New Talents

Since I started watching Jackson Daniella has become more curious about her surroundings. She is exploring every area of the apartment she can.

One of her new favorite things to play with is the DVD shelf. She discovered this the first day Jackson came and I was a little worried that she would fall from taking DVDs off the shelf, so I kept helped her sit down a few times so she wouldn't slip. I think this partially encouraged her to try harder to stand and get the DVDs off the shelf. She pulled about 6 DVDs off and dropped them on the floor the first day. Then a couple days ago she was able to take a DVD off, look at it and then place it back on the shelf between the other DVDs. It was on it's side, but still back where it belonged. I was very impressed.

Daniella has a passion for making music. She loves the piano, keyboard and organ and even enjoys the guitar on occasion. She is fascinated by the new CD player in her room and is desperate to learn how it works. Recently, she has found a few new sounds she can make with her own body. She blows raspberries on my belly. She takes one finger and tries to wiggle it between her lips while vocalizing. When I read her "From Head to Toe" and talk to her about the gorilla and how it pounds it's chest, she will say "Ahhh" while I pat her chest for her (Similar to Tarzan). Then yesterday, while I was trying to feed Daniella I lightly patted Jackson's chest to calm him down. Daniella saw me do this, stopped eating, looked at Jackson and said "Ahhhhh" as if to tell him what he was supposed to be doing.

Yesterday Daniella discovered that she can use almost anything as a walker (the kitchen chair, her bumbo chair, her incrediblock, etc.). I was impressed because she first uses the item to stand without pushing on it at all and then lowers her torso and gets her back into the push to make it go. I'll add pictures after I get them.

Today Daniella was able to stand by herself for about 7 seconds. She even stooped down to pick up a toy and stood up for a couple seconds all without support. She seems to do all of this without really thinking about it and it I don't think she realizes what she is capable of yet.

Keeping Busy

I recently started watching my friend's son, Jackson while she goes back to work. It is a challenge to take care of two children under 1 year, but it is also rewarding. Jackson is a fairly mellow little boy with lots of smiles, cuddles and cooing. As long as he is well fed, rested and clean, he is generally happy.

Daniella is fascinated by Jackson and is very concerned whenever he cries. The week before he came to visit, Daniella's favorite babble word was "Dude" which she used for everything and would often say quite distinctly "Hey Dude" when looking at her Dad. Now, we talk about the "little Dude, Jackson" who visits during the week.

Jackson's second day visiting with us he saw Daniella get up in her pajamas and frizzy hair and this is the look he gave her.

Daniella loves to come and sit next to Jackson or lie next to him while eating so that she can check up on him easily. He also takes a few swings and kicks at her when she is close. So far there have been no injuries from either baby and I hope to keep it that way.

Eight Months!

Pictures

After talking with my sister, I realized I needed to post more pictures and videos for my family. I have not been as good at taking pictures as I was a few months ago, but here are a few favorites from the last 2 weeks. I'll try and post more soon.

Daniella just discovered her butterfly rocker. It helped keep her still for a photo shoot.

She thought the wings were fascinating-

Kissing the butterfly-

I love this hair!

I've mentioned before how Dani's hair is changing colors and many people have recently commented on how blond she now is. She still has the dark ends, but most of her hair is now blond.

Last week I was able to put her hair up for the first time into pigtails. The only trick was to keep her still enough to take a picture.

After her baths I like to play with Daniella's hair. Just the other day I noticed that I could curl her hair by wraping it around my finger and her ringlets would stay. So, here is her hair all curled at bedtime.

Clapping

While visiting my parents I was able to video Daniella clapping, but I never got around to posting it. About a week ago, however, I was able to get this video. Though she is not always compliant to my requests, I can tell she now understands quite a bit.