cartoon baby

Liesl continues to grow and change with extraordinary rapidity. She is clearly relishing her newfound ability to let us know exactly what she does and doesn't want with regard to food, activities, sleep, and clothing. She can shake her head no with gusto, say mama and more, point to her mouth for hungry and her chest for help, and point out objects of interest with her imperious little finger. She gets a lot of mileage out of those few skills. When crossed, she throws herself to the ground, screams and cries, and kicks her legs and pounds her arms on the floor. She's like a cartoon character throwing a tantrum.

I had a meeting with her daycare teacher yesterday just to check in and talk about how Liesl is doing. In general, she's just really happy. She loves other children and adults and will regularly make the rounds hugging all of the teachers. She sleeps well. She eats lots of fruits, veggies, rice, and pasta, but doesn't like most meat. Kelly described her as the easiest and calmest of babies, calling her "my little zen baby". Zen! Calm! I think it's fair to say she neither inherited nor learned that from me. But Kelly said that for the most part nothing really frightens, upsets, or bothers her. (obviously she's not nearly as zen at home, but that's to be expected).

She continues to astonish us with her physical confidence and willingness to try any maneuver and climb any obstacle. She saw Steve doing pushups and immediately got down on the floor and tried to copy him. She has tried to stand on her head, like Sebastian. She jumps. She can stand on one leg and do leg lifts. She likes to feed herself and brush her own teeth, she tries to comb her hair and put on her own shoes.  Her latest trick involves pushing the high chair over to the window and then climbing first up onto the seat and then from there up onto the window sill. It's so fun, and worrisome, to watch her.