Genevieve 101: 26-50

26. You have started walking backwards.  I think this began when I showed you how to pull a toy squirrel your Great Aunt Carolyn gave you.  You are too young to do this well, but you love it when you can get it to work as demonstrated by your high pitched squeal. 
27.  You said thank you and used the sign for it for the first time 5/14.  Now you say it all of the time.
28. You also now say "all done" very clearly and make the sign for it, but you don't exactly understand the full meaning.  You do get your point across at times though. 
29. You have been trying to say out, on, off, open (oh oh), baby, bye bye, and some other things I am surely forgetting.  You already have a b/d confusion as most things sound like dada (bye bye, diaper, and baby). 
30. At the time I began writing this (a week ago) you had just gone through wonder week 64 and were eating normally and playing more independently.  Sometimes you can be independent, but most of the time you want my attention, even if I'm just sitting in the same room as you.
31. You want to watch TV (sigh).  You point to the TV set, make the more sign, and sometimes grab the remote control.  You like pushing the buttons and making something happen, which usually involves an increase in volume. 
32. Your Scout walker toy plays a song that says "Would you could you feed me a treat.  ..."  When I sing the first part of the song (or even just hum it), you do the panting sounds.  I couldn't believe it the first time you did it!  
33. You, my dear Genevieve, have been fake crying a lot to get what you want. 
34. When fake crying doesn't work, you give kisses to get what you want. 
35. You love getting into the fridge!  The first time you used the word open was when you wanted me to open the door to let you get in. You will sit, stand, move things around, and put your toys inside.  I found your baby in one of the bins one day, and you put a book under the bottom bin (that was very tricky for Daddy to remove). 
36. Without fail, you always want my spoon or fork when I'm eating.  You will not usually settle for your own spoon or fork.  I admit, I give you my silverware. 
37. You want me to swaddle your baby, and then you make me sing "Rockabye Baby" while you rock her.
38. You sing sometimes.  Your voice is breathy and soft and you make different consonant/vowel sounds.  Sometimes you even sing "down, down, down". 
39. When you start singing, sometimes you point to me and make the more sign.  That means you want me to sing a song to you.  Right now you are OBSESSED with the Itsy Bitsy Spider and sometimes even do the hand motions for "down came the rain". 
40. About a week ago, you wanted to lay a blanket out on the floor so you could lay on it.  You had trouble getting it laid out.  You got frustrated and started scrowling (screaming/growling).  I laughed at you, and then I helped you.  You got this idea from Monica Brown at Connie's house last week.
41. Now that another week has gone by, you lay your baby and your stuffed animals on blankets on the floor.  You sometimes lie down with them and make snoring sounds for you and your "babies".  When I say the word sleep, you will often start snoring.  
42. I am beginning to doubt you will ever sleep through the night.  One night you woke up 4 times between 10:00 and 4:00 when I finally brought you to bed.  That's probably a pretty typical night.  I think you just want your mama.  Well, your mama wants you too...in your bed.  Asleep!
43. Two weeks ago, you stood on your tippy toes, reached up to the counter where the bananas were, and said "nana".  I had no idea you knew that word!  I hardly ever give you bananas because, well, um, they tend to "bind" people up.  Now, they are all you want to eat!
44.  You could've been bitten by a rattlesnake on the Monday before last, but thankfully the snake rattled and warned us first.  Daddy was pushing you in the jogging stroller ahead of Mommy.  Mommy needed to stop and take a drink of water earlier than normal because it was a little hotter outside.  It was dark, and there are lots of shadows on the sidewalk.  We saw the last snake before getting too close, but Daddy just couldn't see this one.  As soon as he heard the rattle, he pulled the stroller backwards.  The snake was in his strike pose, so we walked backwards and then far around him to jog back home. Tonight, we went jogging before it got too dark.
45.  You and Mommy have started sleeping in the guest bedroom together hoping that you and Daddy would sleep better.  So far, it hasn't worked.  I am blaming teething.
46.  You love picking up rocks at the playground.  You go to put them in your mouth but know you aren't supposed to, so you give them a little kiss and then look at me.  Stinker.
47.  You are teething like crazy right now!  All of the previous times have only been noticeable by you biting on everything, being a little cranky, and eating very little.  Well, this time you have all of that going on, but you are a great, big drool monster.  I know your top left molar is coming in, but I think your bottom eye teeth may be soon to follow.  You want to comfort nurse all. nigh. long. Oy!
48.  When someone tells you to smile, you give the cheesiest grin in all of the universe.  I love it!
49.  I bought you a pink hamper for your room, and I showed you how to lift the lid and drop your clothes inside.  At first, you thought it was great fun to open and close the lid over and over.  Then you thought it was the perfect place to put books.  Now, when I tell you to put something in the hamper in your room, you do so without any help.  You always impress me with your receptive language skills.
50.  We got you your first pair of real walking shoes at Stride Rite.  You have narrow feet, but narrow shoes are difficult to find.  We at least found a pair that fits your foot well, and you walk great in them!  They are so cute, and you like to carry them around, and much to your mama's dismay, put them in your mouth.  You also try to put them on, and you usually like to help me put them on you.  You are such a big girl now!

Every single day I come up with more things I want to write about.  I don't want to forget all of these moments, no matter how small.  This time is flying by!    

