Easter was a good time for Nellie, although she really doesn't seem to like chocolate - evidenced by the fact that she's very happy to give it away. Of course, Mommy (behind the camera) is not going to say no to free chocolate!
Granny's visit was over far too quickly...
The latest development is that Nellie is quickly learning to baby sign. In addition to 'more', she is now starting to sign 'please' and 'thank you', and 'nappy'. Of course, she still gets them all mixed-up, but the fact that she's trying is very cute. She has also learnt to put her hand in front of her mouth when she coughs, which is just so sweet!
Fortunately, it seems that Mommy and Daddy are learning what her different cavewoman grunts mean, so we've had fewer tears of frustration recently. Of course, it now seems that her molars are starting to move around in her jaw, because she's started drooling and chewing on her fingers again. Associated with this have been bouts of crying for no apparent reason, so I'm hoping they are just because she's in pain, rather than that she's crying because she's picked up on our grief.
She's also learning to pick up after herself. We've started to insist that if she deliberately throws things off her highchair she picks them up after the meal. Likewise, we've started insisting that she helps clean up when we're done playing. This has also resulted in some tears, but that's more about the fact that we're defining boundaries than anything else. In general, she really seems to enjoy doing what we ask - either bringing things to us so we can put them away or putting her toys back into their bags/ boxes. Long may her enjoyment of this last!!
Summer seems to have arrived - over the weekend we had temperatures in the mid-20's! This is when I thank God our flat has outdoor space where Nellie can ride her car, push her pram and throw her ball. She has also been learning to garden with her spade and little basket, and plenty of Mommy's unused plastic pots. She has a little watering can, but if we fill it with water she seems more intent on watering herself than any plant, so we haven't done much of that.
Of course, like all children, she's also spent quite a bit of time eating soil, and then coming to us to have her tongue brushed off.... I keep telling myself not to worry - she'll soon grow out of the need to mouth everything, and in the meantime eating soil will only build up her immune system....
With the improved weather, and more time spent outdoors, and with Mommy being in a place to give her a little more quality attention, Nellie has been really happy the last few days. She is the one bright thing in our lives at the moment, and we both thank God for her and for the way she brightens up our lives. 'You are my sunshine, my only sunshine...'
