Since the baby book didn't go well, my sister suggested I get a calendar and keep track of when Nora took her first steps and said her first words. I kept that up for a few months until the calendar ended up lost in the couch cushions for a few months.
This blog is probably my next attempt at capturing those special moments and milestones. And given the date of the last post, we can all see how well that's going. Other friends with babies Nora's age have the best blogs! I wish I'd started one of those project 365 things so I'd need to post pictures every day but it seems wrong to start that at the end of June.
All of this is to say that I'm not good at tracking things.
Last week Nora and I were on the ferry home from having lunch & a sweaty walk on the Highline with a friend from out of town. A woman and her son sat next to us. She took out a container of bubbles to entertain her son. She realized the angle of the two strollers was blocking Nora's view of the bubbles and asked if it was okay for her to blow towards Nora too. Nora was thrilled to be spun around to join the fun. She clapped and excitedly exclaimed, "Bubble! Bubble!" My jaw dropped. I didn't know she knew how to say bubble! Talking about it with Travis, we realized we haven't been keeping track of when she does things for the first time. Chances are I've tweeted & posted pictures on Flickr of the major stuff but every day she shows us something new she's discovered and I'm afraid we'll forget.
We've been watching Baby Signing Time and Signing Time on and off for months. Each time we take a break and then go back to it, Nora has a communication explosion. New signs or words or both come spilling out of her. I have no doubt that the time she spent watching Baby Signing Time last week while I tackled our massive piles of laundry, was completely responsible for her learning the word and sign for bubble.
So in an effort to remember how quickly her language skills are developing right now, I present the list of Nora's words & signs.
As of 6/27/2011:
Mama (1st word)
Dada
Uh oh
Buh (Balloon)
Ball /sign too
Baby /sign too
Bubble /sign too
Papa
Dog /sign too, plus she recognizes a dog barking as being a dog even if she can't see the dog
All done /sign too
Moo (what we call cow's milk)
No (she's had the word but not the meaning until recently)
Kitty (when prompted)
Nite-nite (and points to her crib if we're in her room)
Down (sounds like dow)
Puppy
Signs only-
Milk
Eat
More
Please
Thank you
Bunny
Bird
There may be more signs we just don't recognize.
When asked where's your ___? she can point to:
Nose
Ears
Hair
Eyes
Toes
Belly
Other fun facts:
Nora does the hand movements for itsy bitsy spider if you sing the song, if she hears the tune or if she hears the word spider.
If you sing Baa Baa Black Sheep, she will chime in with "Baa Baa" when you start the 2nd line, like in a round. It's super cute.
