First Words

So, you can probably see why 16 years later, I still haven't completed the first journal I ever got... I am HORRIBLE about remembering to write, apparently even when it's online.

So, Little Chub is crawling all over the place now, and she pulls up to stand holding on to chairs, couches, sliding glass doors, toys, cupboards, etc, etc. She gets entertained the longest when she stands at the sliding glass doors though because she can stare outside and babble to herself about all of the wonderful things she sees dada dada da da da We're off to see the... Oh, wait. I guess that would be "does". Sorry, I couldn't help myself.

This brings me to another of her very cute behaviors. Little Chub has officially said her first words, about a week ago. What were they? "Hi Daddy!" Of course, seeing it written gives the errant impression that she spoke these words clearly, but if I had to write it out sound by sound (I wish everyone understood IPA!) it would be more like "Haee De Dee!" She actually had been saying it for a while before this, but we weren't positive she knew what she was saying, or that it was real, so we waited to make it official until last week, when it was obvious to us both that she really was saying the words. We were all lying on the bed, Little Chub and I had just woken up, and Daddy woke up a few minutes later. So Little Chub was by his face and smiling at him, and I smiled at her and I said, "Say 'Hi Daddy!' ". So she looked at me, smiled her little knowing smile, turned her head to look at Daddy, and said, "Haee De dee!" It was the cutest thing ever! Since then, she's only said it a few times, but we think she still says "Hi" sometimes. It's hard to tell because 'd' is in her babbles too, so we only notice if she repeats after me, which happens quite frequently. "Hi Daddy" is the phrase she probably hears more than any other (many times a day).

And then there are her babbles! Little Chub will sit staring out the window, or playing somewhere, and she'll switch into either a whisper, or a high pitched 'motherese' sort of voice and start making the cutest babbles I've ever heard! Sometimes she sounds like she's trying to sing (usually spurred on by hearing music somewhere) and--the one we love the most--dance! When she sees us pretend to dance (bob our heads back and forth or move to the beat), when she hears music, or when she hears steady rhythms, she takes her whole upper body and shakes it back and forth from hips up to the top of her head! When she does this, we say "Dancing!" or "Dance dance!"

Then, one last thing. Poor Little Chub is sick! She has a horribly stuffed nose, noisy breathing with a noisy chest and nose, and she had a fever the other night. We bought a vaporizer cheap from Target ($10) and that has helped a lot at night to help her breathe well enough to be able to nurse and sleep. We were a little scared at first because this is only the second time she has gotten sick, and the first time it has been more than just a stuffed nose. Her fever the other night was high enough that holding her was making me really hot! But, she seems to be sloping back down to healthfulness, so we're grateful that her illness wasn't anything more. We leave tomorrow for Tucson for Christmas, so hopefully she'll feel pretty good by then.

All in all, we think this age up to a little over a year is the best baby age, but maybe we'll change our minds as she keeps growing up!