First Christmas!

Brigita is doing fantastic! She amazes me with how well she is doing. It feels like every time one thing "clicks" for her, something else does as well. We are finally finished with the 3rd ear infection (the first 2 were both double ear infections) and a very heavy antibiotic that delivered poop everywhere! Then, as it quickly left her body she immediately was constipated again. So frustrating but the Miralax is kicking in again.

Last week as I was getting her bath together, I said the word "bath" but did not sign it. I turned the water on and when I turned to look at her, Brigita was signing "bath" completely on her own! I was ecstatic! She is also trying to sign parts of "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" and "Itsy Bitsy Spider." She was watching a video of little girl signing "Jesus Loves Me" and signed "yes" with the little girl. When we go outside, after swinging, she will explore the fort part of the swing set and also walk around the yard a little, even going to check out the dogs. Previously she was almost oblivious to anything else existing. She gives me kisses, laughs more, plays with the beach ball by herself, and snuggles a lot. She loves for me to hold her and will laugh when I pick her up or snuggle her against me. She is appropriately oppositional at times and testing boundaries. We are working on learning to be gentle with toys and not just throwing everything. Also, part of our educational time is learning how to play. I literally have to show her over and over again how to roll a car, put things in and out of boxes, etc. I never realized how much we teach kids gradually as they grow. We repeat, repeat, repeat everything, every day.

We had a wonderful Christmas. Brigita was completely overwhelmed with the activity at my mom's house and wanted to just hit and bite everyone. Eventually, I introduced her to an empty bin where she was the happiest little girl for quite some time. She was pretty uninterested in what Santa and mama got her. But she did sit in my lap while I unwrapped gifts and tried to show her and get her interested. Then she just wanted to throw them. She did let me read books she received to her.

Today we were playing with a board puzzle she received. It has 5 animals on it. I was showing her the animal, doing the sign for the animal and making the animal sound. She mimicked me making the "baa" for a goat and the "quack" for a duck! This is awesome. When I call my cats, she will sometimes make a noise that seems to mimick me calling "kitty kitty." Brigita also blew a kiss today. I am so proud of her. She is a remarkable child and such a pleasure. I love her so much and am so proud to be her mom!

So, here's few pictures...