Dahlia's fourth top tooth has emerged!

Last Wednesday, while playing out in the snow, I flipped Dahlia upside and took a sneak peek into her mouth. I saw two more teeth making there way through her top gums, right center and next to that one. I also could see some action on the one left of center side, totally four teeth on top.

On Saturday, the right most two broke through. We are still waiting for the one on the left of center side.

Dahlia went to her first birthday party on Sunday for baby Harry who is really no longer such a baby. She and Harry were the only two little guys there and it was fun to watch them get a good game of ball going. Harry gave Dahlia quite the look when she tried to snatch the ball away from him, like, "Back off, I've got a big brother and I know how to fend for myself." Dahlia was completely unaffected, because little does Harry understand that Dahlia too has this same situation and skill.

In a crowd of jumping and crazed toddlers, Dahlia does seem alarmingly at home. But she does has sharp instincts. She can sense an impending attack and scurry away as fast as she can, crying out as she flees from the scene. An example is in the bathtub. Elias is relentless in the tub, pouring water over her arms, at first, very innocently, and then, in a nonchalant manner, announces that he will now be pouring water over Dahlia's head. She does not like this, so much that she really no longer will sit in the bath with Elias and now is reluctant to have a bath at all. I tested this theory last night by having a bath with her. She was fine and loved splashing in the water. I guess it is a big ole bath tub couple with the fear of being engulfed in water by her brother's hands. I'll jump in with her for awhile until she feels better.

Dahlia's becoming a real kid, eating lots of food and having opinions about everything. I think Elias is going to be surprised in the upcoming months, as will we all.

Here is Dahlia crusing at the kitchen table. She's quite an explorer and remarkably steady and stable. Dahlia has sprung tooth # 3! (as of Thursday) We went to play in the snow today and toward the end, we put Dahlia down in the snow. She seemed to really enjoy herself, all bundled like a bug rolling around in white!

Dahlia is so joyful! I have no idea where she gets it from. She is always laughing and smiling, from the moment she wakes up until she goes to bed at night. She seems to find excitement in any old thing, from her pumpkin that she has been playing with since she started moving her hands and fingers to a magazine, she treats all equally, as if it were the most exciting, fascinating thing she's ever seen. I love to watch her move around and explore the world. It's a contagious kind of joy that makes one want to squeeze her until she pops! I must be careful to resist this natural inclination.

I believe Dahlia made her first sign yesterday, for milk, squeezing and releasing each of her little hands, open and close, and crawling up into my lap, tugging at my shirt. These changes are just miraculous to see in your own little self-extensions. Even though they mark the beginning of the end of babyhood, they also signal the beginnings of another exciting phase, as we have certainly experienced with Elias. I must try to really appreciate this time, as this will be my last hooray in baby land.

Monster Baby Squashes Toddler

CIMG1378
Originally uploaded by amykwelias.

Carrot face

CIMG1308, originally uploaded by amykwelias.

Dahlia moves all about the house these days. She's been doing this special slide-crawl combo. It gets her around pretty quickly. One knee crawls, the other walks and slides the knee along. She clims onto everything with little success at diverting attention. She gets quite a temper when she realizes that you are trying to thwart her goals. She's a hazard to her own health!

Dahlia does some very cute things. She likes to play with my hair while she nurses. Sometimes she pulls it. Ouch! She likes to pull my glasses off. When I'm holding her, she likes to push her little finger into my side. Dahlia does not like to have her nose wiped. She does not like to get dressed or have her diaper changed, ever! She's cute and all, but can be very grumpy!

Dahlia really did not like Santa. His big fuzzy beard was just too weird for her, but she did like opening presents. Among her favorites were a new xylophone, a baby from nana, and, of course, anything Elias is playing with that he is not ready to share with Dahlia.

Dahlia likes quite a bit to play with her big brother's new basketball! She squeals with excitement and actually is a pretty good catch!

Dahlia had her first "Dahlia only" playdate today with a new friend, Astrid. The two are about a week apart in age and seemed to really hit it off smashingly! Dahlia broke the ice with an eye poke and Astrid started conversation with a few loud-pitched squeals! Fun was had by all, so much so that Dahlia passed out near the end of the rendevous while reading Fuzzy Bee and Friends. :-) We're going to make a thing of it and meet again next Thursday.

I just can't keep up with all this little one is doing! Today, she actually stood during Elias's music class for about 5 seconds completely free-standing! I as well as other onlookers were shocked!

