Learning new things

Romelie seems to be learning new things very quickly lately. I can’t tell if she’s hitting developmental milestones or if I’m just noticing all the new things at once, but it’s pretty exciting to see. In the last week or two she has started to do the following:

--Climb stairs. She did this once, back in Houston in October, but then started shying away from it. She’d climb a stair or two, then slide back down. Well, now she clambers up them without hesitation. We’ll wait a while before we practice going down, though.
--Get down from things feet-first. She tends to go head-first off of things, which is okay for our low couches in the basement (she generally catches herself with her hands), but obviously not so good for the bed or taller couches upstairs. Somehow she’s discovered how to get off of those by going feet first.
--Blow kisses. Jen taught it to her. I couldn’t believe she was doing it the first time I saw it. It’s adorable.
--Manipulate toys. I’d mentioned that she turns that book music thing from my dad (haven’t gotten any better at describing that toy, sorry to say) to hear the singing repeatedly. She’s also figured out how to do that with other toys. She knows which buttons to push to hear music on her Winnie-the-Pooh phone from Nanny and Papa (Angel and Steve), she’s more interested in her books, etc.
--Learn routines. She holds up her feet on the changing table when it’s time to put on socks or pants. She grabs the blanket that I normally put on her lap in the car as soon as I set her in the car seat. She opens her mouth – and slightly less helpfully, sticks out her tongue – when I pick up her toothbrush and run it under the water. She knows what’s going on and what she’s supposed to do to accommodate.

So this is great. No, by the way, she’s not walking yet. But she’s progressing, and I’m proud.

Just for the record, we’ve had a much better week this week. Romelie ended up sprouting a tooth over the weekend, so hopefully that explains some of her behavior from last week. My mom was in town to watch her on Super Bowl Sunday (and even gave her a dreaded bath!), so that was a nice break. The weather was warmer, so we got to spend some time outside “playing” in the snow – sitting in the snow is a bit more accurate, but she enjoyed scooping it up with her mittened hands, and threw in a classic kid’s move…watch this video for an explanation:

And we got to see my mom’s family for my uncle Larry’s retirement party. Romelie finally got to meet my aunt Linda and uncle Doug, which was awesome. I don’t think I’ve seen them since our wedding.

One final video, just because I was trying to put my camera to good use this week to make up for the last picture-less blog entry. Here’s Romelie dancing, waving, and high fiving with her dad: