23 November 2006
Wow, we suck. Raina has just been astounding over the last few months and we've neglected to catalogue her adventures. Here goes.
Mommy and daddy play flag football on Sundays, and, since we're lazy cheapskates AND because Raina is such a great baby, we don't get a babysitter. Instead, we layer her up appropriately and take her along. Raina really enjoys hanging out with all the different people in the big expanse of land. The other MICDS compatriots are astounded by how quiet and attentive and laid-back she is. All the time. She's great. But the last day we were there was the one time that Raina cried. The situation was like this: Raina was eating her lunch in her stroller, while her parents played the game. Mommy looks over, sees a terrified Raina, and runs over. Apparently, an unleashed dog came over and took Raina's food: definitely out of her hand, possibly out of her mouth. Oh, man, was Raina ever upset and scared and emotionally scarred. She wouldn't let go of mommy and continuously said "no, no, no" when asked if she wanted to see the doggy again. Raina traditionally has been fascinated by pictures of cats but terrified of real cats; however, small dogs have been fine in person. Raina no longer will have anything to do with dogs in person, unless it is looking at them through a safe window. Instead she wants to watch and follow squirrels around. Admittedly, they are quite fascinating creatures and they do much more than cats and dogs. And they're not likely to steal Raina's turkey anytime soon.
Raina has grown a lot. Her body is all in proportion now: an even 75% in height, weight, and head circumference. We were slightly embarassed taking her into the doctor -- she had gained a LOT of weight -- but everything turned out fine. Raina's just growing into the big girl that she's supposed to be.
What's cool about Raina's growth is that she's capable of so much more physically. We went to the City Museum and Raina had a blast crawling around in the caves and playing in the ball pit. And when we go to the Dierbergs playground, she runs around like a crazed lunatic: climbing stairs, sliding, swinging, and peeking out of holes. She really loves it. And when we play outside, she wants to be an active part (mostly by claiming "mine" to whatever toy / implement the parents are using). She wants to rake leaves, and sweep the floor, and towel up wet messes, and run with balls. She also climbs up and down the stairs, without spotting, and can open up the majority of the doors in the house, including the fridge.
Raina is an avid communicator. As always, we're astounded by the vast quantities of information Raina understands in any given day. We can give her a command -- put your shoes next to the door, Raina -- and she totally does it. She responds to questions -- would you like to brush your teeth? are you hungry? -- and she seems to be a much happier kid because we can understand each other. On the whole, what she wants most from us is more milk or more books. We're happy to oblige with either.
Raina has obtained some pretty cool books over the last few weeks. There are "learning words" books -- in english and spanish -- with lots of images that Raina identifies. She's very talented in spotting all 12 spiders, or whatever the item is. It's also increased her speaking vocabulary. She's added milk, car, tissue, whoa, down, doggy, ball, and apple into daily usage. What's even more amazing is that Raina can transfer a rough sketch of an item, like mommy's ragtag drawing of a cat, and will immediately say "meow." But she doesn't meow with a bunny or a bear or a dog. She gets confused by pictures of pumpkins -- she calls those apples -- but, granted, mommy's pumpkins don't look like much of anything.
Raina gets excited about going to daycare each morning and she will willingly say "bye" before going to bed each night. Her only real complaint is Monday nights. The first day back at daycare, mommy stays late at work for nerd club, and then mommy wants to go to the ymca to work out. Raina emotionally dissolves most Mondays, but it's better when we say "raina, want to go to the y?" When she knows where she's going, she's much happier.
The grocery store is one of her favorite places. There's plenty to look at, they have car carts, which is always fascinating, and raina gets free samples of all sorts of things throughout the store. It's great.
Raina also is a puzzle master. She can do the same puzzle again and again; she thoroughly delights in getting the pieces in their rightful homes. Now that she's more expert, she will purposefully put the piece in an incorrect spot, look at a parent and say "no," we agree, and then she puts the piece in correctly. We're watching Raina develop compare and contrast skills.
The xmas tree is up and raina delights in batting at the ornaments, swatting at the lower tree branches, and just staring at the tree. We were skeptical of how raina would respond to it; it is a sure-fire winner. There have been occasions where raina was upset, and our solution was to show her the tree again. Immediate transformation in the little miss. Same happened yesterday regarding baby einstein. Raina is home sick with pinkeye and a cold and an ear infection and was feeling pretty miserable -- especially with mommy continously dabbing at her eyes or nose with tissues. So mommy popped in the video and raina was enraptured. She was visibly astounded by each 2-3 minutes segment and would turn around and smile at me periodically. She wouldn't even lean back; she wanted to be upright to see every little thing. So we watched an animated movie today, and she was excited about watching part of that too. And lego star wars. Raina likes animation. She does not like drama. We regularly watch the news and Scrubs and Raina pays those shows no attention whatsoever. It's interesting.
We continously marvel at what a wonderful person Raina is, and how lucky we are to have her in our lives. It's Thanksgiving, and we are so thankful for her and the family we've created.
