If someone where to have told me that I would have an almost one year old two years ago, I would have laughed in their face. I spent the better part of last year pregnant and in doubt of the impending journey Raul and I were goint to embark on. We already had JuanGa and had accepted that he would be our only kid! Here we are with a little lady who turns ten months today. She has so much energy that I was trying to figure out where she gets it from. I think if Daniela could be up 24/7 she would. Sometimes it seems that she gets enough sleep with her power naps of 45 minutes to an hour.
This month we had Jason move with us and he has been a great asset. He helps with JuanGa and if Daniela needs to be entertained, he steps up to the plate. He is another one of her Uncles that loves her dearly.
What we have noticed about Daniela this month
She loves to share her food with JuanGa! She is self-feeding and does a great job with the pincer grip and shoveling motions. She loves bananas and the banana muffins we make her. So far she doesn’t have any allergies to foods. We are still breastfeeding and she loves drinking water from her sippy cup but mostly from Raul’s or my glass.
She is pursing her lips when you say “Dale un besito a mami o papi” She has been waking up throwing kisses to Raul. Sometimes she will grab my face open up her mouth and say “muah” or more like “ah”.
She is what Raul called low crawling forward. Of course anything that is not a toy motivates her like my shades, cellphone or even Dad’s blue blanket.
Since we are using the crib more often and have moved it into our room, she is kneeling more and pulling herself up to try and grab things. One thing she does in the crib is throw herself back when I place her in there or can’t get something. This part scares us because she does this on the bed and If we are sitting with her on the floor.
If she wants you to repeat a song or motion, she will say “ah”. She is attempting to say JuanGa. She will say ma, dada, ga, and teta. Yes she will say teta because Great-Grandma Lydia and I sing her a song “Tortita Tortita Tortita de Manteca a la nena le dan la Teta” So when I sing this to her I point to my breast. She knows she gets her milk from there and will stop feeding and say “Teta”. The other day Maria del Carmen and Carlos Juan came over and she was sitting on Maria del Carmen’s lap. She turned around and pointed to her Teta and said. We started laughing and Maria del Carmen was suprised that she knew what her breast was.
She will dance to any music whether on the radio, a car passing by, an app on the iPad that has music, or us singing.
When she is tired she starts humming, rubbing her eyes and hair. She is sucking her thumb and if she doesn’t not have a blanket next to her she will not sleep.
Daniela loves the water and we took her to the beach yesterday. She loved kicking and watching JuanGa swim. She loves her rubby duckies and bathroom toys. We also go for a two mile walk with the dog. She loves going outside. When I put her in the stroller or open the door she starts to get excited.
She takes a book and will point to the pictures, do her baby talk and turn pages. She imitates her mommy and that is great for us because she will be a book lover like her dad. She also loves the Toy Story App on the iPad. Mr. Potato Head helps with learning about body parts while her blocks help with color and shapes. I am not doing the TV with her and try not to put her in front of the computer too much. But sometimes it is inevitable because if Raul has to hold her for a second, more than likely he is in the office with her multi-tasking. We have downloaded some flashcard apps and color apps. But I make sure she also touches the manual flash cards and her blocks. We are going over her colors in both languages.
We did do face time while Raul was away and she loved that. When the phone rings she loves to hear the voices on the other side.