Genevieve 101

My sister Rachel bought me a calendar for Genevieve's first year.  I was so great about writing down little observations, and at the end of the month I would fill in things she was learning, doing, saying, her sleeping and eating patterns, and her favorite toys.  I made a lot of entries until Genevieve was close to one year.  I have a few entries for January, but the whole month of February is blank!  I added a few in March, but I did not make note of her development at the ends of the months.  I thought I'd make a few blog posts about what's going on with my little monkey.  I'm going to try to come up with 101 observations, but we'll see how that goes!

Since her calendar entries are written to Genevieve, I'm going to follow the same pattern here.



1. You wake up happy and ready to go every morning unless, for some odd reason, Mommy has to wake you up.  That is very rare!

2. You have 11 teeth and are working on your 12th, your top, left molar.  I thought you were getting your eye teeth, but I'm not so sure now.

3. You love to dance!  Whenever you hear music, you have to move your body in some way (even in the checkout line at Wal-Mart).  You bounce up and down as if you are doing mini squats.  You shuffle your feet.  You occasionally clap your hands.  Mama and Dada love every second of it!

4. Daddy showed you how to make your stuffed animals dance, and now you do it on your own.  You are a funny kid.

5. You love playing with your baby doll.  You put her in her stroller.  You give her her bottle, and make drinking sound effects, and you carry her around.  Sometimes, you hug and kiss her, and once you gave her to me to nurse.  That was hilarious!

6. You are a good eater.  Right now you love broccoli, green beans, peas, and bananas.  You will tolerate a few bites of sweet potatoes, but you are rather sick of them.  You like apples, but they are not your favorite.

7.  I think you have issues with the texture of foods.  You will not eat eggs.  I've made them fried, and I've scrambled them.  At least you tried them, but you usually spit them right back out.  You also won't eat pancakes, and I don't think it's because they are gluten free.  You did at least swallow one piece.

8.  Going in your jogging stroller with Mom and Dad at night is one of your favorite activities.  You talk and make animal noises throughout the ride.  You love it when we give you the water bottle.  You wrap your legs around it, take drinks, and play with the spout - open, close, open, close.

9.  You are obsessed with animals right now!  You only want to read books with animals in it, and you make lots of animal sounds.

10.  You know the sounds for elephant (complete with raising your hand like an elephant's trunk compliments of Daddy), monkey, dog, kitty, lion, tiger, and cow.  You can also identify these animals in books and in real life.

11.  You are a good napper, thank the Lord.  We change your diaper and put your sleep sack on.  You pick out a story, and Mama reads it to you in the glider rocker.  Then you put the book back on your shelf like a good helper, turn out your light, shut your door, turn your white noise on, and nurse to sleep.  Mama lays you down in your crib, where you'll sleep for an hour and a half.

12.  We do the same routine for bedtime, but we brush your teeth and kiss Daddy good night before reading a story.  We also skip the sleep sack since you have jammies on.

13.  You are pretty good at church.  You like to shake and sometimes tear the song sheet.  You stand on the seats and look at the people behind us.  Usually people comment on how entertaining you were to them during mass.  You sometimes dance to the music, and you've just now started trying to escape by walking away.  You are mostly content to let me hold you when we stand up.

14.  You have figured out how to make the water come out of the water cooler.  The first time you did it, you were very surprised.  I had you help me clean up the water that was all over the floor.

15.  Now that you know how the water cooler works, you like to bring your cups there and try to fill them.  Mama usually helps you.

16.  You prefer to drink from cups or Mommy or Daddy's water bottles.  You are not so great at drinking from cups because you get in too big of a hurry, making the water pour all down your front.

17.  You are always constipated.  I wish you would have normal poops, but they always look like big rabbit poops.

18.  When Daddy comes home from work, you get so excited.  As soon as your hear the beeps from the alarm, you say, "Dada".  Then you stop whatever you are doing and walk to greet him.  You make him feel ten feet tall, and you make mama's heart melt when the two of you hug.

19.  You are testing things out right now.  You throw things on the ground, say "uh oh" and then look at Daddy or me.  You hit your fork on your high chair tray or plate.  You spill your water on the ground or on your high chair tray.  You pull on electrical cords and steal our phones.  Testing, testing, testing our reactions (and our patience at times).

20.  You wave and say "hi".  You also just started saying "Mama", and you use it quite frequently.  You say Dada, uh oh, ow, oh, u(p), down, and it sounded like you said thank you yesterday.

21.  You make signs for more, all done, bath, please (and you've figured out this gets you what you want most of the time), eat, and milk.

22.  You know how to kick things, but you're not very good at it.  Sometimes you end up missing entirely or just stepping on the object you were trying to kick.

23.  You just learned how to spin around.  When Mommy says "spin", you will do it.

24.  Mommy taught you how to wash your hands.  You rub them together quite nicely, and then Mommy helps you get the tops.

25.  You have your Mommy's hair.  We aren't sure the color, but the texture is all mine.  You have a few curls in the back, which we think are adorable.  As for the color, sometimes it looks golden.  Other times it looks brown or reddish.  You have blond eyebrows though.  Hmmmmm....

When I can, I will add another 25 things.  It might be awhile, but I'm sure I can think of them!