new skills

madelyn has a few new skills since my last post. the first is captured in this video.

yes, she can open the fireplace doors now. luckily she hadn't gotten into the ash (until today that is). if i tell her "no" when she grabs a handle she will slowly let go and move on to something else.

Here is a list of her other new skills:

1. turning in a circle - she figured out how to turn herself in a circle over and over as a way to move across the room on sunday. she really thought that it was funny. and kept doing it again and again. she would basically sit, turn to crawl, and sit again - or something like that.

2. climbing over and under the same object - her climbing is getting a little out of control. she will not crawl under one side of a chair and then over the other side. or she got stuck with her hands and feet off the ground trying to climb over a shelf, under a little table. but she was able to get herself unstuck without getting too upset about it.

3. palming a volleyball - okay so the ball is about a third the size of a real ball, but still. she has taken a real interest in rolling balls lately. it started when we went to the "lotsa fun room" on friday with the ball pit and an oversized exercise ball they had. the video doesn't really show how well she can palm her volleyball because it doesn't usually take her so many tries. (she is also holding one of the newest items in her box of kitchen wares - the wisk. again, she likes to watch it roll and the rubber handle is a gum pleaser.




4. holding things in both hands - she really takes more of an interest in what she is holding and will hold something while she is crawling (instead of just carrying it in her mouth). she also likes to bang both objects together for extra noise and fun.

she is definitely a handful! and a new napping pattern has immerged. she now takes one nap from 10 - 1 and maybe a small half-hour nap at 3. this has made for a cranky girl at the end of the day and an earlier bedtime. she has been so ready for bed that she just folds over in my lap and starts sucking her thumb, no books and no nursing. i have to remind her to eat before going to sleep for the night! i guess it is just the nap transition.

one last note. i always jokingly call her "giant baby" but when i went to the doctor on monday he asked how old she was. when i said 8 months he did a double take and asked how tall her dad is because he was going to guess that she was 15 months! love.