Nessa at play

Since we don't plan to figure out linking to video any time soon this is as good as it's going to get as far as seeing Nessa at play learning so many new things every day. (Well, it's amazing to us anyway.)

Within the last week Nessa has really been starting to imitate things we do with her toys and then experiment doing similar things with other toys. Here's a few examples.

Nessa loves to put her small balls in the center of her stacking rings.

Here she has simply taken the ball out again, but often, and sometimes for several minutes at a time, she'll then flip the ring up (reminds me of tiddly winks or something) and watch the ball go flying, then she'll crawl after the ball and start all over. Nessa has also experimented with the various stacking rings and realizes that if the ring is too big the ball (or other object) will go right through the middle -- this, of course, means that she cannot make the ball fly through the air.

Here Nessa puts one of her small wooden blocks in the middle of the ring.

And here, the purple ball is now in one of the stacking cups.

And then it's time to take it out of the cup and find another place to put it...

Speaking of stacking rings and cups, Nessa loves these toys -- that is, she loves to do anything with the BUT stack them. In fact if one of us stacks them up, she will **immediately** unstack them and scatter them appropriately around the room!

I love my Ergo and baby wearing poncho

And Nessa seems to really like it too!

The Ergo and my hotsling are the only two carriers I use any more. (The hotsling is the pouch carrier Nessa is in as an infant in the small photo on the corner of our blog.) Nessa made her preferences known when I did try other carriers (no hanging from the crotch or extra straps for her!) and, of course, my own comfort was important!

You can view more about these carriers at:


http://www.myfavoritebabycarrier.com/


http://www.hotslings.com/

Shawn has also used both of these carriers, but I use them on a daily basis and have been waiting for a chance to brag up the Ergo ever since we got it last fall. And now that I've been enjoying my wonderful "babywearer" poncho I thought I better show it off!

I had Megan take these photos before we went on a walk yesterday afternoon. It was a sunny, warm winter day (well, it was in the 30s) and the poncho and a few well-selected layers kept Nessa and I more than warm.

Nessa was ready for a nap and she was still happy to be "bounced into the Ergo" and go outside for a walk. I thought she would nap on the walk, but she decided to stay awake the entire time! (Stinker!)

A friend of mine helped me make this wonderful poncho that lets me keep Nessa and I both warm while we're outside and solves the problem of trying to fit the carrier over my bulky clothes and also fit Nessa into the carrier in her bulky clothes. The wonderful soft and cuddly wool yarn we used is a bonus as the poncho's so cuddly that I've even worn it while snuggled up watching the Olympics on these cool evenings!

Thank you Misha -- you're the best!!! Nessa and I LOVE our poncho. :-)

You can find out more about the pattern to knit the babywearer at:

http://www.littleturtleknits.com/pages/whatsnew.php

Peek - a - bib

Nessa LOVES to play peek-a-boo. We've been playing it with her for months. A few weeks ago, she started playing along by pulling the blanket off of our face when we played and sometimes crawled all the way across the room to do so. Then this week she started initiating the game by covering her own face! It has been so fun to watch her cover her own face and wait for us to ask "where's Nessa?".

Last night at supper she was playing with her bib after she was done eating and suddenly I realized that she was holding it over her face -- a game began...

If only I could get to the other side...

Nessa loves to help fold clothes ... a favorite game

Look -- I have teeth ... and hair

See I have two top front teeth now!

Look close and you'll see I have hair too ... and a comb that I like to chew on too...

Around this household these are important developments! :-)

I worked hard to get a photo that showed Nessa's top teeth as they were coming in, but since her smile usually only displayed her bottom teeth is was a challenge. In the week or so since I took these photos her teeth have grown in some more and soon I should be able to get a really toothy grin out of her to show off all those pearly whites. She has also started chewing hard with the left side of her mouth and even drooling more again so she seems to be working on more teeth already. I with it wasn't such hard work for her, sigh.

No!

It seems I'm blessed with another "sensitive" girl ... and here's photo proof.

I was at the ready with the camera to capture Nessa's new game of taking one of her balls over to the entry area where it will bounce better than it will on the carpet so she can bounce it against the wall and, if it doesn't return to her, chase after it and do it again. Just as I was about to take a picture I noticed her put something to her mouth (as you can imagine the entry is not the cleanest area) and I sternly said "no" as I reached out for what it was. Nessa melted before my eyes. Since the camera was at the ready I captured her melt-down.

I, of course, realized when I found barely a miniscule fuzz in her fingers that I had over reacted. I guess she thought one over reaction deserved another! As soon as I picked her up her sweet composure returned as we snuggled and prepared for nap time.

Watch for more updates on Nessa's adventures around the house as she seems to be learning so much every day. I love to watch her play and learn on her own almost as much as I love getting down on the floor to play with her.

Beautiful (and Silly!) sisters

This Sunday after church we tried for a few photos while the girls were still in their dresses...

Cute cats -- Ginger and William snuggled on Tami's lap

Valentine photo a bit late

The last few times I wanted to post some new pics, Blogger wasn't cooperating so I hope I can catch up a bit today ...

Tuesday morning we were all up bright and early to exchange Valentines before heading off to work, school, and morning naps. It was nice to start our day together and happy and I tried to get a picture of my sweet girls, but Nessa has started not wanting to smile for the camera -- or at least not the big grins we get during play time, so Megan started playing with her instead and this is the photos I got.

Breakfast with Nessa

Nessa's new "trick" is to bite the spoon when we're feeding her. Her new top teeth apparently make this fun ... fun for her anyway. She bites hard and she's strong. This morning I let go of the spoon. After Megan and I giggled at how long she held the spoon in her teeth we decided to see if she would do it again. She did and we now have a photo.



Notice that great pocket on Nessa's bib? Nessa has been noticing it more and more too. Today at lunch she decided to not bother reaching down in there to see what she could find to eat after her tray was cleaned off, but instead brought the pocket to her mouth. Too funny. I wasn't able to get a picture of it though.

What do you mean the cats don't like to share?

I followed Nessa as she began to explore the kitchen. I do believe it's time to put those baby gates to use! :-)


Spats is the only one of the three cats that came to check it out. I think he is afraid that there really won't be enough food to go around if Nessa is allowed to help herself to a little snack (the other two cats make sure they get their share at mealtime).