little artist Aoife

Aoife is really becoming interested in drawing lately. At first, she didn't like to draw and I was very worried, but now she really enjoys it. She has moved away from just marking the paper with scratch lines and is now doing circular motions. It very funny to watch her draw and suddenly she decides that she is done with a certain picture and gets out a new piece of paper to draw on. She prefers to work with marker, but will also work with fat crayons. She is also starting to paint, but she has only done this at daycare so I'm not sure if she likes it or not.

Here's Aoife playing with Jullian who is the only boy at the daycare. There is one other girl, Silvia, who is a little older than Aoife, and there is a baby whose name I cannot spell. Aoife is very protective over the baby and acts like an older sister to her. It's really sweet to see Aoife being so gentle with her. Aoife has really gotten into taking care of her baby doll which Gramma Rachel got for her. Aoife likes to feed it in the morning, change her diaper, and put her to sleep. She can carry her around for hours. She even sleeps with her baby at night. It's really nice to see her being so gentle to her baby...well, sometimes Aoife gets a little excited and bashes her head against the wall. I'm still not sure what to think of that, but Aoife kisses her babies head to make her feel better.

Aoife's New Daycare

Aoife's new family daycare is wonderful. It's pretty close to our house. Tim drops her off with her bike trailer in the morning, and I pick her up. Aoife really likes all the toys at daycare. We have decided not to have a lot of toys in our house instead relying on ordinary objects and toys that can be manipulated in different ways. The daycare also has a fish tank which Aoife is fascinated with. In the morning when she arrives, she feeds the fish. They also have a large backyard with a sand box and water tub. They spend many hours everyday outside playing.

The people who take care of Aoife are very nice. They are a mother and daughter from Guatemala. The daughter, Sarita, is bubbly and very excitable about thinking up new activities for the kids. The mom is more experienced and cooks delicious food for them. We feel pretty lucky to have found such a nice daycare close to us, and Aoife really enjoys it and seems to be getting a lot out of it.

Wizard Baby

Aoife hasn't been sleeping well lately because of her teeth which means neither have we. Her appetite is also pretty awful lately, but she is on good spirits during the day. She had a great time today in her fort we made out of a blanket and two chairs. When I went inside with her, she kissed me on the lips so many times. This is something she loves to do lately. She likes her owwies to be kissed, and whenever she is feeling sorry for herself, she asks us to kiss her owwies. She's becoming very affectionate. At night she likes it when I hold her on my chest when she needs to be comforted from her pain. Here is Aoife playing magic wizard with one of pucks play toys.

Goodnight Moon

This is Aoife's favorite book right now. I lay her down to bed and go get the book. When I lay down next to her, she giggles with excitement. It's a very simple book about a bunny saying goodnight to the things in his room. This week she really likes the mouse and the stars. It's amazing how the story calms her and she falls asleep so soon after I read it to her.

New Orleans Culture night

Last night we went to New Orleans culture night at my school. There were decorations, balloons, great food, mask making, face painting. It was so much fun; one of the best culture night so far. Aoife had a great time there. All the students flocked to see her. She's afraid of other people, but she still gave them a big smile. The funny thing is that mostly the guy students wanted to play with her! Aoife also had a playmate, Kai, to hang out with. She loved playing with the balloons. She kicked them and threw them, and kept giving them to people. She was also dancing to the music by shaking her hips and swinging her arms...so adorable!

Today we went to look at Aoife's new daycare. She was so timid and shy at first yet she had a huge grin on her face. Sara had told the babies about Aoife's arrival and were anticipating her all day. They seemed so excited to see her. There are two 17 month old toddlers, Silvie and Julian, and a 9 month old baby who was adorable. Aoife loved playing with the baby dolls and was very affectionate with them which surprised me. She seems so maternal and sweet and kind right now at this age. She did seem to but heads with Silvie, the other girl, whatever Silvie was into is what Aoife wanted to be in and visa verse. I remember one time about a month ago. I took Aoife to the park by the hospital and Aoife was playing with another baby her age. they both were playing at a toy kitchen, but Aoife no longer wanted the girl to play there and she put her forehead against the other girls to push her away while she growled. I was so astonished at this behavior; it was so strange, and I felt mixed emotions of shame and pride. Then the girl wanted to put her hand in the sink and Aoife thrust her hand over it preventing the girl but somehow the girl had managed to put her hand in the sink and Aoife grabbed it and squeezed it; that is when I intervened. I hope she doesn't do this at the daycare to any of the kids, but I think it is normal behavior for kids at this age. Then there are times when she's very sweet with others. and she wants to kiss them. I think she'll like this new daycare. It is so much better than her last one. The kids seem more engaged, and Sara seems so enthusiastic and has a lot of energy.

Super Hero baby!

Raulet Picnic

This was Aoife's second annual Raulet picnic. This time she could play with Derick, the other baby from the Raulet lab. She had a fun time, but she was running around everywhere, and we were afraid she would run into the poison ivy. Her and Derick also liked to look at the BBQ flames. There was also a dog that she watched play Frisbee, and when he liked her, she stood very still and gave him a strange look. She was really starting to get physically active at this age.

Seattle

Tim was asked to give a poster session at the Seattle Immunology Conference 2009, and he let us come along with him. Seattle is one of the places we might end up moving to, so it was a good opportunity for me to check out what Seattle has to offer. I fell in love immediately.
Our hotel was right by the space needle, so everyday Aoife and I would take a walk over to the space needle and hang out before heading down town. Aoife is not happy in this picture because she was annoyed with me trying to get a good picture.

This is Pikes Place Market which is famous for it's "flying" fish. What a fun market with foods from all over the state, local crafts, and quirky stores.I took Aoife to the childrens museum, and she had fun playing with these musical instruments.



She also enjoyed climbing through this rock structure.Her favorite part was this fake river with boats and fish in it.



...and this is my last picture before I dropped our camera and broke it.

I love to play

I have many little baskets and a wooden bowl full of little toys and kitchen utensils for Aoife to play with. She loves to sit there and pull out each object one by one, chew it and then throw it away.

I love animals

This weekend we took Aoife to the pet store to look at the animals. When I take her for walks in her stroller, she likes to look up at the telephone wires at the birds. She can also follow birds flying in the air. Every time we see a dog, she flaps her arms and legs and starts to squeal. She liked watching the birds in their cages and we even got the chance to speak with a parrot. See the picture above where she is flapping her arms like the birds!


I am now allowing Aoife to feed herself more and more. It's very messy, but she is so good at using her pincher finger. I read that it is important to allow infants the time to feed themselves so that they can explore the food first hand and get used to feeding themselves for further independence.