I’ve been noticing that I play the same games with Laura that I did with Sara. My current one is “body parts”. I point out body parts while doing something silly. It was one of the earliest ways Sara and I communicated. She would touch my nose or ear when I’d say the word. At this age, Laura is fascinated with my face. She loves to stick her hand in my mouth. I gum her hand like a dog shaking a toy. She giggles hysterically at this. Laura is communicating in other ways. After 2 months of signs, she’s started to use “more” with her favorite food. She’s been telling me she wants “more” in Laura language for a while. She’ll look at me intensely when I have any piece of fruit in my hand. She’ll kick her legs against her highchair and start to yell. That means “more” in Laura-ese. “All done” is signified by blowing bubbles with her food or dropping the food on the floor or swatting her hands around her face like she’s being attached by a bunch of hornets. She alerts me to hunger by crying or crawling toward her highchair.
Another game I’m repeating is water play. If water spills on Laura’s tray, she’ll play with it intensely. She’s attracted to the sink. She’ll climb up on the stool while Sara is standing on it brushing her teeth or washing her hands and cling to Sara’s clothes precariously while trying to strike a position where she can play with the water. Our upstairs sink is lower so she can now reach it with a step stool now that she’s walking. I’ll let the faucet drip. She can only reach the water with her hands so she can’t get her sleeves wet. I can let her play contentedly for 15 minutes.
Did you catch that? Laura is walking. I figured she would repeat Sara’s performance and walk while I was away and Nana would get to see her first steps (Shirley observed Sara’s first steps). Then I thought she’d do it while I was in Boston. She’s been standing up in the middle of the room for several weeks now. She’s been taking what I’d call falling steps (1-2 steps to outstretched arms or an object ofr over 3 weeks). She’s been pushing a walker car by herself for several weeks. But no independent steps. The first one’s happened last week. She practiced over at Audra’s house last Friday. I’ve now seen her walk about 7 steps in a row. She’s even tried turns. It’s amazing how much she practices. Sara’s gotten in on the act by leading her around everywhere. It’s the second most popular sister game after wrestling on the floor.