She's A Big Girl

Now that the weather is nice, all of the kids in our complex are playing outside. Of course, Tali wants to play with the big kids (ages 8 and up, usually) and just invites herself along. Luckily, the kids are very nice and most of them like her. In the past week, she's played with three different groups of kids and been on three different 'big kid" toys.

The first was a pogo stick. She didn't fully get on this one, but she tried. And the owner was very nice in letting her play with it.

Next, she learned how to ride a skateboard, sort of. She sat on the board and went back and forth while. Then she decided to stand on the board. We didn't let her go anywhere, but she had a blast.

At the end of the week, she got on a motorized scooter. Of course, we didn't turn the motor on or she would have sped away and fallen off, but she held on to the bar and we pushed her around a bit.

As her preschool teachers constantly remind me, this kid has no fear.

New Dog!

Tali's gotten some great Hanukkah/birthday presents this month but one of her favorites was a stuffed dog from my friend Jennifer. It usually takes Tali a couple of days (or more) to warm up to a new stuffed animal, but she took to this one within seconds - partly because it's a dog and partly because it looks real. Jackson loves it too and sometimes Tali has to fend him off.

First (And Second) Push Toys

Yesterday FedEx dropped off a big box - a birthday/Hanukkah gift from Aunt Sue and Uncle David. They bought her a classic push toy - a Radio Flyer wagon and H was so excited about it that he immediately put it together. When Tali woke up from her nap, she got to play with her new toy. Unfortunately, she didn't quite get the point of it. Instead of pushing it, she pulled up on the side and used it as a prop for standing. But she had fun.

Then H decided to put her behind the wagon to see if she would push it. Nope, not yet.

A little later Aunt Judy and Uncle Adam came over and brought a second push toy for her! This one is a Fisher Price shopping cart. After the cart was put together, Tali gave it a go. She still didn't get the whole pushing concept and preferred to simply play with toys inside. This morning I gave her the cart again and she continued to play with the toys (she already has a favorite - the carrot).

And, finally, she got behind the cart on her own and gave it a few pushes! She's not cruising around yet, but it was a step (pun intended) in the right direction. Hooray for Tali!

To Tali's aunts and uncles: Thanks for the great gifts!

Balloon

Tali got a purple balloon today at a birthday party. She had a great time playing with both the balloon and the ribbon. Jackson was terrified of the balloon and gave it a stare down for about 30 minutes. No matter what we did, he wouldn't go near it. It was pretty funny.

10 months old now

Dear Tali,

On Saturday, you turned 10 months old. For some reason, 10 months was an important marker for me. Now you have a personality, strong likes (and dislikes) and a sense of humor. You've grown from being a big crybaby to a baby who smiles a lot, laughs at random things and cries on occasion. Some observations about you:

• You love food and it seems that bananas are your favorite. If someone is eating a banana in front of you, you get very upset if they do not give you a piece (Aunt Cara experienced this in Florida). At the grocery store, I have to sneak them into the cart when you aren't looking. If you see them, you will turn around and try to get out of your seat to get to them.

• Speaking of the grocery store, it's one of your favorite places. Most babies like the grocery store because of all of the colors. You, however, like the people. You love when people say hello to you and tell you how cute you are. You also love the free food samples (surprised?).

• For the most part, you are well behaved in public. You like to go places and see people. You enjoy waving "hello" and "goodbye" and almost always smile at strangers, even scary-looking ones.

• You think Jackson is the best toy. You have a great time playing tug with him and get so excited every time you see his leash and collar. You've learned how to pet him (but still pull his hair) and you even gave him two kisses this morning.

• Right now, your favorite toys are items that you can pull up on. Your little chair, the crib railing and your little table are all items that you crawl to regularly. You also enjoy pulling up on the baker's rack in the kitchen and crawl right back to it every time I pull you away.

• You are a very determined little girl. When you want something, you go to it. No matter how many times I pull you away, you go back to that same thing. If I hide it, you start looking for it. Usually you are good natured about it and just keep trying, no tears, just determination to get what you want.

• As with most babies (I assume), you hate being told "no" and even though I think you understand that word by now, you do it anyway. You don't like waiting for your food to be made or served to you. You want it now! And, you don't like having things (pens, coasters, etc.) taken away from you. All of these make you cry.

• You are a drama queen. You can produce tears in seconds and can stop them just as quickly. You can be a perfect angel for strangers and as soon as we are alone you show your true colors.

