13 months and 5 days old!!!

 

This gorgeous child is already 13 months and 5 days old today!!!  I was not anywhere near a user-friendly computer on her 13 month day to capture all her newest tricks.  So, here goes.

 



• Linmari has added to her vocabulary and now also says "Ouma, Oupa, (Grandma, Grandpa), eina (ouch), eier (egg), no (shakes head)" after a week with the grandparents.
• Linmari further advanced to saying "Kyk daar (look there), ja (yes)".  I'm sure there were more words, I just cannot remember them. :-(
• She is too cute for words, starting to point, click, drag and drop (my dad always said that my nephew treated us like a user would treat the Windows OS, LOL).  Last night she kept on pointing at the kitchen counter and we thought she wanted fresh strawberries.  Turns out, she wanted COOKIES and knew exactly where to find them!  Today she screamed and cried like it was nobody's business.  When I investigated, she indignantly picked up a building block that she was playing with and pointed to it.  Then she proceeded to pick up another building block after placing the first one down on the floor again, and pointed at the second one.  And then she BABBLED!  She seemed very upset with her building blocks - HAHAHA!
• She babbles a LOT and non-stop!  I think she's taking after me.
• She's started to open the fridge and investigate what's inside.  NOT very convenient when I'm trying to cook.
• She loooooooooves frozen strawberries and smoothies!
• She has decided that she no longer likes olives and lemons.
• She is currently cutting FOUR molars - OUCH! (On Friday night she kept on saying "Eina" (ouch) and throwing tantrums, until we figured out [my husband, really] that her gums were really sore and that she is actually cutting those teeth.)
• She is quickly becoming quite the master of climbing onto tables.  Her latest endeavour involves figuring out how she'll get onto our dining room table from the futon situated next to the table.  She's already figured out how to get onto her own table out on the patio.
• Linmari has suddenly become Miss Independent....it's both frustrating and cute at the same time to observe!  If I touch anything that she was about to eat I can forget that she'll eat it.  She wants to, NEEDS to, pick up her own food with a spoon or fork and she doesn't need anyone's help - THANK YOU VERY MUCH!  (*groan*).  So we're on loads of finger foods now and most meals are eaten out on the patio at her table to avoid having to perform hectic clean-ups after every meal.  She seems to love the arrangement.
• Linmari looooooooves cheese as well!  In any form - grated, sticks, processed, whatever!
• Her sand pit is one of her most treasured play areas. 
• SHE CAN STACK TWO CUBES ON TOP OF EACH OTHER!!! HURRAY!!!!
• She can sort loose cubes into a muffin tray - how cool is that?!
• She's still not sleeping through - we're attempting sleep training again (a bit of a nightmare with her cutting teeth).
• She's attended her third wedding for the year and thoroughly enjoyed it.  Especially the bit where she got to dance with her daddy, and then with her stroller!

Every day I'm amazed at what my child can do.  I realise that life in and of itself truly is a miracle!  What a fortunate parent am I to get to stay at home and experience all her milestones with her?!  I just want to call everyone and tell them how wonderful my little girl is!  Love this kid to bits!

On a more productive note, though.  Since our little bit of a financial dilemma (in a worldly view, not by ANY means in a spiritual way) GOD has provided generously in our needs.  I started baking way more, including milktart, and also learned how to make koeksisters from my mom.  Then one of Thinus' colleagues asked whether or not I could make his son turning 5 years old, a SpongeBob birthday cake.  I said "Sure". worked out a price and together with a friend set out to make and decorate the cake.  Below is a picture of the final product.  I couldn't have done it without my friend's help.  She coloured and rolled out all the fondant, made all the facial features from a picture I had drawn her and stood by me till nearly 11 on Thursday night.  The hard work paid off and it seems like there were a few people that were interested in my cake baking skills.  All I can say is "Soli Deo Gloria!" - "Glory be to GOD alone!".

May you all have a blessed week!  I better get my baby's washing on the line and then get into bed.  It's rather late and I need some uninterrupted sleep!

11 month old kids are SO.DARN.CUTE!

So  I've been at home...recovering from chickenpox.  But during that time I've also been able to spend some precious time with Linmari.  Okay, so itching like crazy and running after your little one can be rather challenging, but that's fine by me.  At least she was a welcome distraction!  Keeping a steady level of Panado in my bloodstream and Calamine lotion on my body has certainly also been of great help!

Linmari are doing such cute things, SERIOUSLY!  Yesterday she started playing 'hide-and-seek' with me, just around our bed.  She would walk around the bed to her dad's side of the bed (our bed is very high, with a big mattress) and suddenly pop out to reveal herself.  And then she would be reduced to a puddle of giggles when I said "BOO!".  Quickly up and walking around the edge of the bed to the other side (my side) and pop out with me saying "BOO!" again.  GIGGLES, then LAUGHTER, like the kind of laughter that starts in your belly and erupts from your mouth! 

We also played with just plain old cake flour.  I put some on a tray, took it outside, and she entertained herself for nearly half an hour, just smearing her hands, then her face and finally her WHOLE BODY with the flour!  I also gave her some cookie cutters to play with, which she tried to "fill", but alas, it didn't work ;-)  She's too cute!

And THEN my dearest daughter discovered that the hedge between us and the neighbours' gardens could be traversed (with lots of effort and serious dirt-effect).  That kept her busy for another half an hour or so.  The garden was next, finding all kinds of interesting leaves (dead and alive) in the garden, playing with the ground/dirt, looking at birds in our other neighbours' garden and discovering red flowers (oh, the delight!) in our own.  As if that wasn't enough, she then fetched her ball so that we could play with that, after which she decided that the lounge chair on our stoep/porch makes for a lovely jungle gym.

I love the energy this kid has (and sometimes I loathe it, let's be honest) and how she wants to explore and experience every bit of her environment.  Yes, everything goes to the mouth...which is rather disgusting sometimes.  But I'm SO grateful to have a child who is able to move around in her environment.  Who can climb in and on and through things.  Who can go and fetch her ball and WALK to me so that we can play with it!  What a wonderful privilege it is to share in her development, to be present and able to see it all happening!  I am in awe of my child, but mostly I am in awe of GOD, for HE created this beautiful being. 

Yesterday, my devotional piece was on Psalm 139, by far one of my favourite chapters in the Bible.  GOD knit us together in our mothers' wombs.  HE knew all the days destined for us before they came to be.  HE knew that Linmari would start walking on Tuesday, 23 July 2013, before she was even born!  What an amazing blessing to know GOD and to see how HE designed creation.

I just wanted to share these beautiful experiences with the world.  I love my girl and am forever grateful that I can be part of her world!  Praise be to GOD for providing to enable me to follow my heart's desires!