one track mind

tablewalking
Originally uploaded by Kristy and Eva.

i really like the lighting in this photo. i took all of these last week, she's harder to catch in a good shot now that she can move all over.

yesterday i bought some of those suction cup balls for eva because she seemed to really like them in her physical therapy. i stuck them to the window, and she was so excited about them that even in her overtired nap-needing state, she crawled right over to them. after i identified them as "ball", she immediately signed for ball even though i haven't shown her that sign for a few weeks. i did it back to her, and she signed for ball excitedly over and over (sort of flapping your arm like you're throwing) until i finally got her down for a nap. she woke up an hour later, looked at me, signed for ball, and fell back asleep! it seemed like she had been dreaming about her new fun toy. then when she woke up for real an hour later (nice long nap, huh?), here eyes popped open like i'd flipped a switch, and she signed for ball and promptly craned her head around to look at them stuck to the window. she pointed at them, said "ooh ooh ooh!" and squirmed off my lap so she could crawl over to them. i just thought it was really fun that she was so excited about this.

eleven months

even as i write this, i feel that i must be making it up or somehow exaggerating, but apparently eva is 11 months old today. at least that's what they tell me. too crazy.

this past month has been her busiest yet, with dizzying advances in all sorts of areas. she became mobile (crawling, cruising around on furniture, and taking a few steps at a time), and you'd think that would be enough, but in addition the lights have really come on in terms of signing. to me, her ability to communicate her observations and needs with me is almost a bigger deal than her mobility -- but combine the two and she's a whole different person than i had around a month ago.

she started using 5 new signs since yesterday (although i'm sure we missed one or two of them on the first earlier attempts?) so it seems time for a sign inventory. here they are, roughly in order: light (bottom photo), dog (top photo), fan, fish, flower, tree, milk (my favorite, so practical!), all done, baby, food, drink, more (also very helpful), and music. well, and waving "bye-bye" which i guess really is a sign, too.

i could go on and on about signs (uh... i could and i am, apparently), but i'm just so excited that she can communicate. i told larry at dinner (after she signed for more pasta and then some water, then told us she heard music and saw the dog) that the signing really colors my perception of her. she can tell me what she wants and what she sees, and if she couldn't do so this readily, i might not know how much is going on in her head. what a big payoff for so little effort -- most things in parenting are not that way.

oh, also in the photo you can get a good view of the remains of her neck lump as i call it (fibromatosis colii). she had her last physical therapy appointment yesterday, she's officially caught up. well, she might walk a bit on the later side due to the crawling being late, but she's totally fine now and needs no more treatment. yea, eva!