• One of the funniest things to you is when I yawn. You find it hysterical to see me open my mouth wide. On our flight back from New Orleans, you spent the first half of our flight laughing (loudly) at the guy two rows back and across from us who was sleeping with his mouth open. You'd lean over, look at him, laugh, look back at me and repeat. You made an entire area of the plane smile and laugh at your open-mouth obsession.

• Sometimes, you look at Jackson and laugh. Usually he's not doing anything, but that's funny to you.

• I've become very skilled at making you smile/laugh. Singing the Ants Go Marching or Trot To Grandma's house always gets a smile. Peek-A-Boo receives an ear-to-ear grin. And, spinning around in a circle together emits a chuckle every time.

• You still enjoying cuddling with mommy.

Tali, you've become a lot of fun these past few months and I enjoy spending time with you. I can't wait to see what you'll be like in two more months.

Tali vs. Jackson

(Sunday evening, Erev Yom Kippur)

Announcer: In the pink corner, weighing in at 14 pounds and 9 months of age is Tali. And in the orange corner, weighing in at 14 1/2 pounds and almost 2 years of age is Jackson. The prize? Jackson's blue rope. Looks like this evening's match will be a close one. 

Bell rings.

Announcer: Round One. Tali grabs the rope from Jackson and moves it to her right side. Jackson takes it back. Tali, displaying a trick she just learned that morning, crawls to Jackson, tugs for a few seconds and then reclaims the rope. She hides it behind her back, but Jackson is doesn't fall for that trick. He tugs it away and moves just out of her reach. Tali must crawl again to get to Jackson and this time he lets her have the rope for a quick game of tug before he pulls it away again. Just out of her reach, Tali must once again crawl to get to the rope. Jackson guards the rope but Tali manages to get her hands on it anyway. Looks like they've agreed to play together. 

Bell rings. End of  Round One.

Bell rings. 

Announcer: Round Two. Tali takes the rope from Jackson and puts it over her head. She turns her back to him but Jackson quickly gets into position and takes the rope back. Tali uses the Sit n Spin to get to the rope. A game of tug ensues until Tali takes the rope away. Tali pauses to look at the audience. Laughing with pride at her success, she momentarily puts the rope down and Jackson seizes this moment of weakness to retrieve the rope. Tali takes the rope again, smiles at the audience and then loses the rope to Jackson. Round two goes to Jackson.

Bell rings. End of  Round Two.

Bell rings. 

Announcer: Round Three. Tali takes a breather and then goes for the rope again. She gently tugs it away but it seems as if she's losing interest. Her eye wanders to the far corner of the ring and Jackson takes the rope. She crawls back towards the rope and Jackson inches further away. Tali loses interest and eyes her favorite blanket in the corner. She begins to crawl towards the blanket. She reaches out, grabs the blanket and the drops it. She reaches again, gets a good grasp and then pulls the blanket over her face for a game of Peek A Boo. 

Announcer: Looks like tonight's winner is Jackson. Congratulations, Jackson! 

Editor's Note: We'd also like to congratulate Tali on her first day of crawling. She did very well.

First Real Doll

When: Last Friday, with her great grandparents

Where: The toy store

Details: My grandparents (Granny and Papa) were in town last Friday and bought Tali her first real doll. We took Tali to the toy store and let her pick it out. There was an entire case off dolls and we laid a few on the floor for her. She loved this Madame Alexander doll, and so did we, so Granny and Papa purchased it for her. Her name is Pocket Full of Posies Pussycat (I know, I know) and she's currently sitting in her box in Tali's closet. I haven't given it to her yet (the hair is a chocking hazard for babies) but when I do I will make sure she knows who it came from. It's a beautiful doll and I'm sure she'll have it for years to come. 

Stacking Rings

What a difference a week makes! When I gave Tali stacking rings a week ago, she gently removed the top one (red) and placed it in her mouth. When done, she gently placed it down then took the next one (orange) and so on. She played in a very polite, girly way. Two days ago, this is how she played with the rings.

First Baby Pool Experience

When: Yesterday

Where: Our back porch

Details: Since Tali had such a traumatic experience the first time we put her in a swimming pool, I decided that it would be best to start her off in a baby pool. Now that she's sitting very well I figured it was time. I bought her an inflatable pool (easier to store) with a top to shade her from the sun (she's not a fan of sun hats). Her pool arrived on Monday evening and I blew it up on Tuesday. When I first put her in the pool, she cried (of course).

Then Jackson came over and drank some of the pool water. That calmed her down and she played with the elephant bath toys that I put in there for her.

Next, I gave her a flower (attached to the sides with velcro) to play with.

