Yay! Ahh Dahhhh!

M – There was a post all ready to be added here, but it was put aside today as a new, more time-relevant story came about. It turns out that Mango’s first intelligible (roughly speaking) words did not relate (no pun intended) to either one of us. Twas neither “Mama” nor “Dada” that the child spake to us. To be fair, she has used those sounds, but not in direct connection with either one of us. They were babbled used when scaling the couch, playing with her bear toy, crawling across the ground, etc. Nope, it was “all done’ (Ahh dahh) and was her indicating she had eaten enough and we were to clean up her smeared supper and take her out of her high chair. She even kind of waved her arms as yet another form of dismissal, as one might do to their servants. The words came about because at the end of every meal we would ask her if she was all done with her meal/food/fun. The ‘Mommy’ and ‘Daddy’ stuff was also done frequently, but not at predefined times where there was a predictable routine for her.

She still gets us with her charm though.

Wait for me! I'm just little!

M – This is just a continuation from the last post, as I did not find a picture of Mango that would show how determinedly she moves. As mentioned before, when she is focused on something, it is hard to distract her (well, not too bad right now, as she is still less than a year old.) Hope this picture does her justice. After all, this is the Mango we see every day . We think she still has such a cute scowl though.

Hi tall person. Will you carry me?

M – No breaking news story here, I was just reading the ‘thejuma” blog and it reminded me we should probably get Mango’s eyesight tested. We know she has a really long reach, sticky fingers, and bat-like hearing, but have yet to find out about her vision. From the way she chases objects (toys) about, she has excellent depth perception. Also, she is distressing fast. After all, if I can barely keep up with her  when she is barreling across the floor in a squealing rush to get away from tickling fingers (just to be clear here, I am also crawling); imagine her speed when walking. I doubt she will be content to just amble along. She’ll be careening back and forth at high speeds, oblivious to the many dangers (such as sharp table/chair corners/edges, people lying in her way attempting to slow her down, etc.) Crazy times to come. Talk about getting off topic here. I had planned on finding out when one should get one’s eyesight checked, but ended up going on about something else entirely. Sorry.

Hmm. *nibble, nibble*. Crunchier than bananas.

M – Well, while she dislikes certain foods, we encourage her to try new things. While inevitable, she decided to expand her horizons. She has added dirt (and a leaf) to the list of things eaten (just the once so far), thankfully to no ill effect.

M – Mango can certainly be fun, but she is also a handful and I have it from people who know (mothers), that life will not get easier in the forseeable future. Thant’s okay though, as we are protected by our innocence.

Lookit me! I'm standing!

She is just cruising along now – almost walking. When she sees something interesting and worth exploring, her eyes never waver as she crawls straight for it, even if it means clambering over objects (such as parent’s bodies) to get there. No accidents yet, but as mentioned earlier, she is almost toddling along. Right now she is comfortable holding our hands as she staggers forward and she does stand for brief moments with no support by herself. While it is encouraging to watch (evidence that she is developing normally), it is also a precursor of the havoc to come. After all, if she can already climb up onto the couch (and park benches)  with no assistance, when she walks we will have to hover beside her constantly, as there will be few limit for her. While we’ve already cleared off our tables and bottom few shelves of our bookcases etcetera (except for the few inches she can’t quite reach yet), I shudder to think of what we’re in for now. She’s been opening cabinet doors and drawers for some time now (I’m getting more agile as I attempt to keep closed anything that opens so she doesn’t realize how close she is to creating a whole new world of headaches for us.)

In the meantime though, she is starting to wave at us now when she sees us and loves ‘peek-a-boo’. It is also diconcerting to have her watch our faces from only a few inches away as we read a story to her on our laps. Fun for us and fun for her…

Look at all those people down there. Can we play with them?

M – About 2 weeks ago (now closer to 3), the fire alarm went off (not ours though). It has happened before, but this was at 4:00 a.m. Not the best time to be roused, especially when there is a child involved. It happened once before (in Mango’s lifetime) and she was surprising cheerful then. We made sure to test her hearing after that and she tested normal. Personally, I think she has ears like a bat. Typing here in the dark with her crib mere feet away has woken her more than once :O. *A side note – she has gotten wise to us and looks in our mirrored closet door to see if we are sneaking breathlessly (think commando) in the room to see if she is sleeping yet.*

I just put that preface in to say that she depressingly chipper at that ungodly hour. She was even full of smiles the next morning. I know she didn’t get that from me. I may be able to stay up late, but I really have to work at being sociable the next morning. Not her. Bed late, interrupted sleep, early morning, everything combined – and she is full of smiles and giggles. There are numerous times though where she should be tired out and asleep but isn’t. That shouldn’t be allowed, because she ends up waking up, hungry (usually) close to midnight.

Pumpkin fun.

M – Also known as Halloween, it is something I have not participated in for a long time. That may change this year though. Something in the rulebook about children states that as a parent, it is obligatory to engage in tricking and/or treating… So, to get in the spirit of the holiday, we went out to a pumpkin patch and took pictures. Since then Mango has been photographed in her Halloween costume, but that may come in a future post.

Do I look cool? When can we do this again?

She enjoyed the time there (not the actual trip in the car), and seemed perplexed by the straw. All prickly and not like grass at all. Fun times.

M – Just recently, we managed to visit more family. Someone there mentioned that Mango seemed to smile a lot less than he remembered, but all was forgotten when she did a sort of growl/snort thing which scrunched up her face. She looked so seriously at us, even while our eyes watered from laughing at how cute she can be – even without  smiles.

Grrr. I am woman, hear me roar (or maybe just snort).

 

This is just a picture in where she wanted to hold both her Oma and Opa (but her arms are still a bit short).

You are THIS far apart!

M – Our is a quiet one – in theory, less so in reality. However, Mango did have a chance to visit her grandparents recently, which everyone seemed to enjoy. A big bonus was the good fortune of her also being able to visit her great-grandfather. Even if she can be quite a handful at home, everything went very well during the visit. I know more rest was achieved during that week than the month preceding it, so life was good. Time keeps moving though, so the visit had to end. Everything seems to bend around her. People talk to us in the elevator, open doors for us, and more. Even the cat noticed a difference around the place while she was gone, as she meowed like crazy when Mango returned. Of course, she still stayed out of reach though – the cat may have been lonely, but that didn’t mean she planned to lose any fur over Mango’s return.

See? Only four Cheerios left. Wanna share?

M – Too tired to add much here, but I looked back and want to add a picture of Mango anyway.

It’s not like she hasn’t had this book read to her a dozen times daily and that what happens to the moon in the book will change, but she is still a bibliophile. She how hard she trying to see the next  page? It is almost like she is will it to turn. If we take too long, she almost falls out of our lap trying to see. Too cute.

This is so exciting! Wonder what happens next!