4 posts tagged “talking”

We have spent the week recovering from a nasty flu bug - chills, fevers, coughs, the full deal.  The joys of winter in Dunedin.  Actually the weather's been very pleasant since the snow - calm, mild, and sunny - but it's undeniably winter and that's a shock after three years of perpetual summer.  My neighbours have flown off to Rarotonga for two weeks in the sun, leaving me to collect their mail.  I envy them their tropical island.

Hanging out in front of the fire with Petra brings its own satisfactions however.

We're witnessing one of Petra's periodic developmental leaps.  She sings, she dances, she runs around. She sticks stickers on the walls and draws on her feet.  She spends ages quietly absorbed in putting things in other things and taking them out again.  Her language acquisition proceeds at a dazzling pace.  She walks around the room pointing at objects, waiting for us to name them, and repeating the names after us.  She says "look" and "hello" and "up please".  She takes our cellphone and walks round the lounge talking and laughing into the aether.  She's very cuddly.  Leave takings are lengthy affairs because she works her way round the room kissing, and often rekissing, everyone.  She likes to fall asleep at night with her arms wrapped around my neck and her face on mine.  I enjoy that as well - I get to breathe in her baby smell and kiss her soft baby cheeks as she dozes.

She's also revealing her inner egomaniac these days.  Olivia came to stay a couple of weeks ago and Petra was a thug baby with her.  I gave Olivia a drink in a purple cup because Miss O is very very keen on purple and Petra stole the cup, hugged it to her chest and handed Olivia her own, much less desirable green cup.  I had to find another purple cup for Petra to avert a tragedy.  Petra's also discovered that she elicits all sorts of interesting reactions if she pulls Olivia's hair or pokes at her.  I spent a lot of time soothing Olivia's wounded feelings while trying to convince Petra to be gentle.  They did play nicely as well, as long as I hovered nearby to deal with potential trouble.

 

I'm mustering up the courage to attend a nearby playgroup to give Petra a chance to socialize with other kids her own age.  I fear that it will be a nervewracking experience as Petra tests her edges against the other kids.

Petra's gotten increasingly difficult to take photos of because she's on the go all the time.  I have lots of blurred images of a speeding baby and many many pictures of the back of her head or of half a face as she turns away or walks out of shot.  But every now and then I fluke something cute.

Petra's had another of her growth and development spurts.  The temper tantrums are a wee bit more full-on now - she yells and tosses things away and has even flung herself down on the floor a time or two all the better to wail and gnash.  She's pretty easily diverted though and is usually happy again in a couple of minutes.

She can run now and walk on tiptoe, and turn in circles and walk backwards.  She's devised a dance which involves lifting her arms over her head and lifting one leg in exaggerated stepping motions - she looks like a crane or a heron or some such stately gangly bird.  She climbs into and on and over things, which occasions me some worry, but so far she's unscathed.

And she's copying us very hard.  I had chicken katsu this evening.  I dipped it into the yummy plum sauce Jizo's provide before eating it.  Petra had her morsels of chicken and dip dip dipped each bite into a handy (and empty) cup before she ate it.

She's getting wonderfully snuggly as well.  She hasn't been particularly demonstrative until now, but she's started coming over and planting wet, open-mouthed toddler kisses on me.  The first time she just walked over while I was minding my own business (I was talking to Carla on the phone) and mashed a kiss on me quite unsolicited.  It's very very sweet. 

We were lying on the bed the other day having a wee wrestle and she rolled over to put her face on my bare stomach.  She did it a few times, giggling all the while.  I wasn't sure what she was up to, but she eventually managed to make a raspberry sound on me, which was just the most hilarious thing ever, for both of us.

Petra's not a big talker yet, but she's learning the value of using words to communicate what she wants.  She says "ta" when she wants you to hand her something and occasionally manages an "up" to go with her upraised arms when she wants picked up.  She's started calling out "mum, mum" when she wants out of bed instead of crying for attention - now that's a change I really appreciate! 

