Work and chasing after a very active toddler has left little
time for blog posts…
At 14 months, Delaney is:
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Saying a lot of words. She has about 20 words in her active
vocabulary.
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In terms of her passive vocabulary, it is hard
to tell how many words she knows, but it seems like she is understanding
everything that we say, and even responds to most commands.
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Best friends with Jasper. Delaney does not have nearly as much exposure
to other kids as she would if she were in daycare, we still try to expose her
to other kids at least once a day.
Living in such a family neighborhood, this is not very difficult. Most of her interaction with other kids in
parallel play, however her play with Jasper is very interactive. They play together with 1 toy. They love each other and get along really
well. It is so special to see.
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Starting the transition from 2 naps to 1. This is complicated since we are never sure
if she will need 1 nap or 2, or what time they will happen. If she sleeps past 7, she can stay awake
until about 11 or 11:30. If she sleeps
for more than 2 hours at that time, she probably won’t need another nap. However, if she goes to bed before 11 and
sleeps for an hour or less, she will definitely need another nap. Again, we are just rolling with this day by
day and not making any concrete plans in the middle of the day since it’s so
unpredictable. Even if she doesn’t go to sleep for a 2nd nap, we are
putting her down in her crib with a couple books so that she has some quiet
time (for us too!).
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Getting used to the water. We took her to several swim classes and have
been taking her to the pool at my parents house and at Aunt Jody’s. Unfortunately she is fearless and would walk
right in if we let go. She seems to
really enjoy the water, and with the hot valley summer upon us, this will be a
great activity.
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Going through some bouts of severe separation
anxiety from me. At times when it is
most extreme, she will FREAK OUT if I need to leave to go to work, go to the
bathroom, or even get a drink of water.
This comes and goes in waves.
Fortunately, she can usually be distracted and will be fine once I’m
gone. It is really hard for all of us to
go through this. For her, I am sure it
is extremely stressful and upsetting.
For me, it is heartbreaking to hear her crying and screaming when I am
leaving. And for the person that is with
her, it is trying to distract her and get her calmed down. From the beginning, even if I need to leave
for a couple minutes, I always tell her I’m leaving and that I will be back
soon. Sometimes she waves and says bye
and is completely content.
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Is a Baby for Obama. President Obama attended a fundraiser at
George Clooney’s house, who happens to live up the street (WAY up the street)
from us. It was a very exciting day with
helicopters flying over all day and streets in our neighborhood having limited
access after 4pm. We did not want to
miss this unique occasion so loaded our Baby for Barack in her wagon and
watched the motorcade go by on Laurel Canyon.
It was very exciting! Delaney
waved and offered her Cheerios, but I guess Obama was saving his appetite for
the Wolfgang Puck food at Clooneys! We taught her how to say Obama (she says "Bama" when we ask her, "Who's the President?")
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Loves the beach!
We visited Brooks and Bonnie in Santa Barbara and took Delaney to the
beach for the first time since Hawaii. She giggled and squealed as the water got
close and kept trying to run in.
Between the beach, the park above the beach, the cute restaurants, 2
dogs to play with, new toys and most importantly, doting grandparents and great
grandmothers, Delaney loves Santa Barbara!
We are going back later this month.
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Has all 4 of her molars, which all came in in
the last month. Aside from a few fussy
nights, she’s been such a trooper about it.
Her main side effect is she has been drooling BUCKETS. She now has 4 teeth on top, 2 on bottom and
the 4 molars.
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Broke out in a horrific rash which lasted for
almost 10 days. Her body was covered
head to toe in a very hot, red, swollen rash.
Her face very swollen and we spoke to the doctor on call about 5 times
and took her in twice. Fortunately she
was not too bothered by it, other than needing to stay indoors and keeping her
away from other kids. We never found out
what caused it, although the doctors believed that it was viral and tested her
for strep since it looked like a scarletina rash. Her skin is still peeling in places (she
pretty much got a whole new layer of skin) but she is fine and her skin is
softer than ever!
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Loves reading, playing with her sand and water
table, burying toys in the sand, twirling, kicking a ball, her “Ilma doll,”
playing with Legos (a new phenomenon), BLUEBERRIES and zucchini, holding the
phone to her ear, singing songs and learning the hand gestures, going for
walks, looking at ants, snails, birds, squirrels and other creatures around the
neighborhood, watching garbage trucks, waiters and gardeners.
