Eluned G. Sharron Bethea » December 2008 Journal Entries » AboutMyBaby - online baby scrapbooks, photo albums, videos, birth and pregnancy announcements

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Tue, Dec 30, 2008 7:00 PM
I was going to wait until my family arrived for extra confirmation, but it's increasingly unmistakable. Sarah has heard it. Eluned's first English word is "Daddy."

Also, I hadn't realized how often I cheer Els on with "You got it!" when she reaches some object until a couple of days ago. Will and I both think we heard her say "got it." She hasn't repeated it, though, so we might be hearing things.

Comments:
Sarah: She definitely "gets it" quickly. Can you say "smart"? I thought so.... As Els learns to repeat back to you and to imitate your gestures and actions, you'll be amazed at seeing yourself reflected. Things you never paid attention to, until she does them. For instance, I pace when I think. It was hysterical watching my daughter do the same thing, her face scrunched up in concentration--and it was pointed out to me that she was the mirror image of me! (She still does it, too).

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Sun, Dec 28, 2008 9:00 AM
Eluned gets the hang of things quickly now. We'll show her something two or three times and then Els can do it herself.

Last weekend, Will and I were making her food for the week while Els hung out in her high chair. Els threw her hands up in the air. (Some call it the "touchdown" pose; she does that sometimes.) This time, Will and I threw our hands up in the air too. When Els put her hands down so did we. Els threw her hands up again; we did too, and Will sang Hallelujah for good measure.

Now Els had the idea. She raised her hands and lowered them, and watched us do the same. She threw her hands up and then brought them down fast, making Will cut off a couple of Hallelujahs. Then she put her hands up and held them, and Will had to improvise a whole new section of the Hallelujah Chorus.

Comments:
Sarah: Oho, *that's* a scene I would love to have seen! LOL

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Fri, Dec 26, 2008 7:00 PM
Eluned will stand unsupported for a fleeting moment. She usually does it when she's excited, so excited that she lets go for a second or two.

On Christmas Eve at church she was standing up, holding on to the chairs in the sanctuary. Will walked back in to the room and Els was so happy to see him she briefly let go of the chairs.

Yesterday (Christmas) Els was playing with her reflection, leaning against our mirrored closet door. She raised both hands over her head and stood there long enough for me to realize and call Will, but not long enough for him to come and see.

Comments:
Sarah: Do you have your running shoes on, laced up and ready for action? She's going to give you a run for your money!

By the way, the Christmas picture of her facing full into the camera is a beautiful photograph of a beautiful child.

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Mon, Dec 22, 2008 7:00 PM
Eluned is officially cruising now. She is also ready to stand unsupported but she doesn't know it yet. Several times now she's stood for a few seconds with only a whisper of support, lightly leaning against me or with one hand resting on some piece of furniture.

Els clapped for Will this morning. She has been pointing for at least a couple of weeks now, frequently at the cats.

Comments:
Poppa: Visability unlimited, wind speed NES&W at E+, all systems GO, you are cleared for takeoff - have a great journey!

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Sun, Dec 21, 2008 9:00 PM
I read something somewhere that said that children Eluned's age are beginning to experience fear, often over things an adult would find trivial but that a young child doesn't yet comprehend. Els is not a fussy baby -- quite the opposite, strangers comment on how calm she is -- but she's starting to have her moments, and I think some of them might stem from fear.

Last night we went to our friend Heather's Yule party. For most of the evening Els was her usual delightful self, and we had a lovely time. She did fuss a few times, though. Once, apparently, simply because Heather's partner David put on a hat. As soon as he took off the hat she stopped crying.

Heather has a scrumptious little dog named Gaby. Els loves cats but they won't let her get near them. Gaby is much friendlier, so I thought Els might like to play with Gaby; Gaby certainly wanted to play with Els. A few seconds of face-licking, though, and Els was out. I don't know if that was fear, or dislike, or something else.

Tonight, we went to a Solstice service at our church. Afterward, everyone stayed and chatted and left one by one. Margy (who made Els that beautiful quilt) and Sindy were admiring each other's coats, and Sindy pulled out her matching gloves. As soon as she put them on Els' face crumpled. Sindy had to take the gloves off and show Els her hands before Els would calm down, and when she took the gloves back out Els started crying again.

We'll never really know, but it certainly seemed as though there was something about the gloves (and the hat) -- perhaps the change in appearance? -- that scared Els.

Comments:
Nana: Your dad, Kate, had a full beard when you were a baby. Just after your first birthday, he shaved it off. You would have nothing to do with him for a day or two!