She says thank you.  And "hola hola hola, hello hello hello" to uncomprehending passersby when we're out.  She said "chao" to Nanny the other day as well, just as clear as you please.  So she's picking up bits of Spanish to go with her English words. 

She also has her own versions of "here you are" and "what's this?" which are part of her current favourite game.  She hands things to anyone who will take them and we all hand them back.  Sometimes her hands are empty but she goes through the handover routine anyway.  And sometimes she offers the object then moves it back at the last minute.  It's fascinating to watch. 

I haven't written a Petra update for months and a lot has changed for her recently.  She's walking now, running almost in fact.  We've started the toddler promenade - baby wandering along in front, parent or parents walking behind ready to grab her if required.  She was so proud of herself when she took her first steps and as she became increasingly steady on her legs, able to twist and turn and bend.  Now she's an old hand and takes her skill for granted.

In fact she's moved from walking to climbing.  Just yesterday she managed to get her knee up onto the window seat and drag herself up.  She was pretty chuffed about it too.  Every chance she's had since then, she's been up, walking around on the seat, looking out the windows, and throwing little temper tantrums if we lift her down.

Tantrums are another of her new achievements - she stamps her feet and yells if she feels thwarted or frustrated - which may make the next few months a bit hectic for me and Travis!  The shows of temper are just one aspect of Petra's increased emotional and social range.  There's much more of her (again) than there was a couple of months ago.

She's still not saying many words - mum, dad, hola, hello, lala (for Carla), ta, up - but she understands quite complicated sentences and ideas.  Carla asked her to give a doll to Olivia "ta for Olivia, ta for Olivia," and she turned away from Carla and walked across the room to give it to Olivia.  If I say "where's Daddy?" Petra goes in search of Travis.  The lack of vocabulary doesn't affect her ability to communicate her desires either.  If she wants me to feed her, she finds the breast feeding pillow and drags it over to me, puffing and panting as she goes because the pillow is bigger than she is.  She asks Travis to feed her by standing in front of her high chair.  She brings books and toys to us if she wants us to read to her or play games with her.  And she's forever handing us hats and headbands to put on her.

She's also mimicking us more these days.  Travis sat on the window seat last night to drink a bottle of beer in the sun.  Petra watched him for a moment or two, then disappeared into the hallway.  She came back with one of her water bottles and climbed up beside him to have a companionable drink.  And now the window seat is a designated drinking spot - she was up there again today with her water bottle.

 

Petra's 8 months old today.  We took her to see the pediatrician as a special treat.  She's getting bigger and bigger, gaining a steady 100 grams a week, and is now 8.4 kg.  She's 69 cm long, growing at the rate of about 1 cm a month - way down from the astonishing growth spurt of the first few months, but still on schedule.  She's sitting just above average on the growth curve.  Each time he sees her the pediatrician says, "she's big", "she's doing great" and she is.  She's happy, plump, and healthy.

While we were waiting to see Dr Pacheco, a woman came in with her toddler and a week old baby.  He was tiny, tiny head, tiny curled feet and hands, tiny little legs.  I can't remember that Petra was ever so small.  But she was.  The baby weighed 3900 grams at birth, about 400 grams heavier than Petra's birth weight.  How did we manage, I wonder?  How did we dress and carry and feed such a little creature?  But manage we did, even though neither of us had any experience with newborns.

Petra's very far removed from those first few days and weeks now.  She's mobile, observant, lively, and busy, busy, busy.  She has two teeth and more are on their way, top and bottom.  She's eating more solid food, although boobs are still best.  She's getting bolder with her crawling, making her way into the office and all around the lounge (and finding dust and dirt everywhere she goes, unfortunately).  She says dad dad dad and mum mum mum and it's now clear that she means Travis and me by those sounds.  Travis gets conversational chatty dads; the mums tend to come when Petra wants food, sleep, or comfort.  It would seem that Travis is for play and I'm for work - I'm intrigued that she sees such a clear distinction between our roles.

She's a much more complex character now.  She observes and mimics us.  Today she got her bib and wiped my chin for me, just as I wipe her.  So cute.  I can't wait to find out what she's got to say when she starts talking.  We have so much more to find out about her.