What's New in the World of Sarah

Thought I'd catch you up on what Sarah's up to these days, development-wise.  She's such a sharp little girl and learning new things all the time.  She now knows at least 50 signs (I haven't really counted lately) and uses them all the time.  The latest are "girl," "boy," "home," "outside," and "sun."  She is also vocalizing a lot more and  repeats words when we're reading to her.  She even tackles "elephant," "antelope," and "gorilla."

Her favorite game these days is hiding something behind her back or under her legs and signing "Where?"  She delights in revealing the object.  The game works equally well at mealtime (with a spoon), bathtime (with a washcloth), and pottytime (with a piece of toilet paper).

She also is practicing drinking milk from an open cup.  With my coaching, she takes a sip, puts down the cup, swallows, and claps -- over and over again.  It makes Daddy very nervous, so we try to do it when he's not around.

She now has 9 teeth (4 upper incisors, 4 lower incisors, and a bottom molar).  She has another incisor and three more molars coming in.  Fortunately, she's not too bothered by teething.  The only symptom we see is drooling.  UNfortunately, she's discovered how to use her teeth as weapons.  Last week, she started trying to bite me when I brush her teeth.  She actually lunged at me from the changing table the other day.  It hasn't become too much of a problem.  I tell her to stop and to be nice to Mommy.  She then says, "Mama" and pats my arm.  If I sing a Raffi song about brushing teeth while I do hers, she doesn't bite.  "Music hath powers to soothe the savage breast."

Sarah loves the outdoors.  The weather has been beautiful here this past week, and once you get her outside, it's hard to get her back in.  She visits the chickens (and gets frightened by the rooster) and feeds the goats cranberries from the native shrubs.  She is adorable toddling around in her pink rubber boots.  Her favorite thing to do outside is to walk between Don and me, holding hands.  She just giggles.