A Note From The Director

I just got this email from the director of Ainsley's daycare, and thought I'd share:

I visited Menike yesterday and saw grown up Ainsley! She is walking so well
now. She examined a truck book and “commented” on it. She asked, “What’s that?”
and repeated “dog” and “lamb” when she looked at the animal babies
book.

Always Watching

After observing her brother a few minutes earlier, Ainsley put on a pair of bunny ears and walked around the house saying "hop, hop, hop!"

How cute is she???!

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Awe

Ainsley was not the only tot in church today who was less than quiet, but I am pretty certain she was the only one saying "Wooooooooh!" and "Woooooooww!" Inside voices, Ainsley, inside voices!

Our 14 Month Old

I am a couple of weeks late, but I pulled this from my old verizon email account today:

How's your toddler's growing: Your toddler is mastering new skills left and
right these days — from waving bye-bye to drinking from a cup. But one thing he
probably hasn't gotten a handle on is adult table manners. And that's okay. It's
too early for him to understand or manage neatness. Eating is a learning
experience, and at this age learning tends to be messy. So spread a splash mat
under his highchair and set him free; let him learn to use a spoon at his own pace, check out the texture of egg, and find out what peas do when thrown.How your life is changing: You may as well let your toddler do what he wants with his food, as you probably won't have much luck trying to stop him. Why? At this age, the things you say no to have the most allure, so grin and bear it, and make sure your house is childproofed.

I am very much of the mindset to just let Ainsley do what she wants at dinner, as long as she is eating something healthy. More often then not, she is painting herself with yogurt...but she's trying. She just isn't all that coordinated yet with a spoon!
Ainsley is also becoming more independant in other ways. She has started walking around the house now, unaided. If the family is in separate rooms, she will just walk around and see what's going on.
She talks quite a bit and communicates her needs. She knows cup, car, ball, Bail(ey), Mummum, Dada, brthr, WooooW!, Yaaaaaay!. She claps now. She is good at forward rolls. She loves to "'wing" at the playgrund. A big step at the gym on Saturday: She completed 3 part instructions independantly. "AInsley, go and get that blue ball over there, take it back over there and put it in the bucket." It was so exciting!

From BabyCenter.com

Expert Answers
David Geller, pediatrician
You may have to throw in the proverbial towel on this one. Children are messy, especially when they're learning how to eat on their own, even in the neatest of homes.

Right now, your child sees eating as an experiment. The more you allow her to explore, the more fun she'll have as she learns how to use her mouth and hands to eat. She'll enjoy how food feels between her fingers, in her mouth, on her face, and all over her body. She's also brimming with curiosity over what happens when she flings food on the floor or feeds it to the family pet.

Try to go with the flow and have fun watching her gleefully learn what food is all about. It may help to have a plastic, washable mat underneath her highchair to protect your floor or carpet (an old shower curtain works just fine). Outfit her with a large bib, one with a little pocket at the bottom to catch falling food if possible.

And for safety reasons, use unbreakable dishes, cups, and glasses. If she starts throwing utensils across the room, discourage the behavior with a firm reprimand. Give her smaller portions so she won't have too much material to play with. Otherwise, be prepared for lots of baths, laundry, and laughs.

Ducks + Red Wings = Snoozer

Only to find out later that it went to Triple Overtime

Worn Out.

Post gym