So the Itsy Bitsy Spider is absolutely AnnCarter's very favorite song. Since she was 5 or 6 months, we realized that if she was crying and we started to sing this song, she would immediately stop. And for as long as you could keep singing the song (which I did for many minutes at a time on some car rides!), she would stay quiet to listen. Then, about two months ago (in December some time), we noticed she was beginning to imitate the motions. I had to get this on video--it's something that we absolutely need to remember about AnnCarter's first year of life, as this song was a big part of it :-)
Carts is also starting to say some words now (still in a somewhat baby way), but she definitely connects the meanings and gets the sounds right. We first realized this just last week (the first week of February). She'll say hi as she enters a room filled with people (and wave her hand too). She's always very excited to see people--especially kids she knows. She'll imitate "Dada" and "Mama" some, though this is not regular yet. She'll say "bye" very similarly to how she says "hi." And then she'll say "Night night"--as you'll see in this video. Oh, and she'll say "All done" and do the sign. She's actually been saying "all done" for a while now (maybe 3 or 4 weeks) in a sing songy kind of way, but it's beginning to sound more clear now.
It's hard to believe this time last year she was not even born yet! As parents say it does, the time has gone fast...and things change so quickly. It's also hard to believe that we were going through all of the newborn times just a little less than a year ago, and now she's almost walking and is figuring out language and so much more.
She's a joy. Her personality is coming out increasingly and it's amazing to watch her transform from a baby into more of a toddler each day. Excited to celebrate her first birthday with her tomorrow!
This will keep her busy at least 20 minutes at a time. She's just begun bouncing like this a lot in the past two weeks or so. The chair is her favorite spot to do it, but sometimes she'll be sitting on her knees and start bouncing away like that on the floor too. It's fun to see how many new abilities she's learning as she nears being one!
