Clapping Hands & Happy Feet

Eliza is growing and developing new skills so fast. Last Thursday was the first time she clapped her hands together all by herself. Several days before we had a good time practicing with my hands. Liza would take hold of my thumbs, or a couple of fingers and clap my hands together.  When Jack came home from work Thursday she was so excited she clapped her hands. I think Jack was really excited that he got to be around the first time she did something.

Another first that Jack discovered was her first tooth. Sunday after church Jack told me he found that Liza broke the tooth on the bottom right. I was rather surprised because Liza didn't have any of the classic signs of teething. No fever or runny nose and she always has a toy or a random finger in her mouth so that doesn't count. Even now she's not fussy or needing extra attention. I suppose she is still enjoying the thrill of mobility.

Yesterday I put Liza on her tummy, not her favorite thing in the world, and she  got mad enough to push herself up and then start to push herself backwards. Strangely enough Liza seems to make the most progress and does new things when she's ticked off. Jack says she's like me in that respect.

One of Eliza's mannerisms is that she uses her feet about as much as her hands. If she can't reach something with her hands, she will try with her feet. She will often be checking out something with one hand and grabbing her foot with the other and extending her leg. You can also tell when she's excited because she does her happy kicks. My favorite when she's  sitting up with her legs straight in front of her and she kicks by lifting both legs up and down, that's a trick I can't do. Oh I've also found her doing the splits. As soon as she is old enough I'm going to try and put her into dancing lessons.

Time for swimming!!

Summer is in full swing here in and that means new adventures. Last week we had our first swimming adventure at our community pool with our friends Lexi, Ryah, and Jayce. It's about a ten minuet walk from our house and the kiddy pool is shaded, perfect for hot, Texas weather. When we got in the pool Liza was content to be in my lap and check out the joint, as is her practice in new situations. After a while I put her in her floaty to see if I would get a different response but no. she was still content to just chill, let her arms hang over the front of her floaty, and watch everybody. I was a bit surprised since she absolutely adores her bath and always has a grand time. It wasn't until we had been at the pool for about a half hour before she really became animated. Ryah was kind enough to share her toys with us and Liza started to give everyone her big smiles and happily splashed and played. When we went into the big pool I actually got some giggles out of her when I tossed her in the air. We had a great time and when we got home Eliza took a nice long nap. I know understand why my mom took us swimming so often during the summer!!!

It Begins

Well I've finally done it. I've been meaning to since Eliza came, but I couldn't come up with a catchy name for my blog so, I put it off. I regret that now since it would have been very easy to blog Eliza's milestones and then convert it into a baby book through online scrap booking. Oh well. I suppose I shall have to do some things retroactively. Eliza continues to be a delightful baby. She loves to smile and talk in her baby jabber. Her favorite toys include balloons, cords, her diaper wipes, and just about anything of Mommy's. Liza has recently discovered that she can scoot and wiggle her way forward to get things out of her reach. She has also figured out how to use her legs to turn herself around while sitting. For some reason she does her best exploring when I'm not watching, or if I do watch it has to be covertly. Gone are the days when I could set her down and expect her to remain in the same spot. I'm hopping that she will figure out how to get on her hands and knees so that we can really start to move!!