Miriam update
Jan. 6th, 2009 05:11 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
scottahillWe're back from our Christmas vacation; it's been three weeks since Miriam and I left (two since Jen did). I'm afraid that if I try to describe the whole trip this will never get posted, so I'll just give y'all a Miriam update.
Miriam...
* was good at opening presents, and generally interested in their contents, although her interest waxed and waned. She got lots of toys and books and whatnot, being the only grandchild on both sides so far, and we (barely) managed to get it all home, checking 6 bags in the process (fortunately Southwest doesn't charge for the first two bags per passenger, and Miriam was a paying passenger this time around-- way too big and fidgety to be a "lap child" anymore).
* has now been on five separate trips which involved flying, which means she's probably gone through at least 20 takeoffs and landings, none of which have bothered her in the slightest. I don't think I had my 20th takeoff until I was in college, or maybe grad school. She's a pro.
* has gotten somewhat taller over the break. She can now reach the doorknobs in our house, and actually opened one today (it was a lever-style "knob", not the traditional circular knob). We're talking about Phase Two of our childproofing now. :)
* has learned to say a whole bunch of new words: "up" (her favorite word now; she even says the p at the end-- although today she was saying "up" when she meant down: maybe it means "change my altitude, please!"), "mu-ee" (mummy), "da-ee" (daddy), "bah-ul" (bottle), "na" (banana-- her new favorite food apparently), "eye", "no" (nose-- she also knows "no" as in no), "mou" (mouth), "bocks" (blocks), "night" (as she waves on her way to bed). There have been other possible words, like "ma" for granma, "cap" for the cap of her bottle (which she likes to put on and take off), maybe "hair" or "ear", and "please" once or twice when goaded by her grandmother. I think I've heard her say "play" a couple of times. In short, she's learning a lot, and she'll even imitate things I say. She has been nodding her head a lot in response to questions, although she doesn't always means "yes"! (Ask her if she wants a bath and she might nod, but she definitely does not want a bath!) The one French word she might no is "do" for "dort" (sleep-- "fait do-do" is the equivalent of "go night-night")
* has mastered kissing: for a while she would just close her lips, press them against your cheek (or a stuffed animal, or the phone, or...) and go "mmmmEH!", but now she actually does it properly. She will also come up to me and kiss me spontaneously, which, when combined with calling me "da-ee", is very very endearing. (For the longest time she didn't have a name for either of us; we were apparently just "hey you!" :)
* can blow a note on my recorder consistently.
* will occasionally use a tissue to wipe her nose (an important skill since she had a cold for much of our vacation). She even managed to blow her nose once or twice, which she found very amusing.
* has mastered the "fake laugh", which she particularly uses when pretending to talk on the telephone. She will pick up a telephone (real or toy), hold it to her ear (usually with the numbers facing outward), and say "hello? eh? eh? bye!" and put the phone down and/or close the cellphone. Unfortunately, I can never get her to talk on an actual telephone to another person; she's more interested in pushing the buttons (incidentally hanging up on the other person). I need an old-style telephone where there are no buttons on the handset.
* loves "C is for Cookie", which I got off of YouTube today; she wanted me to keep playing it over and over. She liked "Rubber Ducky" too, but wasn't as thrilled with "I Love Trash" for some reason (she lost interest quickly).
* shows joyful recognition by opening her mouth widely and smiling, what I call her "Muppet smile". It's what we want to see when we come home!
That's all that occurs to me for now. :)
Miriam...
* was good at opening presents, and generally interested in their contents, although her interest waxed and waned. She got lots of toys and books and whatnot, being the only grandchild on both sides so far, and we (barely) managed to get it all home, checking 6 bags in the process (fortunately Southwest doesn't charge for the first two bags per passenger, and Miriam was a paying passenger this time around-- way too big and fidgety to be a "lap child" anymore).
* has now been on five separate trips which involved flying, which means she's probably gone through at least 20 takeoffs and landings, none of which have bothered her in the slightest. I don't think I had my 20th takeoff until I was in college, or maybe grad school. She's a pro.
* has gotten somewhat taller over the break. She can now reach the doorknobs in our house, and actually opened one today (it was a lever-style "knob", not the traditional circular knob). We're talking about Phase Two of our childproofing now. :)
* has learned to say a whole bunch of new words: "up" (her favorite word now; she even says the p at the end-- although today she was saying "up" when she meant down: maybe it means "change my altitude, please!"), "mu-ee" (mummy), "da-ee" (daddy), "bah-ul" (bottle), "na" (banana-- her new favorite food apparently), "eye", "no" (nose-- she also knows "no" as in no), "mou" (mouth), "bocks" (blocks), "night" (as she waves on her way to bed). There have been other possible words, like "ma" for granma, "cap" for the cap of her bottle (which she likes to put on and take off), maybe "hair" or "ear", and "please" once or twice when goaded by her grandmother. I think I've heard her say "play" a couple of times. In short, she's learning a lot, and she'll even imitate things I say. She has been nodding her head a lot in response to questions, although she doesn't always means "yes"! (Ask her if she wants a bath and she might nod, but she definitely does not want a bath!) The one French word she might no is "do" for "dort" (sleep-- "fait do-do" is the equivalent of "go night-night")
* has mastered kissing: for a while she would just close her lips, press them against your cheek (or a stuffed animal, or the phone, or...) and go "mmmmEH!", but now she actually does it properly. She will also come up to me and kiss me spontaneously, which, when combined with calling me "da-ee", is very very endearing. (For the longest time she didn't have a name for either of us; we were apparently just "hey you!" :)
* can blow a note on my recorder consistently.
* will occasionally use a tissue to wipe her nose (an important skill since she had a cold for much of our vacation). She even managed to blow her nose once or twice, which she found very amusing.
* has mastered the "fake laugh", which she particularly uses when pretending to talk on the telephone. She will pick up a telephone (real or toy), hold it to her ear (usually with the numbers facing outward), and say "hello? eh? eh?
* loves "C is for Cookie", which I got off of YouTube today; she wanted me to keep playing it over and over. She liked "Rubber Ducky" too, but wasn't as thrilled with "I Love Trash" for some reason (she lost interest quickly).
* shows joyful recognition by opening her mouth widely and smiling, what I call her "Muppet smile". It's what we want to see when we come home!
That's all that occurs to me for now. :)
