Our little lady

This week Sarah started carrying her doll around with her and playing with it. (She ignored it before.) She likes to push the buttons on her toys and start the music and then she will walk around in circles, her form of dancing to the music. We got a shape sorter and that is one of her new favorite toys. She also loves to go over to her books, make a stack, sit down, take one and flip through it and then grab another. She will go through several of them before taking the stack (2-5 books), moving to a new spot and repeating the process. She often will go to her rocking chairs with a book and sit there for a few minutes. She loves to climb into any chair she can, including our laps. She learned how to rock and will do that in her chairs and on her elephant. Unfortunately, she has also tried to rock in her car seat and was most upset when she kept banging her head.

We have been working on signing with her. Today she finally signed back milk (squeezing a hand together as if milking). Of course she could have just been asking for more, but we like to think positively. She loves to feed herself and will let us put the food on the spoon, but she gets to put it in her mouth. Cheese is her favorite food, followed by pasta, meat, fruit, crackers, peas and cooked carrots. She likes to take washcloths or wet wipes and dust the bookshelves, tables, etc. She tries to be a little helper and unloads the utensils from the dishwasher.

She runs every where and has no fears about going up the stairs, especially if she knows one of us is up there. Luckily, she still waits and calls for us to help her or take her down the stairs. We did finally get a gate, we just have to use it more often. She is so good and cute and will often come when called and hand us her treasures if we ask. In fact, when she wants to go outside she bring her shoes to us and then goes and tries to get our shoes too.

Catchup

So, I've gotten behind already. Sarah does keep me busy. Milestones--she started crawling Dec. 15 or 17 and now is cruising around everywhere. She loves to try and walk as long as she has something to hold onto.
We went out to Utah for Christmas and she cut her first tooth out there. Her second one came in the week we got back. We are waiting for the rest. My mom came out the second week of January because Brian was supposed to be in Denmark. She helped me unpack and organize everything and she was able to see Sarah stand alone for the first time.

Real food, babystyle

( Read bottom paragraph 1st) However, since Brian left for Canada on the 11th, we've developed a different system. As long as I keep the food coming fast enough, she keeps her hands under the table and plays with the tablecloth. So far squash and carrots are winners. She lunges for the spoon when I put it in front of her mouth. We will try green beans and peas next week. She also likes to share my bananas and the occasional Ritz cracker crumb.
Sarah has been eating cereal since October and most of it stays on her face and the bib with the few exceptions of when her hands have escaped. Usually I held her while Brian would feed her.

Halloween

So I'm still figuring out when and what to write. Sarah was a bunny for Halloween. We went to some nearby ward members and she had a blast. She loves being outside and seeing new faces. Every time I open the door she squeals and swings her arms and legs to express her excitement. She doesn't care what the temperature is, she wants to be outside. She is even excited to get in her car seat now because it means we are going somewhere.
We go to story hour at the library once a week and she loves to see all the other children. We spend more time looking at the other kids than listening to the stories. Yesterday Sarah and another boy her age started laughing together. One would laugh and then the other. They lasted almost 5 minutes. It was hilarious. I wish I had been able to video it.

Rolling over

Sarah has finally learned how to roll from her back to her belly. (She has been rolling onto her back since the end of July.) She started rolling over repetitively yesterday evening. Luckily, were able to get it on video. The sofa table leg and wet wipe container are her new favorite toys. She tries to wrap herself around the table leg and eat it. She also likes the noise the wet wipes make. It is fun to watch her playing on the floor. She is often rolling over or rotating her body 90 or 180 degrees trying to reach something. Other new skills, habits, etc. for this week include chewing on my finger and sucking her thumb (oh no!).

Intro

Now that we have Sarah I thought I would try this, so we will see how it goes. Sarah was born 3 June and has been a bunch of joy ever since. She definitely keeps us busy. She is now 4 1/2 months old, over 26 inches long, and weighs 14 lbs. She likes getting up on her hands and knees and rocking back and forth. She can also army crawl and rolls onto her back often. We have seen her roll onto her tummy but that doesn't happen very often. She has a high-pitched squeal that Brian attributes to me and loves to talk when she is excited.