Mommy and daddy play flag football on Sundays, and, since we're lazy cheapskates AND because Raina is such a great baby, we don't get a babysitter. Instead, we layer her up appropriately and take her along. Raina really enjoys hanging out with all the different people in the big expanse of land. The other MICDS compatriots are astounded by how quiet and attentive and laid-back she is. All the time. She's great. But the last day we were there was the one time that Raina cried. The situation was like this: Raina was eating her lunch in her stroller, while her parents played the game. Mommy looks over, sees a terrified Raina, and runs over. Apparently, an unleashed dog came over and took Raina's food: definitely out of her hand, possibly out of her mouth. Oh, man, was Raina ever upset and scared and emotionally scarred. She wouldn't let go of mommy and continuously said "no, no, no" when asked if she wanted to see the doggy again. Raina traditionally has been fascinated by pictures of cats but terrified of real cats; however, small dogs have been fine in person. Raina no longer will have anything to do with dogs in person, unless it is looking at them through a safe window. Instead she wants to watch and follow squirrels around. Admittedly, they are quite fascinating creatures and they do much more than cats and dogs. And they're not likely to steal Raina's turkey anytime soon.
Raina has grown a lot. Her body is all in proportion now: an even 75% in height, weight, and head circumference. We were slightly embarassed taking her into the doctor -- she had gained a LOT of weight -- but everything turned out fine. Raina's just growing into the big girl that she's supposed to be.
What's cool about Raina's growth is that she's capable of so much more physically. We went to the City Museum and Raina had a blast crawling around in the caves and playing in the ball pit. And when we go to the Dierbergs playground, she runs around like a crazed lunatic: climbing stairs, sliding, swinging, and peeking out of holes. She really loves it. And when we play outside, she wants to be an active part (mostly by claiming "mine" to whatever toy / implement the parents are using). She wants to rake leaves, and sweep the floor, and towel up wet messes, and run with balls. She also climbs up and down the stairs, without spotting, and can open up the majority of the doors in the house, including the fridge.
Raina is an avid communicator. As always, we're astounded by the vast quantities of information Raina understands in any given day. We can give her a command -- put your shoes next to the door, Raina -- and she totally does it. She responds to questions -- would you like to brush your teeth? are you hungry? -- and she seems to be a much happier kid because we can understand each other. On the whole, what she wants most from us is more milk or more books. We're happy to oblige with either.
Raina has obtained some pretty cool books over the last few weeks. There are "learning words" books -- in english and spanish -- with lots of images that Raina identifies. She's very talented in spotting all 12 spiders, or whatever the item is. It's also increased her speaking vocabulary. She's added milk, car, tissue, whoa, down, doggy, ball, and apple into daily usage. What's even more amazing is that Raina can transfer a rough sketch of an item, like mommy's ragtag drawing of a cat, and will immediately say "meow." But she doesn't meow with a bunny or a bear or a dog. She gets confused by pictures of pumpkins -- she calls those apples -- but, granted, mommy's pumpkins don't look like much of anything.
Raina gets excited about going to daycare each morning and she will willingly say "bye" before going to bed each night. Her only real complaint is Monday nights. The first day back at daycare, mommy stays late at work for nerd club, and then mommy wants to go to the ymca to work out. Raina emotionally dissolves most Mondays, but it's better when we say "raina, want to go to the y?" When she knows where she's going, she's much happier.
The grocery store is one of her favorite places. There's plenty to look at, they have car carts, which is always fascinating, and raina gets free samples of all sorts of things throughout the store. It's great.
Raina also is a puzzle master. She can do the same puzzle again and again; she thoroughly delights in getting the pieces in their rightful homes. Now that she's more expert, she will purposefully put the piece in an incorrect spot, look at a parent and say "no," we agree, and then she puts the piece in correctly. We're watching Raina develop compare and contrast skills.
The xmas tree is up and raina delights in batting at the ornaments, swatting at the lower tree branches, and just staring at the tree. We were skeptical of how raina would respond to it; it is a sure-fire winner. There have been occasions where raina was upset, and our solution was to show her the tree again. Immediate transformation in the little miss. Same happened yesterday regarding baby einstein. Raina is home sick with pinkeye and a cold and an ear infection and was feeling pretty miserable -- especially with mommy continously dabbing at her eyes or nose with tissues. So mommy popped in the video and raina was enraptured. She was visibly astounded by each 2-3 minutes segment and would turn around and smile at me periodically. She wouldn't even lean back; she wanted to be upright to see every little thing. So we watched an animated movie today, and she was excited about watching part of that too. And lego star wars. Raina likes animation. She does not like drama. We regularly watch the news and Scrubs and Raina pays those shows no attention whatsoever. It's interesting.
We continously marvel at what a wonderful person Raina is, and how lucky we are to have her in our lives. It's Thanksgiving, and we are so thankful for her and the family we've created.
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