Sarah: I think it has to do with seeing people as a pattern of the whole--dogs are often afraid of hats and gloves on familiar people (same, yet different) until they get used to the change (hat vs whole hat). I think it's related to perception and expectation.

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Sat, Dec 20, 2008 3:00 PM
Last night Eluned waved to Bertha as we left, and even said something that sounded vaguely like "bye-bye."

Els doesn't clap yet, but she understands the meaning. Will and I clap when she does something we want to encourage (as well as telling her what a good job she did, smiling, etc.). Now every time we clap and praise her, she gets excited and laughs and bounces.

Comments:
Sarah: It's fun to follow her progress!

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Mon, Dec 15, 2008 1:00 PM
Today Eluned discovered the volume knob on the stereo. (She likes music, so we frequently have music playing.)

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Sun, Dec 14, 2008 7:00 PM
Eluned has learned how to point with her finger. She shakes her finger at us, which makes us wonder where she sees that -- presumably at Bertha's, perhaps directed at the two two-year-old boys. Els points at the cats now. And her favorite thing when she's pointing is for one of us to touch our finger to hers like in E.T.

Comments:
Sarah: Els, phone home!

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Sat, Dec 13, 2008 4:00 PM
Eluned has discovered that she can crawl into the kitchen/dining area, toward the patio, and to the cats' food (which we have since moved).

Comments:
Kate: I was following her, and always managed to get to her in time -- although just barely a couple of times.

Sarah: And how did you find out that she can crawl to the cats' food? Nom, nom, nom?

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Sun, Dec 7, 2008 2:00 PM
Last Sunday afternoon I was sitting on the couch while Eluned napped in my lap. Will was at the store. Suddenly my entire house shook. Big trucks driving by will shake our house, but this was even stronger than that. I thought maybe someone had hit our garage or back fence (it's happened before) or even the side of our house, but there was no commotion like there would be after an accident. And it was too short for an earthquake.

I got my answer a few days later: space shuttle Endeavour landed at Edwards Air Force Base last Sunday, generating a sonic boom as it flew over Los Angeles that was heard (and felt) across the entire county.

Comments:
Sarah: Double boom, right? Gave me a startle, too.

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Sat, Dec 6, 2008 8:00 PM
Last week was Eluned's first Thanksgiving. My parents and my Aunt Ginny came down to our house. As we have for the last few years, we split up the cooking. This year, we grilled the turkey.

We set aside plain diced green beans and mashed sweet potato for Els. She shared our mashed potatoes with goat cheese and fresh sage. And she had a few little tastes of turkey. She liked everything; she's turning in to a very good eater.

Els has been curious about what we were eating for a while now, but she's started taking an especially keen interest recently. Even before the holiday, we had begun giving her tastes of whatever we were eating, like french fries. I think she's realized that we've been holding out on her. She even tried a pan-seared brussels sprout the other night when I was eating them. I don't think she liked it; I gave her two and she put one back on my plate. But she tried one.

On Friday we baby-proofed: strapped furniture to the walls, reorganized the kitchen, installed cabinet locks, moved electrical cords and covered outlets, etc.

Comments:
Sarah: Suggestion: motion sensor alarms on doors to outside. My daughter learned almost immediately upon crawling/walking to reach up and open the door. She's a world traveler now; she started young.

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Thu, Dec 4, 2008 10:00 PM
I took Eluned into the freshly cleaned and newly baby-proofed kitchen with me tonight. (Nothing is stopping Els from crawling in to the kitchen herself, but even when she can see us there she stays in the living room.) It ended spectacularly for her but not so well for me.

Els has been eating heartily this week, so this morning I sent a double portion of breakfast. She ate most of it, so tonight I had to make her more breakfast. I also made her afternoon snack with half an avocado. (We overbought avocado and they won't keep.) I diced the other half and put it in a plate on the floor for Els to snack.

Els had a great time in our tiny kitchen. She crawled up and down the length and back and forth between the cabinets. She could move easily in her fleece sleeper on our Pergo floor and she could reach me any time she wanted.

As I wrapped up my cooking I realized Els was using her avocado snack as fingerpaint on the floor. I moved her out of the way to clean that up, and she rounded the corner and discovered the cats' dishes. I moved her back to the kitchen, and she made a beeline back to the cats' area. I finished cleaning the floor and then pulled Els out of the water dish.

Comments:
Poppa: And away we go! You're going to enjoy trying to keep up with Little Miss Els!

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Wed, Dec 3, 2008 9:00 PM
Last night I woke up in the middle of the night to find Eluned up on her hands and knees leaning over me. It turns out she wanted to nurse, but rather than whimpering to get me to roll over like she usually does, she apparently opted to go the self-service route.

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