Bronte 0.10

Exploring the park in her new bike helmet.

The past two months feel like a bit of a blur when it comes to Bronte's development. She went from commando crawling to cross crawling to pulling up on furniture & cruising & climbing stairs. She even stood on her own for 15 seconds or so the other day. The girl just doesn't take a break between learning new skills--it's go-go-go all the time!

Little B also got her third & fourth teeth in the past month, accompanied by much hand-chewing & drooling. Now that she's got chompers on top & bottom, it looks like we're going to have a brief break before the next pair come in. Whew.

With the new teeth she's able to eat more chewy & harder things, like apples & bread crusts. Bronte's tried a few new foods this month: tuna, milk, peanut butter, peas, strawberries, frozen fruit popsicles, smoothies & kiwi. No allergies or reactions of any kind so far, which is awesome. The only major allergenic foods that are left are sesame & shellfish, I think. She still eats pretty much everything & has quickly acquired a taste for aged cheese, after her rejection of extra old cheddar initially.

One of the most exciting things we've been paying attention to this month is her language development. She's starting to babble in a way that sounds pretty purposeful, possibly words. She once said 'Papa' when Oliver came home, but hasn't done it again in the same situation. She also said 'bana' when I was about to feed her a banana, but I'm not sure yet that it was a coincidence or not. I'm waiting to hear her use them more than once in the same situation to officially call it though. There is one sound she does consistently, which is 'mamamamamama' when she's upset & wants me. I hesitate to call it a word because she just repeats the syllable over & over as she's fussing.

Not content to sit, or crawl; she has to stand!

Now that I've watched Linnaeus grow from a newborn into a preschooler, I feel like I can predict Bronte's personality better from how she is now as a baby. I'm certain she won't be shy--she's always trying to catch the eye of people whenever we're out & smiles wide as soon as they look at her. She is already a noisy kid, babbling, shouting & quick to cry for help if she's stuck or her brother does something she doesn't like. Bronte is really energetic & always trying to do something new, which I hope will translate into an ambitious nature when she's older. She isn't easy to scare & doesn't get upset at things like being pushed by her brother or having her head rinsed with water or noisy machines like the blender or coffee grinder.

I have to say, though having two children drives me nuts every single day, I never get bored watching them learn & grow. It's magical, really, how much they change & how fast it all happens in these first years.

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