8.9.17 - Clara and Jane tidbits

This morning in the nursery I showed Clara how the sun going through the blinds was making a light and dark striped pattern on the carpet. She started at the pattern without reacting for a moment, then whispered "Wow!" Very sweet.

Later the trash truck came by. I stood her on the toy box and she moved the blinds aside to watch as the truck lifted the huge dumpster and then backed up, turned around, and drove through the apartment complex parking lot. She was fascinated, saying "oh wow!" and "train!" over and over.

Jack and I both think Clara is making good progress with speech. In the last week or two I've made her a bunch of vocab videos for objects around the house; I did one video for each room. Now every room we go into, she likes to name the objects she knows, and she seems very excited about being able to do so. I enjoy it too, because it's another way for us to interact. Her favorite objects right now are clocks (probably because there is one in every room), fans (which she currently pronounces as something like "fi-at"), the soap on the bathroom sink (which she likes to carry around while repeating "soap!"), and, by far, the microwave. I think it might be her only 3-syllable word so far ("micwowafe"). There are other 3 syllable words and phrases but she usually omits the 2nd syllable ("raw chaiw" for rocking chair, "pow-tow" for tomato, etc.) She will say "micwowafe" over and over for, I don't know, 10 minutes at a time with increasing excitement. So that's her thing right now.

Making sure I'm watching her as she comes up the steps after getting home from Beth's.

She's also starting to use some action words (besides "jump," which she has been using consistently for a couple months). In the last week she's really grasped that "up" means we will usually pick her up. I'm starting to train her to say "up please" but so far she only manages to say one or the other. She's also, just in the last 2-3 days, started bringing me her sippy cup and saying "more" for more juice. This is major progress because we've been trying to get her to say "more" in context for months and it's finally happening. I just added an "open and close" vocab video to her playlist, so we'll see if we can continue the verb trend.

Elephant Hat.

Jane is as fat and smiley as ever. I can't remember absolutely, but I am pretty sure Jane is smilier than even Clara was. We are down to only one feeding in the middle of the night now, and I enjoy how she just yelps a bit (instead of full crying), and then once I go get her she is very active and squirmy and smiley. It's like 4am and she's just so darn happy to see me (probably because it means she's about to eat). She also seems more patient than she used to be; instead of crying until she gets some food, she just kind of squirms around as I get set up and then goes to it. It's so cool to watch little babies learn routines. I also enjoy how, at least for her middle-of-the-night feeding, once she's done eating she just passes out on my shoulder. Completely. Limp. And then she goes right to sleep in her crib. I don't think she's fussed going back down after that feeding in two weeks. Both of my girls have eased into sleeping through the night without much difficulty. We are very lucky!

Sleeping in my lap right after finishing eating.

I kiss Jane's cheeks over and over again all day long. Often I kiss them at such an angle that my nose is touching her mouth, and she tries to suck on it. I love the smell of her baby milk breath.

About once a day when I put her in the swing (because she seems like she's getting a bit tired) she'll start fussing. So I sit right in front of her and just monologue in a soothing voice until she falls asleep. I tell her all the things I love about her, which would make a mini joy inventory on their own. They usually include:

• her fuzzy head and button nose and Buddha cheeks and heart-shaped tongue
• her chubby arms and fatty thighs and big tummy and little butt
• what a good eater she is
• what a good sleeper she is
• her frequent smiles
• her coos and squeals
• the way she kicks and flails her arms when she's excited

Look at that fat neck!

Mom bought a bouncy chair for Jane and it's been very helpful. The routine now is for Jane to wake up in the morning, eat, hang out on the dining table bassinet, hang out on the living room floor, and then hang out in the kitchen in the bouncy seat. This rotation keeps her busy for 1.5-2 hours, and then usually she's ready for her morning nap in the swing for 1-2 hours. It's nice to have a schedule, and it's nice to have the bouncy seat because it adds more locations for her to sit and look around before she gets bored. Today I also put her in the bouncy seat in the nursery while Clara and I played with Duplos, and Jane just watched us and hung out for probably over 20 minutes. So helpful.

The girls and Jack Skyping with the Jacksons.

I also notice Jane will last longer (as in not fuss) in one location if Clara is home and if she can see Clara. Clara is pretty mobile and loud, and it seems to really interest Jane, who just stares and stares. So Clara is helping out even if she doesn't realize it. Sometimes Clara will stand in front of Jane (in her bouncy seat) and just say Jane's name over and over again while pointing and waving her arms around and doing her excited finger movements, and of course Jane just stares at her. I love it. I'm already so glad we have siblings.

Mom & Jane selfie