After playing with the flower, she figured out that the mushrooms are also toys.

She stayed in the pool for about 15 minutes, until it was time to walk Jackson. While she didn't love it, she didn't hate it. I might put her in again today.

Toys: Jackson vs. Tali

When we first had Tali, H and I were very concerned about Jackson taking Tali's toys. We put away most of Jackson's soft toys so he wouldn't confuse his with hers and gave him ropes and plastic toys. Jackson figured it out quickly and has his soft toys back. He stays away from Tali's toys unless she's spit up on them (he likes to lick it up - gross!). What's more difficult is keeping Tali away from Jackson's toys. She likes to roll around on the carpet and as she's rolling she'll get to his toys (intentionally?). Sometimes she'll play tug with him and other times she just wants to put his toys in her mouth. Today she landed near a plastic jack with a rope inside. Intrigued, she grabbed the toy and brought it to her mouth. When I took it away from her she screamed and screamed! It was not fun. Wonder if we could teach Jackson to put his toys away when he's not playing with them.

 

Jackson with the source of one of today's meltdowns.

Goodbye swing

Yesterday I brought Tali's swing to our storage unit. It's a big milestone for her. The swing is where Tali took all of her naps for the first five months of her life. It's also where she slept some nights when I just couldn't get her to stay asleep in her crib. It went through a lot of batteries and a lot of tears (mostly hers, sometimes mine). She's finally outgrown it (in age, not in size - she still fits into some 0-3 mo. clothes so the swing was definitely not too small) and it was time to put it away. In it's place is the Exersaucer. Now when I need to do something in kitchen, the rocking and lullabies of her swing are no longer there to soothe her. In its place are the bright lights and kiddie tunes of her new favorite toy.

Tali in her swing, 3 months old

Exersaucer

About two weekends ago, H put the Exersaucer together for Tali. This was by far the most complicated toy that he has put together to date and I was a little worried that she wouldn't like it. There's so much going on with this toy that I feared over stimulation and complete meltdown as soon as I put her inside. Luckily, I was wrong. She LOVES it! There's so much for her to do that she can stay entertained for quite some time. This thing plays music, has flashing lights, spins, bends and rattles. If only it could feed her, I'd be in heaven. Now she can finally have some independent play time in her room.  Thanks, Evenflo!

An Important Lesson for Tali

Dear Tali,

I've been meaning to write you a letter or two on this blog but never seem to have the time or know what to say. So this will be my first. Today, you learned an important lesson that I'm sure will stay with you until your teen years: go to the toy store with Daddy. Yes, when Mommy goes to the toy store she has a goal (and a list!) and gets what she needs and leaves. But when Daddy goes to the toy store, he spends two hours playing with everything and picks up lots of extra toys for you. On this trip we went to purchase a high chair but left with a lot more. You got six toys - from stacking rings to a percussion set - and Daddy also bought some candy. I know you are too young for candy but I will warn you now - Mommy isn't going to buy you candy very often. Daddy will probably be your go-to parent in that department. You'll come to Mommy for food, comfort and many other things. But bat your pretty blue eyes at Daddy when you want to be spoiled at the toy store.

Love,

Mommy

PS I promise to write a more serious letter next time. 

One of Tali's new toys.

Another new toy.

Bad Mom

At least once a day I feel like a bad mom. There's always something I did (or didn't do). So in an effort to give Tali more fodder for her therapist when she's older, I am going to start a series of "Bad Mom" posts. Feel free to share your own!

Bad Mom - Toys

I regularly forget to bring toys for Tali when we go out. I can't count the number of times I've been caught in a situation where the other moms have toys for their babies and I don't. This past weekend we got together with some friends who have an 11-month old and Tali played with some of his toys. Also, I don't seem to know about/have purchased the good toys that all the other moms have. She doesn't have rings or balls yet. 

In my defense, at this age I can hold Tali's attention for much longer than a toy can. But it's time I did some toy shopping. I think I'm going to buy some "travel toys" that will just stay packed for when we go out. Then I won't look so unprepared.

Tali's New Favorite Toy

Tali's new favorite toy is my hands. She's fascinated by them and can they will entertain her for quite some time. She'll hold various fingers. She'll caress my hand. She'll grab my rings. Sometimes she'll pull my whole hand close to her face for an up close examination. Other times, she'll try to put my fingers in her mouth. When playing with my hands, she'll switch between a serious/studious look and a smile. I wonder if she understands that these are just like her hands (which she also plays with and puts in her mouth), only bigger. Regardless, it's fun to watch her play.