makes profound efforts to keep up with the mobility of the bigger kids at day care by scooting herself around while they walk; seems to have the closest "connection" (they babble at each other all day) with a boy we will call Marc at day care; enjoys bouncing in the doorway jumper and Jumperoo; is sort of over her playmat and bouncy chair :( ; loves her high chair; enjoys time in regular stroller and jogger but often falls asleep; pulls at glasses and hair; tries to scratch our faces when feeding on a bottle- ouch!; takes a bath in the real tub now and loves it minus the initial loud sound of water pouring down; giggles at being tickled; rubs eyes like a madwoman when sleepy; drools but doesn't seem to have a tooth yet.
Over all, 7.5 months has been a blast. Really loving this age! Hope I will love looking back at verbal snapshots.
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