Baby Business

Today the weather was lovely, low 40s and sunny, so Yelena and I went on a long walk. We walked over to Indian Boundary Park where they have a small farm zoo. I was into the 5 llamas -- they were mobile, expressive and gazing right at us -- but Yelena seemed more admiring of Beth, the 17 year old geriatric cow that was resting in the sun. Beth uttered a soft, low, "Moo," and Yelena responded, "Oooh." Coincidence?

Last week Yelena was decidedly refusing her rice cereal, turning her face away from the spoon at first sight, so I gave her a 3 day respite. It worked. Yesterday she took a few spoonfuls, aided by Daddy standing behind me and making encouraging faces. Today she took quite a bit more, not the whole amount I made, mind you, but her spoon skills are certainly improving. She may still have a bit of a tongue thrust reflex going on, but I'm not sure. It's not like I've fed a whole lot of babies their first solids. Anyway, the iron in the cereal has gone done made her poop turn green. Psychedelic.

She is getting much better at sitting up, aided by the boppy or having a finger or two rest on our hands for balance. The whole rolling over thing isn't happening right now, unless tipped, so I've decided to take her back to the crime scene of her initial rolls next week, Gramma and Sabba's house. Well, we're really going for a spontaneous visit, but I am hoping their magic carpet will prompt her to start rolling on her own more.

Her fine motor skills are progressing much better than the gross ones. It's so much fun watching her manipulate toys, passing them back between her hands and exploring them. Every week her hands work so much more efficiently than the previous week.

She still loves music, especially when I play fast, and appears to even differentiate between tunes when we play, displaying preferences (Oh Lady Be Good, Honeysuckle Rose and a Romanian folk song are currently at the top of the hit parade) and kicking at the same riffs each time they are played. Soon, Yelena will start the 17-week long Twinkle Tots class at the Suzuki-Orff School. She will just make the cut off, since it's a 6 to 18 month class starting on February 4. We're going on Saturday mornings before shul so Daddy can join us. Marsha and Rafi are going, too, so Yelena gets to see her big buddy and we have a friend with whom to share just how adorable kids banging on things can be.

Other than that, she's just really cute! She vocalizes frequently, adding new sounds and dynamics every day. She's very social and loves to look at and interact with her admiring public. She is now really into having books read to her. I can't see her so well when I'm reading to her on my lap, but Eli says she looks at one page and then the other. I see her smile at some pictures, too. There are a few books in particular to which she really responds: Busy Kitties and I Love My Mommy Because, the latter of which is illustrated with mommy and baby animals and is my favorite book, too, and not just because of the indoctrination of maternal love.