Cuddlebug's October 2005 Photos

October 2005 Update

November 9th, 2005

Boy, I don't know how these blogging mamas keep up with their sites and do everything else. I've been chastised twice for not having Mira's birthday pictures and stories up in a timely manner! Sheesh, ya'll, a girl's gotta sleep sometime!

So, finally, here are some October pictures for your perusal. I couldn't decide on the best ones, so I animated the images together. It may take some time to download over a dial-up connection, so I apologize in advance for those of you still in the Internet dark ages.

In the past month (October), it seems like Mira has woken up, like a switch was flipped and the lights are on, and damn it you had better name everything within site or be pummeled with the insistent "uh, uh, uh!!!" and pointing finger. It's crazy, she wakes up from a nap and immediately points out of the room and chants "oh, oh, oh!!!"

Recently I was doing laundry and left the room momentarily. When I got back, I saw that Mira had pulled her swimming suit out of the basket and had put it on by herself! Both Mike and I were impressed; however I can hear Melissa laughing at us thinking that our baby is some kind of wunderkind because she's doing what all kids do at this age, experimenting with everyday objects.

I know that she's understood some of what we say for a while now, but it has really exploded in the last few weeks. Tell her to take her socks off and she does, comb mama's hair and she does, play pat-a-cake and she begins to clap her hands, itsy bitsy spider and she puts her index fingers together. Ask her where her toes are and she finds them as well as her belly button and mama's nose. You can tell that she's really listening and is trying to understand everything. Oh, and she gives really great wet open mouthed kisses when asked.

She's also beginning to understand routines. Our evenings usually consist of playing with daddy while mama cooks dinner, we eat, and then while daddy cleans up, Mira has a bath. Then a story and bed. The other night after she was done eating, I took her clothes and diaper off so as to give her some diaper free time and she immediately grabbed daddy's hands and walked into the bathroom and tried to climb into the empty tub. Again, probably not exceptional, but oh so darned cute!

As far as playing goes, we bought her a sorting box for her birthday and she's super good at putting the cylinder in the right hole. The triangle and square are a little trickier, but she sometimes gets those right as well. Our friends Mike and Cindy got her a toy that has small rings that slide over tall pegs and she can slide those rings onto the pegs like a champ. And now that we've mastered taking things out, we can now put things in. She likes to put things from one container into another container.

As many of you know, we had our windows replaced this month. Because of the lead hazard, we had to get out of the house while they did the work. Mike stayed in the ghetto for a couple of nights while Mira, mom, and I went to visit Chris and his family. I'll put up some of those pictures on his page, someday. Anyway, when we got home, I left my bag in the kitchen and little monkey bug crawled in and began to help me unpack! The inconvenience of having to leave was so worth it. The windows are beautiful and I can't feel the cold leaking in like I used to.

Teething continues to wreak havoc on sleep. I'm sure her budding walking skills are not helping either. I can see one molar, feel another, and she's working on her eye teeth as well. Mike used to say he wanted her to stay bald and toothless forever, but now he loves her toothy smile and whisper fine hair!

Some days are so hard. She can be very demanding and insistent about what she wants. But it's also so wonderful to see her learn and grow on a daily basis - she just changes before our eyes! Each Tuesday we go to our ECFE (Early Childhood Family Education) class with about half a dozen other babies. Each parent gets to talk about a joy and a concern during 'check in' and I'm always afraid to talk about my joy - it usually involves a new skill Mira has mastered or is working on. I'm afraid that the other, younger babies have been doing it for months and somehow I've failed to stimulate, teach, play, or read with Mira enough. I'm afraid I'm holding her back...ugh, the pressure we put on ourselves. But I do cherish her accomplishments, even if she's late with them, it doesn't matter to me - I am just so darned proud of her!

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