"Turn Off Rain"

Today, Daphne wanted to go for a walk. However, it was raining, and I said to her, "Sorry, Daphne, we can't go for a walk today, it's raining."

So she stood in front of the window for about 15 minutes, watching the rain fall.

She approached me again and said, "Mommy, turn off rain. Turn off rain."

I wasn't sure if I heard her correctly. I responded by asking, "What?"

"Turn off rain, mommy. Turn off rain."

"You want me to turn off the rain?"

"Yeah, turn off rain, outside."

"I'm sorry, Daphne, but mommy can't turn off the rain."

She looked despondent after hearing this. Then she just walked away.

Daphne learns how to say "Hate you!"

On Thanksgiving, Lucie yelled, "I hate you!" at Daphne, and ever since, she has been yelling "I hate you!" whenever she gets upset.

It makes me so sad. I am trying to figure out ways to deal with it. I think I will just ignore it--hopefully it goes away!

What mean, ugly, hurtful, DIGUSTING words!

Sticky Fingers, Diaper-throwing

Here are some conversations I've had with Daphne today:

In the middle of eating her Kare-Kare, Daphne says: Mommy, sticky fingers.
Paula: Huh?
Daphne: Sticky fingers, mommy, sticky fingers.
Paula: Oh,do you want want to wash your hands?
Daphne: (nods) Mmm-hmm.
Paula: Okay. (Takes Daphne down from her high chair)
(Daphne runs off to the bathroom to wash her hands, and then returns)
Daphne: Look, mommy, clean hands.
Paula: Ooooh, yeah, very clean.
Daphne: More food, please. More food, mommy.

This conversation was while I was changing Lotus:
Paula: Daphne, can you throw this diaper in the trash?
Daphne: (she stares at the diaper in my hand for about 5 seconds) Mommy, throw diaper on couch, diaper.
Paula: Uh, can you throw it away in the trash?
Daphne: (continues to stare at the diaper for about 3 more seconds, takes it from me, and throws it on the couch)

Daphne, after washing her hands: Mommy, wet sleeve, a wet frog (there were frogs on her sleeve).
Paula: Oh okay, go wring it out in the sink.
Daphne: Mommy, wet sleeve, a wet frog.
Paula: Yeah, go wring it out.
Daphne: A take it off, mommy, take off clothes.
Paula: Oh, okay. (takes off Daphne's shirt) Put it in the hamper.
(Daphne runs and puts her shirt in the hamper)
Daphne: (Upon returning, she has also taken off her pants) Mommy, I put clothes a hamper, a clothes. Clothes, a get it, mommy (meaning, she wanted me to get her new clothes).
Paula: You get your clothes. Get new clothes for yourself in your drawer.
Daphne: You get it.
Paula: No, you get it.
Daphne: No, you get it.
Paula: You get it.
Daphne: You get it.
Paula: You know where your clothes are, you get it.
Daphne: Okay.
(goes gets clothes then returns with a shirt and shorts)
Daphne: Look, mommy, a clothes. Flowers. (she chose very flower-y clothing)

Hahahaha, Daphne is soooo funny. The other day we were at the park and some kids took her doll stroller, and she went around looking for it, calling out, "Stroller, where are you? Where are you, stroller?" Then she saw it and got all freaked out that other kids were playing with it, and she tried to call my attention because I was bending over to get her sweater. To get my attention she said, very frantically, "Mommy, stroller, mommy, mommy, mommy, Paula, stroller, over there! MOMMY! TA-DAAA, TA-DAAAAA!"

Yes, she said "ta-da". She said it as if she were presenting something to me. It was soooo sad, yet so hilariously adorable.

Weekly Update

Lotus had a CT scan on Wednesday because it is protocol for babies whose head circumference measure "off the charts". Please pray that she doesn't develop cancer later in life, as recent scientific surveys have shown a correlation between pediatric CT scans and developing fatal cancers later in life. Hopefully, this is merely a correlation and not a causation.

There isn't visibly wrong with Lotus. She is healthy, active, and reaching all developmental milestones ahead of schedule.

She is smiling a lot, lifting her head around, and she even giggled once after I cracked a joke about Emmanuel! Coincidence? She's an extremely attentive baby, but she sometimes gets overstimulated by stuff she sees. Those are the times when her new Moby Wrap comes in handy!

I bought a Moby Wrap for her on Saturday because her Simple Sling had torn. I got a simple, chocolate-colored one. The Moby is easy to use, and I'm happy to say that it distributes her weight evenly across my back in a way that her Simple Sling did not. The Moby supports her excellently despite her weighing 14 pounds!

Weekly Update

Daphne has learned to sing "Happy Birthday to You."

She knows what a triangle is.

We made picture frames on Saturday using Christmas-themed confetti and pom poms. In fact, we went to Michael's and shopped for craft supplies so I could do more crafts with Daphne. She is learning to dispense glue very well. I will post a picture of what she decorated later, so check back!

She is very proficient is distinguishing and naming different colors. However, she calls the color black "black bear." I think her confusion comes from the time I taught her the word "black bear" to help her distinguish between a "panda bear." I don't think she understood that "black bear" was the NAME of the animal, not the color of the animal. So now every time we see the color black she proudly exclaims, "black bear!"

Daphne Talks & Loves -- has also Learned Colors and Emotions

Daphne is becoming so talkative. She is starting to string together adjectives and nouns, nouns and verbs. Very cool!

She has also learned her colors. She knows black, red, green, yellow, blue, white. I think she learned her colors because of the Play-Doh I bought!

Here are some videos of Daphne expressing her love:





Also, she has learned to express her emotions! The other day, I was feeling frazzled because Lotus needed me, but Daphne was asking for my attention. I told Daphne to hold on for a minute, and then she started to whimper and say that she was sad!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! She said something like, "Sad. I'm sad. I'm sad."

I have been trying to teach her to express herself with her words because sometimes she uses inappropriate actions to express herself (like throwing books). So I made up a song using different emotions. I just sing the name of the emotion over and over while expressing the emotion on my face and with my body. I have been trying to teach her about happiness, sadness, frustration, anger and surprise.

Very cool, huh?!?

Daphne uses complete sentences! WOW!

The past few days, I have been teaching Daphne songs. Today, sometime, in the evening, Daphne started singing the ABCs all by herself! And then, at the end, she yelled, "SING WITH ME!"

I WAS SO SURPRISED!!!

Another surprise that occurred today--I was looking for stuff in my bedroom, when all of a sudden, Daphne rushed towards me yelling, "I GOT YOU!" Then she insisted that I run away from her while she tried to catch me! It was the funniest, cutest thing ever!

I feel disappointed that I haven't been able to take her to the park for the past week, though. I made it my goal to take her to the park for at least an hour everyday, but Emmanuel and I have been so busy trying to get his graduate school applications ready. Sort of stressful, but exciting!

On Saturday, we are going to visit the Getty Museum! They are having this cool event that I thought Daphne would enjoy! I'll make sure to take lots of pictures to post!