Ready or not - here I come!!
Strength and determination meets coordination.
First there was last week's crawl-and-flop and now she's actually able to get from a crawling to a sitting position and back again. This morning she also began a more efficient transfer of weight from her hands to her legs, meaning she can actually move one arm in front of the other. (Before the legs were moving separately but the arms worked in unison - hence, the "crawl and flop".)
Haha! You're in so much trouble Mum and Dad!
Moving on from just grabbing things randomly and stuffing them into her mouth, Daisy is also trying to stack, turn and pull things. She tries to put her cups in or one one another (not successfully but you see her thought process in action), turns the handle on her jack-in-the-box, and tries to pull open the drawers on the entertainment center.
Oh, and we also don't like socks. Having grown up, mostly, in summer heat, Daisy thinks anything going on her feet is just plain silly. She routinely pulls one sock off on her walks, usually her right because she finds that easiest.
Up-down-up-down. Left-right-left-right
Daisy is reaching for higher ground and trying to pull herself up. Using very little of our support, she can push up on her legs to get from sitting to standing. Once standing she wants to march around the living room, deciding her own trajectory, which is usually toward something that she can't have: favorites include any sort of paper and a coffee cup. She also likes to stamp on over to her toy box and pick out her own toys. She leans over, examine her options, and then carefully grabs the one that takes her fancy. I have to say, I'm all for the last development - it takes the guesswork out of whatever will keep her entertained!
A walker that isn't.
Outta my way, puppies!
Brandy brought over her daughter's old jumperoo a few weeks ago and we have been using it in the kitchen to allow us to make food as well as introduce Daisy into the dogs' territory. She started off by just moving around, back and forth, in it, more interested in interacting with the dogs than by actually jumping. Then she progressed to flinging herself around like a crazy chick and then she realized that, with the right amount of forward momentum, she could actually move the jumperoo forward across the floor. And so, the jumperoo has become a reluctant walker.
This weekend she actually made it between the kitchen counter top and the refrigerator, into the kitchen, then back through again (with a little guidance from mummy and daddy to avoid scratching the fridge doors.) Thankfully we don't have a real walker (and don't intend to purchase one) because she would be bouncing off of every wall for sure. Oy vey!
A feast for the senses.
Textures and sounds are of more interest now than they have ever been. You can literally see her little brain ticking away as she clenches her hand around something smooth and then moves to something with texture, similarly for something hard and something maleable. She'll move her hand back and forth from one to the other, examining the way each feels.
Daisy also seems to have an appreciation now for the different sounds things make when she bangs them together. She'll bang her cups together over and over again and then grab something soft and bang one of her cups against that, seemingly (at least to me) taking in the difference in the sounds she creates. (I see pots and pans in our near future!)
Houdini Baby
Although she has never much liked being restrained in anything - swing, bouncer, car seat, stroller, high-chair - Daisy has begun to move beyond simple complaining about her situation and on to finding a solution. She now intently watches you as you strap her in and then spends time trying to figure out how to either (a) unlock it herself or (b) wiggle herself out of it.
At a restaurant on Saturday night, she managed to twist and get her leg out of the high chair restraints, almost launching herself over the side. Fun!
Weekend Report Part One: Apples on the hill.
It's amazing how much more Daisy takes in now. Rather than being just a pure, excited observer of the the world around her, she is now trying to figure things out and find ways to participate. That makes it much more fun to take her to new places and show her new things.
This Saturday was my mum's birthday and so we headed up to Apple Hill for an afternoon traversing some orchards. For those of you that don't live locally, Apple Hill is literally a town of apple orchards and, in the fall during harvest, the orchards open up the gates and become mini theme parks for families: pony rides, petting zoos, face-painting, corn mazes, craft fairs, and pumpkin patches meet fresh-baked apple pies, turnovers, and caramel apples. There are around 50 orchards in a few mile radius (with a few wineries thrown in for good measure) and, if you so wanted, you could spend all weekend driving from one to the other. We only had a few hours in the afternoon (more than enough for a 6 month old) and so we hit two orchards: Apple Ridge Farms and Kids, Inc.
At Apple Ridge Orchards we fed goats and sheep (and I got bitten on the finger by one cheeky little lamb), marveled at moo-moo cows, laughed at bunnies, and got lots of carmel stuck in our teeth (the latter being Hubby and I, not Daisy.) At Kids, Inc., we ran through a corn maze, walked through the orchards, and picked out a pumpkin for Daisy's halloween pictures. Then, before we drove home, we stopped at a Bake Shop and bought pies and turnovers galore. All of which was quite enough for a Saturday afternoon with a 6 month old, let me tell you. Poor Daisy was a zombie all Sunday, bless her, although she was clearly having a good time.
Weekend Report Part Two: Swings and slides and paddles.
Despite not being as high in spirits as she usually is, we still managed to fit in a couple of fun, if more low key, activities on Sunday.
We started off by Grandad coming over to erect the swing and slide contraption that Nanny bought.
(Don't talk to Grandad about this unless you want a string of expletives... easy it was not!)
Later just the three of us went to Lake Natoma (minus camera) for a quiet (if expensive - $10 for parking!) walk around the park and along the water. We brought salads and sandwiches and enjoyed the absolutely perfect weather while watching ducks. We finished the day's activities by dipping Daisy's feet in the lake, which she enjoyed immensely, soaking her Dad and herself by splashing her feet around like a crazy child.
We definitely need to make it over there more, especially with the lovely fall weather and the fact that the place is less than 5 minutes from where we live. It's uncrowded, has gently sloping beaches, and beautiful picnic spots, not to mention it hooks-up with the Folsom>Downtown bike trail and so the walking opportunities are endless.
And so ended a lovely weekend...
More photos from Apple Hill, here.
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