Motorin'

Yes folks, she has taken off. The only question in her mind these days is, where to next?





We had quite a cold spell with temperatures down below zero. I am not sure if the news made it out of the state, but New Mexico ran out of natural gas. The state wanted to save gas for heating the rural areas, so all government buildings were closed giving Alan most of the week off from school. We had fun playing inside, but eventually we all got cabin fever and ventured out. It was so cold that Sonia even let us put a hat and mittens on her once we got out. She loves exploring the outdoors and sometimes even cries and insists we take her out.



Her usual reaction to a hat on her head:



And her response to having it removed:

Out of reach

Sunny is so close to crawling it is just about driving her crazy. There are other options for now. She has found that she can do some consecutive rolls to get closer to things or people. Being a limber little baby, she will just flop herself forward and reach her arms past her legs to get whatever she has her eye on. Recently though, these maneuvers just aren't cutting it and it just frustrates the heck out of her.

Generally, her out-of-reach target is Ezra. In some families, the older sibling teaches the younger how to do things, but in our family, it seems to be Ezra. Ezra still fawns over her and howls when she cries, but he has learned that if he is close to Sonia, he will get his fur pulled or his paws touched. So when one of these things happens, he just gets up and moves over a foot. Then Sonia moves any way she can to get closer. Then Ezra moves over again. If only he knew what was coming, he would not be so quick to motivate her to crawl.

Sonia loves animals. She squeals when Ira makes an entrance(as cats do)and lunges if he or Ezra get anywhere near her. We used to take her to the zoo when she was a little baby since it is scenic place to push a stroller. Alan or I would walk around and look at the animals and Sonia would look at the leaves. We had not gone in awhile because of the cold but we had a day off together and went. Sonia now tracks the animals and smiles when they come close. She really wanted to give the red river hog a big hug and did not seem to understand our reluctance to just drop her over the fence.



Maybe this girl is headed for an adventurous life. I did not used to think so because she is pretty cautions about things that have caused her distress in the past, like rolling over and hitting her head on our wood floor. On the other hand, there is almost nothing she will not eat, like limes, kale, and avocado, and her favorite games these days involve being swung in the air and tossed onto the bed or beanbag. Or held upside down. Or bounced high in the air on our knee. Feel free to come visit if you are looking for some strengthening exercises.

New Sun

First of all, I must thank all of our friends and family who made Sunny's first Christmas so much fun. We all had a great time visiting. Sunny figured this was a good time to cozy up to her grandparents:










More Christmas shots:






A baby has to celebrate, so Sunny has been ringing in the new year with lots of raspberries and spit bubbles:




I hope these pictures are conveying in a small way the person our little Sun is becoming. Watching her figure out the world and show us how she feels makes us so excited. She will now play with a toy, if she really likes it, for half an hour instead of thirty seconds and cries pathetically if we take it away before she is done with it. Thanks to Ezra, she smiles and lunges at every dog who comes within a few feet of her. During the holidays, she refused to sit when we were holding her but then within a matter of two or three days she figured out how to balance and catch herself and now sits for ten or fifteen minutes. And she laughs, and smiles and generally makes our lives joyful.

Happy new year!

Kisses

I have been working quite a bit lately, with just two full days off since December 3rd. Tomorrow though, I will reap the rewards with almost two weeks of vacation. As the month has progressed, I have been missing Sunny more and more. Yesterday, I had had a long night and was about to go back to sleep when I remembered I had to go back to work earlier than usual. I only had an hour and a half to spend with Sunny! Alan and I raced over to Jeff and Tammy's. I picked her up and suddenly I could breathe again. Then Alan told me the news:

"If you tell her to give you a kiss, she'll do it." And she did.

Communication is magical. For first few months, Sunny could just cry and hope we stumbled on the answer but now she looks and twists and shouts and smiles. She is just as tickled as Alan and I when we know what she is saying, so to speak. Her life is beginning to have new purposes beyond survival. If she wants a toy, she stretches and strains and screeches to try and get it. She is able to push herself towards it, but then her baby reflexes make her bat it away again and the cycle continues. Eventually, she gets frustrated and Alan or I will push the toy over to her. I interrupted her in these maneuvers in the first picture below, but as the second picture shows, she did not mind too much.



















Despite our growing comprehension of her baby needs, we remain clueless at times. When this happens, as it did this evening, she loses her energy to scream and just sighs, groans and whimpers. Her eyes plead with us to make something right. Sunny whimpered all the way through dinner, but then gave us some smiles and laughs when we played with her on the floor later. It is amazing babies do not get frustrated more often when they are constantly trying to do things they cannot.





Like getting food into their mouths:












We have a park a few blocks from our house and walked there the other day to get some exercises and give Sunny a chance to see other kids playing. As usual, Alan and I could not resist getting a few pictures.





This may be the last post before Christmas, so Merry Christmas fellow Sunny fans.

Thanks

For Thanksgiving this year, Alan and I had our parents over plus my Uncle Ken and Aunt Yvonne and Alan's sister Jenny and her boyfriend, Ian. It was my first year cooking the turkey and fixins', though luckily Tammy, Sandy, and Yvonne all helped me in preparing the feast. Sonia helped keep everything light by laughing and cooing. And pulling beards.



Little Sunny often finds grownups she does not see everyday a little frightening. Because of her separation anxiety, she did not care to be passed around the first day, but by Thanksgiving, she was more at ease. This fear takes hold even if she knows the person wanting to hold her. Funny how just when it gets to the point where I cannot hold her while stirring hot stuff, she does not want to be held by anyone but me or Alan. As you will see below, all the comotion tired her out for awhile, but when it was time for bed, she cried for half an hour to come back and join in the fun.



Besides sweet potatoes, Thanksgiving time brings another kind of baby food: dried leaves. Being inside gets a little old of both of us, and for her and Alan, so we often go on a little outing. This outing was just to our front yard, but she had so much fun! We are pretty laid back about the yard, so there are piles of leaves perfect for a baby. She liked to crush the leaves, bang on them, then give them a lick.



Sunny surprised herself by sitting alone, for a few seconds, just before Thanksgiving.




Random, adorable photo: