This Week in Mommyhood

I suffer from what I'm sure all parents suffer from: I think my kid is the greatest and smartest person around. Cati continues to impress me. To say that I'm enjoying her now more than ever is an understatement. She is just so impressive! If I thought her showing us her belly every time I said belly was impressive, then I didn't know she could reach for our bellies afterward in a way that shows she understands that others have bellies too.

Vocabulary continues to develop and it's not just what she says but what she knows. Cati knows the word "feet." The best part is asking her "where are your feet?" when she's standing because she looks down at her feet you can actually see confusion crossing her face  as she struggles with how to kick up her feet to show them to you. When she's sitting she'll grab her foot and then sniff it.  Cati understands that other babies are "nenes." "Nene" is one way of saying baby in Spanish and that's what I always say whenever we see another baby, be it toy or human. She started saying nene in reference to her dolls earlier this week but now she says it every time she sees another child.  Surprisingly enough though, she says bubbles better than nene and I think bubbles is a much harder word to say. To top things off, Cati started saying "allo" (hello). What makes this really amazing is that she says it when she grabs a phone and puts it to her ear. 

The funniest development this week is Cati needing to leave house with bag. Most of the times it's her food bag, but other times it's her holding onto one of the things I'm taking.  This just proves that kids are always aware and you never know what they will pick up on. Who would have thought her seeing me grab my bag every time we left the house would translate into her feeling like she needs a little bag as well.

The crummiest development this week is Cati starting to throw real tantrums. Or semi real considering she only does them when she doesn't want to be held or strapped down in her stroller. Her tantrum consists of her crying and arching her back making it nearly impossible for us to put her in a seated position. I hate when she does this in public because I don't want anyone thinking that I'm hurting or treating her poorly.

Physically, Cati is getting stronger and stronger. She is getting better at going down the stairs and she's even walking backwards! I noticed it the first time this week when she took several steps backward and held her balance. When did this happen? I feel like I missed her learning how to do this. With walking forward, I saw the progression from a few steps here to a lot of steps there. With walking backward I didn't. I remember when I would sit her in the Bumbo to help her with her neck strength and to hold her in place, now she can get in and out of it as if it were a game.

We went out last night. This is the first time since Cati was a few months old that we went out at night with her. I was afraid she would get really grouchy and have trouble going to sleep when we got home. I truly underestimate Cati because I was wrong on both counts. She did get grouchy but then I gave her a bath and she was revived. It's as if she was invited to the best party in town because she was running around and laughing like her life depended on it. She even learned how to shake her head and this was the funniest thing to her. She did start to breakdown when it was two hours after her bedtime which was ok because we were getting ready to leave anyway. She didn't sleep on the way home and did get a little cranky but we lucked out by catching every single green light. Once home, she drank a little milk and was out quicker than I could say "good night." I hope I never underestimate my child again.

The time changed today and I'm curious to see how it will affect our day. All I hope is that bedtime isn't affected. I need the me-time bedtime gives me!