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August-September 2004
Sitting Up
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My seventh and eighth months were all about sitting up. I
can now sit as long as I like without falling over. It's a whole new
perspective on toys! I can bend over and reach for them, put them in
my mouth, shake them, bang them, drop them, and—best of all—fling them away.
Sitting up also means that I don't have to lay down in
the bath anymore. Sitting in my bath [below right], I can happily splash the water, suck
on my washcloths, and play with bath toys. Baths are much more fun
now.
Finally, sitting up means that I can sit in a high
chair. Mine is still a little big for me, so Mom put a
phonebook under me, and it fits better. By the end of August I had eaten
rice cereal, oatmeal, barley cereal, squash, sweet potatoes, green beans,
carrots, peas, apples, pears, peaches, and bananas. I'm not a very picky eater;
I basically like anything they give me. And now that I've figured out how
to swallow this solid stuff, I'm a quick eater, too. (Also very messy
[below left]).
When I'm not sitting up, I'm rolling toward objects I
want or wriggling and squirming my way around the floor. (That is, I can move
sideways, but not forwards and backwards.) Next skill: crawling! |
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Bananas: lekker!
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Baby Parts/Baby Onderdelen
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Toes (piggies)/teentjes. Watching the 2004
Summer Olympic gymnasts this month with Mommy has inspired me to try my
own form of gymnastics: I can easily pull my legs all the way up to my
chest (or bend over while sitting up) and put my toes in my
mouth!
Score: They're a perfect 10!
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Eyes/ogen. My eyes are now hazel. People
say they are very expressive, and strangers often stop Mommy
and Papa to comment on them. The world is so full of many wonderful things
to see, discover, and watch!
Cheeks/wangen. My cheeks seem to attract lots and lots
and lots of kisses. |
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Hands/handen. My hands are always
busy: touching, grasping, squeezing, caressing, hitting, holding, and
simply wiggling. Even while I drink my bottle, my hands are still busily pinching
my toes, pulling on Mom's clothes, or poking my ears. I sometimes chew on my thumb, but for
sucking I prefer two or three middle fingers, especially for soothing
myself to sleep.
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Arms and legs/armen en benen. Since the doctor says
I'm in the 50th percentile for weight, I can't possibly be too chunky, yet
Papa calls me "Chubby Checkers" because of all the creases,
folds, and dimples in my arms and elbows, legs and knees. I like the Dutch
word for it: nestvet ("nest fat"). |
| Mouth/mond. Everything goes into my mouth
to explore; what better way to research taste, shape, texture,
temperature, and solidity? Because I cut my bottom front teeth this month,
chewing was also very comforting (and drooling was constant).
I love to make noise. I like screeching and singing and
generally exploring my vocal potential. I also hold long conversations by
babbling expressively, and my parents have heard both "ma-ma-ma"
and "a-da-da-da," although not in relation to them.
In the course of my oral experimentation, I have
discovered several different ways to make very wet, messy raspberries (especially
satisfying when I have food or milk in my mouth), and I have found that I
can suck on my tongue to make a
clicking noise.
Isn't a mouth a wonderful thing?
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