Brinleigh is learning so much these days and I swear, it seems like every day she does something new. And of course, ALL of her new talents are the most amazing things ever in our eyes.
As of recently, Brinleigh has learned.........
The word "No" - She has found the photo albums and figured out how to get them out of the bookcase and open them. Then she proceeds to grab the plastic that holds the photos in place and rip, tear, pull, and destroy. We also have a speaker that is part of the surround sound that sits on the entertainment center under the tv. Brinleigh is obsessed with this one speaker and is constantly pulling it off of the entertainment center. She likes to carry the tv remotes around with her (well she crawls around with them in her hand) and then she likes to slam them into the kitchen and hallway laminate flooring to bust the backing off so that the batteries fall out. All of these things happen on a daily basis and she hears my reaction of "No No" and then I redirect her to another toy or activity. After I have relocated her or distracted her with another baby friendly item, she will turn to me and say "MmmmnnNO."
Dancing - This is so cute and makes me laugh every time I see it. It's always when I'm not expecting it and I just kinda walk in on her in the middle of a dance session. Or she just starts randomly dancing while we are sitting in the living room. Either way, it's so damn cute and funny that I can never grab my camera or phone fast enough to record it. And of course, when I'm prepared and ready to hit the record button..... Nothing. But, she does seem to like country music, especially the song "Get Your Shine On" by Florida Georgia Line.
Walking along the furniture - She not only crawls at a rapid speed now, but it also getting the hang of walking along the furniture and even letting go of one piece of furniture to grab another. This is so cute but makes me nervous for her to start walking. She always looks pretty damn proud of herself when she does it though.
Sharing - People closest to me know that I DO NOT like to share anything of mine with anybody, aside from Brinleigh (I will share anything with my little love bug). So I am gonna guess that she either picked this up from her Daddy or she is just naturally a sharer. I mean, she is the happiest baby I know, so maybe it's just second nature for her. Sometimes she offers up her toys or food to us, in which we reply "OH THANK YOU!!!!" and then give the toy or food back to her. But sometimes when playing with her, we will ask "can Mommy/Daddy have it?" and she will hand the item to us. Of course it's only fun if we give it back to her so she can repeat the process all over.
Throwing toys onto the floor - She has several stuffed animals and one with a little blankie attached that stay in her crib at all times. But when she wakes up every morning or from naps or when she is trying to entertain herself while fighting sleep, she likes to throw these things onto the floor. When I have her in her play yard downstairs she also likes to toss her toys over the side onto the floor. I read that this is normal behavior at her age and it's part of a learning process about separation.
Weaning herself from her pacifier - We have started to notice over the last few weeks that Brinleigh no longer wants anything to do with her paci during the day. ONLY at nap time, bed time, and then some times while driving in the car.... usually if she's tired. If we do give it to her during the day she takes it from us (or out of her mouth if we stick it there) and throws it on the floor. When she wakes up in the morning or from naps, she throws it out of her crib and onto the floor. We are not complaining about this. At. All. This actually makes me really happy since I was originally hesitant about giving her a paci to begin with. I didn't want to deal with having to wean her from it in the future. But her suck reflex was so strong from birth that after she turned a month old (and established breastfeeding), we gave it to her.
Weaning herself from her pacifier - We have started to notice over the last few weeks that Brinleigh no longer wants anything to do with her paci during the day. ONLY at nap time, bed time, and then some times while driving in the car.... usually if she's tired. If we do give it to her during the day she takes it from us (or out of her mouth if we stick it there) and throws it on the floor. When she wakes up in the morning or from naps, she throws it out of her crib and onto the floor. We are not complaining about this. At. All. This actually makes me really happy since I was originally hesitant about giving her a paci to begin with. I didn't want to deal with having to wean her from it in the future. But her suck reflex was so strong from birth that after she turned a month old (and established breastfeeding), we gave it to her.
I can't even choose which of these new recent developments are my favorite because they are all either cute (right now, anyways, maybe not in a few years from now) or make my life a little easier. We are so blessed to have such a smart and happy little girl.