the last time i was out of the house was to take nissa to the doctor's office for her follow up H1N1 flu shot. fortunately it was only with a nurse, so i didn't have to pay the copay and it was very fast. to my relief, nissa had all of about 30 seconds of crying in response, then was completely a-ok. even when we walked next door to get blood drawn for her iron test, she only had a brief "what the heck" moment, then was back to her normal self. she's one tough cookie, that one. and it's good to know that when she's not getting 4 shots in one visit, she can be consoled without going to the breast. . . i'm firmly thinking of my exit strategy at every turn!
we're chalking up nissa's wakeful nights from last week to a new tooth on the scene. it's on the bottom, on nissa's right of the two that are there. this will be the first solo appearance! all 6 of her current teeth arrived in pairs. i'm still working on capturing it, and her 2 new ones on top on film, but no such luck just yet. it was an amusing adventure to try and show grandma and grandpa g with the webcam- they had to stay alert and i ended up with a slimy finger, but i think we got the message across.
nissa has taken such a liking to her climber, it really makes me happy we made the investment. we set it up in the front room, mostly because that's where it was delivered to and i had to set it up immediately. it was like a compulsion. nissa insists on climbing up every time she's in the room with it and even just today, when given the opportunity to crawl freely upstairs, made a bee line straight for it as i was picking up her room before putting her to bed (i'm hoping to lead by example on that one- putting toys away before bed. . . nissa helps sometimes). in the dark, she cralwed straight through to the climber and was most of the way up the stairs when i caught up to her and turned on a light. i love that she's not afraid of the dark! until recently, she would crawl up, then bop around on the landing until i offer or she asks to slide- where i put her on her bottom and she pulls herself (holding my hands) to slide down. she can sit, but doesn't always do it by request, so hasn't figured out the advantage to doing so for the slide. anyways, the last 2 times we've climbed she's gotten herself down from standing on the landing and pushed herself backwards (belly down, feet first) down the slide. she really seems to like it that way! i think she appreciates being able to do it by herself, and i like that she's found a reasonably safe way to enjoy the slide. not like her insistence on climbing up the slide, or standing on the rocking chair in her room! man, the latter gives me a heart attack every time. she's only fallen over once while climbing up, but i dread the day that it happens. oi. to be the mother of a monkey.
my little monkey is also a little tough girl. the other day grandpa a told me a story about how nissa dragged her carseat (she's still in the carrier-style) from the door to the couch in their front room. that's the length of the room! she just decided it was time to move it and did it all by herself- which is no small feat, since the carseat is not exactly light. she tried picking up her music activity table the other day too. still not sure where she was planning to go with it, but she was determined! sometimes she even seems to walk better when she's carrying something. guess she needs the distraction?
nissa's independence is also carrying over to the dinner table. every night we eat as a family at the dining room table with nissa in her "my little seat". i usually give her her food on a plate (thank goodness for corelle) and let her feed herself. of course, this means a) we all eat better so nissa can eat healthy and b) i usually make something i that lends itself to being cut into little pieces. i've been giving her a spoon too (real deal) to get her used to that. 9 times out of 10 this means being serenaded by a clanking melody (dad often chimes in), but i try to recommend eating with the spoon, instead of hanging. just like i recommend drinking the cup contents instead of spilling it out, or leaving the food on the plate unless it's going to her mouth; but it's just a recommendation. . . clearly. anyways, nissa will occasionally "use" the spoon, with little if any luck. today, as we enjoyed some paprikash, nissa successfully navigated some noodles onto her spoon, then into her mouth! the bite was a bit big for polite standards, but i was so impressed by the effort, i didn't mind. i'm sure she'll get the hang of it soon enough, but i know it'll be slow when she can just grab food with either hand and shove it in.
another talent that is slowly taking form is nissa's language skills. we are mostly at a grunt-and-point level of communication, with food, drink and being held being the most commonly requested items. i've tried (inconsistently) to use sign language, but with the exception of done/enough, it doesn't get used much. i do try to make a concerted effort to narrate activities in anticipation of the words coming soon enough. the other day we were playing with a winnie the pooh themed toy and i pointed out tigger. i swear she said "tigger" right after me. and grandma a swears nissa said "grandma" after she said it. who knows. we'd like to think it happened. but the coolest thing this weekend was watching nissa "read" while on the changing table (the latest effort in changing distraction) when she looked me right in the eye and said "momma" as if she was telling me something about what she was reading. i think she meant it that time. usually "mama" means "i want something" or "pick me up". it rarely means me.
wow. i got it all in. excellent. i'm glad that i find the time to do this once in a while. i'm full of cute little stories about what my lil' pumpkin is up to, but i forget them soon enough and with my brain as lacking as it is, i need something to track them until she's old enough to appreciate them too.
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