Lucy is 19 weeks this week and is doing very well. She is a very happy baby who giggles and laughs nearly all the time (except bed time and nap time). She's figuring out how to play with some of her toys (listening to her play the same musical tune over and over is so much fun).
I'm sorry I haven't posted lately, but we had a death in the family. Racelin, our loving kitty died suddenly on Sunday night (around 3 a.m.). He had not been ill or indicated in any way he was sick. I woke up and fed Lucy around 1 a.m. I love him up and gave him food, which he ate. He was fine. At 3 a.m. I woke up again because I heard strange noises from the food of the bed (I actually thought Race was killing something) and jostled Major. He woke up and went to the foot of the bed where he just kind of froze. I could tell by looking at him that something was terribly wrong and jumped out of bed. Race was gone. The next day Major announced we were buying a house and moving.
We've spent an insanely busy week house hunting all over Lawrence. We have a great realtor who has held our hand and helped us a lot. We've picked our favorite three properties and begun the process of making offers and eliminating those that will not come down to where we want them in price. Major is in charge of this part of the process. We'll keep you updated.
Monday, March 29, 2010
Saturday, March 6, 2010
Sweet 16
Lucy is 16 weeks old this week and there are a lot of things to report. She rolled over from her tummy to her back last night all by herself. Of course, it was a huge shock for everybody (she immediately burst into tears she was so surprised). Not only was she not trying to do it, but I'm pretty sure she doesn't know how she did it, so it will be awhile before she does it again. Of course Daddy told Mommy to grab the video camera and I had to sit there for five minutes filming her explaining that she probably wasn't going to do it again. Daddy's enthusiasm for tummy time has increased about 100 fold though.
She makes distinct word sounds now (no not actual words, what linguists call phonemes or the smallest recognizable units of sound in a language...ummm yes I know I'm a nerd, but I had to take linguistic anthropology (it is one of the 4 fields). I knew it would come in handy for something). The key to understanding a language is recognizing its phonemes. Our brains do it automatically and the ability to do it develops in infancy (which is why she is starting to do it now...if you don't do it before 5 you aren't ever gonna). The hardest part of learning to understand a new language when it is spoken to us is picking up its phonemes (we have the skill once we can pick it up for our native language). The fact that she is making these sounds now is a huge, mega deal. She doesn't know what the sounds mean yet (just that they are distinct noises), but soon she'll start to recognize patterns (this sound always follows that sound). After that, she'll start putting them together to make words. Exciting times are ahead. In the meantime, when she starts to chatter at you, just mimic the rhythm of a normal conversation. It will help her figure out how people talk to each other. If you want to help with sounds use what they call parentese, it's that high pitched, slow speak that all parents of children seem to do naturally when they are around babies (apparently it is instinctual). Just for the record, throwing words at her in another language will do nothing. She has to hear the language spoken frequently to learn it.
It's true what they say, Mommy knows best. I've figured out a lot about Lucy in the short amount of time we've had together. I can tell from a single sound if she needs to be picked up. I know when she's hungry before she does. I can tell if she has gas from the way she moves her legs and know when she needs a nap just by looking at her. Daddy's not quite there yet, but he has some special skills of his own. Lucy is too big to be swaddled now. We did the sleeper sack for the very first time last night, and it was tough, but there is something about the way Daddy holds her hand while she lays in the bassinet that sure seems to calm her down and help her get to sleep. Mommy can't do it. Only Daddy has this ability (Mommy does have some sneaky tricks of her own to get Lucy to fall asleep). Of course Lucy sometimes wonders who Daddy loves more, her or Stephen Colbert (Mommy is going to unplug the TV tomorrow).
Gross Out Files --- Skip this if you don't want to know ---
The bacteria in her lower intestine are coming along nicely. You know what that means....ohhh da stinky pooh days are here.
Lucy has also developed a couple of new high pitched screams that are lots of fun. One is the universal I'm not getting what I want scream that all parents know immediately (it is a cross cultural universal by the way). She usually does this because she is frustrated, but don't try to help. Mommy made that mistake and it was ugly (how could you move Mr. Bug, I was trying to move Mr. Bug...). The other scream is the, wow I can make my voice do that, that's cool, scream that will make your ears bleed. Fortunately she can only do it a couple times before it makes her throat tired.
Well, more soon...
She makes distinct word sounds now (no not actual words, what linguists call phonemes or the smallest recognizable units of sound in a language...ummm yes I know I'm a nerd, but I had to take linguistic anthropology (it is one of the 4 fields). I knew it would come in handy for something). The key to understanding a language is recognizing its phonemes. Our brains do it automatically and the ability to do it develops in infancy (which is why she is starting to do it now...if you don't do it before 5 you aren't ever gonna). The hardest part of learning to understand a new language when it is spoken to us is picking up its phonemes (we have the skill once we can pick it up for our native language). The fact that she is making these sounds now is a huge, mega deal. She doesn't know what the sounds mean yet (just that they are distinct noises), but soon she'll start to recognize patterns (this sound always follows that sound). After that, she'll start putting them together to make words. Exciting times are ahead. In the meantime, when she starts to chatter at you, just mimic the rhythm of a normal conversation. It will help her figure out how people talk to each other. If you want to help with sounds use what they call parentese, it's that high pitched, slow speak that all parents of children seem to do naturally when they are around babies (apparently it is instinctual). Just for the record, throwing words at her in another language will do nothing. She has to hear the language spoken frequently to learn it.
It's true what they say, Mommy knows best. I've figured out a lot about Lucy in the short amount of time we've had together. I can tell from a single sound if she needs to be picked up. I know when she's hungry before she does. I can tell if she has gas from the way she moves her legs and know when she needs a nap just by looking at her. Daddy's not quite there yet, but he has some special skills of his own. Lucy is too big to be swaddled now. We did the sleeper sack for the very first time last night, and it was tough, but there is something about the way Daddy holds her hand while she lays in the bassinet that sure seems to calm her down and help her get to sleep. Mommy can't do it. Only Daddy has this ability (Mommy does have some sneaky tricks of her own to get Lucy to fall asleep). Of course Lucy sometimes wonders who Daddy loves more, her or Stephen Colbert (Mommy is going to unplug the TV tomorrow).
Gross Out Files --- Skip this if you don't want to know ---
The bacteria in her lower intestine are coming along nicely. You know what that means....ohhh da stinky pooh days are here.
Lucy has also developed a couple of new high pitched screams that are lots of fun. One is the universal I'm not getting what I want scream that all parents know immediately (it is a cross cultural universal by the way). She usually does this because she is frustrated, but don't try to help. Mommy made that mistake and it was ugly (how could you move Mr. Bug, I was trying to move Mr. Bug...). The other scream is the, wow I can make my voice do that, that's cool, scream that will make your ears bleed. Fortunately she can only do it a couple times before it makes her throat tired.
Well, more soon...
Thursday, March 4, 2010
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