What's new...

I haven't posted anything for Aloria since Christmas, so here is what's new with her. Right now, she is getting over a cold...the one I blogged about on my blog. It started with a fever and throwing up two nights in a row, and then turned into a really stuffy nose and cough. Actually, it was more like runny nose that never stopped running during the day, and then wouldn't let her breath at night. It was awful! I'd almost rather clean her up after her throwing up, then to have to hear her suffer through the night because she can't breath. She'd finally fall asleep, and then she have a coughing fit (real hollow rattley sounding from in her chest), which would wake her up, and stuff up her nose again...she'd cry and sit up and try to get comfortable again. Tears would stream out her eyes every time she coughed and she'd just keep rubbing her eyes and face because she was sooo tired. I had to rock her two nights in a row and bring her to bed with me and prop her up on pillows just so her nose would clear up enough for her to breath...even then she'd fall asleep mouth breathing most of the time...which dried out her throat, which made her cough, which woke her up again, etc... You get the picture. I would have given her some sort of medicine, but they don't recommend any before age two, because they don't know how it reacts in their body yet, so the most we could really do is buy a humidifier...it's really dry here in the winter...and I think that really helped make a difference. So, she is over that now, besides the occasional cough, so praise God for that.
Since Christmas, she hasn't really paid a whole lot of attention to her doll stroller and shopping cart, so I decided to de-clutter her room and took them out. I'll return them once it is warmer, and then maybe she'll want to stroller around her dolls outside or something. Our house it really to small for that. Also, I put a bunch of her toys in a toy bin and decided to change them out every once in a while to try and keep her interested in what she has. Right now, she loves loves loves puzzles, and is getting really good at them (the wooden ones with the little nobbs). She still plays with her dishes set on a regular basis. She will bring me one of the in cups and ask for me to fill it with water, and then she'll carry it in her room and poor it from dish to dish until it's all ended up on the floor (I try and lay down a towl), and then comes and asks for more. She'll also get a little pile of dishes and walk up to me, tilt her head sideways and say, "bap bap." Meaning, she wants to take a bath with her dishes...the best place for water play, after all. It's also fun to watch her play make believe with them. She's been learning to pretend for a little while now, and so she'll hold up her spoon to her dolls mouth and make an eating sound. Her doll usually gets soaked when it's full of water. I just found an alternative though. I was thinking of what else I could give her...cherios! Geez, how hard was that to come up with. She can still pour them from bowl to bowl and stir them around with her spoon...and she can eat them! Genius.
I bought her some fat sized crayons for Christmas, but she didn't really seem too interested. She tore off all of the paper and ended up breaking most of them in half. Then last week, on a whim, I bought some washable markers (the "Most washable, Washable markers" it said :-) and she loves them! She doesn't like coloring books, but will sit for quite a while if I give her a pile of blank computer paper. She's slowly learning the colors...yesterday she held up a marker and yelled, "yeyow!" with a huge smile on her face. I felt badly because she seemed so excited, but it was actually orange. Close enough, right? Oh well.
Another thing I've started doing is buying her a book of stickers every time I go the grocery store. She can finally pull them off herself and stick them on things without any problems...plus we can talk about what she's pulling off...I try and get things she knows and can say, like trains, flowers, hearts, dogs, and other animals, etc...
Soooo, that's what's new for now. She's growing fast and getting more and more independent all the time...but also getting more cuddly too, go figure! It's funny, because I thought that if I had an independent child she'd be able to entertain herself better, but even though she wants to "do it herself"...she still wants me around to watch her do whatever it is she's doing. ...difficult to get the dishes done that way. But I am getting better at stopping what I am doing and giving her some real quality time, instead of just sticking her in front of her favorite Veggie Tail video. After all, she will only be this small for so long, and even though I can't wait for her to get older, I need to appreciate her where she is at right now, especially with another one on the way who will start to divide my attention from her. Lord willing, we will both adjust smoothly :-)