So, she's crawling, no problem, and about a day after she started that, she started pulling herself up on anything. She has also been spotted heading for the up-stairs. NOT GOOD

Yesterday, I could have sworn Dahlia made the "more" sign when I was feeding her some cheerios. All day long today, she is putting her little hands together like that whenever I talk to her. And, I think she understands the "milk" sign and when I ask her if she would like some milk, she climbs up into my lap and grabs at my shirt.

On Thanksgiving, Dahlia was saying lots of "momma's" Sometimes, it sounds like she is saying her name, too. I don't know. Seems a little early for talking.

I was feeding Dahlia this evening. It was the third night of rice cereal. She didn't like it last night and after the second bite tonight, she was literally howling at me about it! So, I went back to the bananas. She liked them a few nights earlier, and what do you know? She liked it! So, lesson learned here, it's not too early for Dahlia to have food preferences. She is so funny at expressing herself, yelling at me like a banshee until I get it.

  

Dahlia has two cute little teeth now. Her second tooth popped out just five days after the first. She's crawling like a champ these days. AND, today, she showed me that she can sit up from crawling position. WOW!

On Monday, Dahlia started eating some cream-o-wheat and bananas. She definitely seemed interested, but kept her cool. She insisted on holding the spoon and putting it into her mouth.

Her main concerns to date are trying to avoid getting squished by her big bro.

Baby Dahlia is growing up! Today, while tooling around on the futon before bed, I believe she took what qualified as her first crawls! She was really so proud of herself!

Dahlia is very sweet. We seem to make a pretty good match. I don't know how, but I really seem to know what gets her going. She likes to play peek-a-boo and LOVES it when I pretend to eat her, as any human being does.

Dahlia is a mellow baby. After going to sleep, she will often stir a little and fall back to sleep. I listen to wait for a distress call before I intervene, or if she is definitely awake. Tonight, she stirred for a bit, no crying, then, I hear her messing with the monitor. She's been moving around in circles pretty good these days. I go upstairs, open the door, and there is my little angel, holding the monitor in both hands on her belly, the monitor night light lighting up her cute little face. Too cute!

I spied her first tooth today...bottom left.

 

 

On October 3, Dahlia began threatening to crawl. I woke up and looked over to her up on all fours. She's been doing that periodically ever since and is showing no signs of stopping.

She's soon to sprout some chompers, too. My, how the time is flying.

On October 1, Dahlia proved that she could in fact sit alone for a considerable amount of time. She still loses balance from time to time, but overall, can be classified as a sitter.

Let's see, let's see, what else, oh, she is a super squealer, although I'm not suprised! She is just a lover of life and it is beautiful!

Another genius with the rings

Bath baby...so cute

Just call me spikey!

Another month passed, I'm not very good at keeping up on Dahlia's accomplishments. Shame on me. Let's see, she's rolling like mad and not only just back to belly, but belly to back, although she's not too keen on this roll. She has been pushing her little legs and body up, like she wants to crawl. I think Elias was crawling at five months. It's going so fast with Dahlia. She has started playing more with toys and of course, wanting to put everything in her mouth. She's really an intense player. Also, she's started these silly squeally little noises...I wish I could get it recorded. It's great...really silly, she does it in joy and to express frustration. Her favorite toys, to date, are the school bus, pumpkin head (after all these months), and now the wooden puzzle pieces.

It started raining yesterday. I decided we wstill needed to walk daily. So, instead of carrying Dahlia, Elias has really taken to riding in the backpack. I cover him with a raincoat, and push Dahlia in the stroller. She really likes the stroller. She plays with her toys and scans the radar for friendly faces to flash a cute little smile to through the rainshield.

What makes me smile about Dahlia...alot of things, but how she laughs after a sneeze or a cough.

Dahlia will be four months on the 29th of August. Today, she weighed 15 lbs and was a whopping 27.5 inches long...off the charts! Her new list of mastered tricks includes sucking her thumb, rolling from back to belly and pivoting on her belly in a circle!

Dahlia's brother officially turned two today. In honor of his special day, Dahlia decided to roll over and scoot across the bed a little ways tonight after her shower.

Dahlia continues to be an avid fan of her toys. She is seen here tossing around one of her favorite mixed media clutch boxes.

Dahlia is also sucking her thumb lately,and I've got to tell you, it's one of the cutest things I've ever seen. Why would people be against the thumb or binky? Today, I set her down to lounge in the play jungle mat and she fell asleep with that little thumb in her mouth. It's nice that she has something nice hooked right to her hand to help her sooth herself. Always there when she needs it!