SHE loves her otter

SHE's helping with the laundry

Sierra's words now being recorded by Josh's iPhone

Sierra's words are now being recorded by Josh's iPhone since they are coming so fast and Josh is always on his iPhone. I keep adding words to this blog and then realizing later I forgot some. So here are more, some of which she's known for awhile, and some of which are newer.

And I just remembered that of course, she knows Naya and Lemma, whom she calls Yaya and Mama (yes, the latter is a bit confusing, but in context, you know who she's talking about! :))

She's in mimicking mode sometimes. I've been putting Aquafor just to the right of her lip where it's dry, and saying "aquafor" to which she says "akafor" (fast).

She loves her zooborns book and just learned "whale" today. This is good bc she was not so sure about the beluga whale at first:


Bracketed comments added by me below to Josh's email.


----- Forwarded Message ----
From: Josh Elman
To: Josh Elman
Cc: "cloverh@yahoo.com"
Sent: Sat, December 25, 2010 3:37:02 PM
Subject: Re: Sierra's words

+girl and car

Sent from mobile

On Dec 25, 2010, at 2:41 PM, Josh Elman wrote:

> Ge ge - music [1st thing after she opens her eyes in the morning, she shoots up to a sitting postion and points to the ipod and says "ge ge" until you turn on the music. The girl LOVES music.]
> Hua hua - flower
> Aye o way [Gran says this when she picks her up bc she is heavy. Now she says it all the time for fun, including when you pick her up. :)]
> Dui bu dui [This is her first official sentence. It means, "isn't that right?" in Chinese. She has Norm's mom and nanny cracking up the other night at their house and she repeatedly said this.]
> Dum - drums
> Elmo - character and water
>
> Sent from mobile

Christmas Eve with Jaden & SHE the intrepid explorer

Christmas Eve we went to Norm's for dinner. We pulled up and they had a holiday decoration of gift boxes with christmas lights on them outside. Sierra stood there saying "wow" again and again. We walked inside and Jaden was walking around for the first time (to us)! We settled in and then Josh commented how they don't follow Jaden around the house closely the way we follow SHE around. I said "Norm, doesn't he go into your drawers?" which was met with no response. Well... over the course of the evening, Sierra sifted through their Xmas gifts under the tree (including picking up and dropping Norm's gift to Jen - a Macbook Air - to which in response, Norm said "let's put that over here" and moved it), sorted through their CD rack, climbed on their coffee table and knocked everything down (the same coffee table that we remarked upon entering in the evening, how nice and child friendly it was being round and the perfect height for reading books). The whole time, Jaden walked around the house calmly not getting into anything at all! We borrowed Norm's high chair and were shocked to see that the straps/seat belt was not installed. After Josh removed the tray, he forgot there were no straps and stepped away before dashing back to grab SHE. The next day, Josh remarked that the difference between Jaden and SHE can be summed up with: Jaden does not have his high chair straps installed. hahaha. :)

SHE is starring in the holiday display

SHE loves her some holiday lights and says "Wow"

SHE runs through her room like a tornado

SHE's celebrating Christmas Eve with Jaden

SHE and the mini tree

Sierra speaks

The best part of this video got cut off at the end. Josh hit the stop button too fast! She dropped the box and said "diao le" and then "pa, pa, pa" and patted her heart. :)

----- Forwarded Message ----
From: Josh Elman
To: "Cell, Mom" ; "don_elman@hotmail.com" ; kathua@juno.com; cloverh@yahoo.com
Sent: Tue, December 21, 2010 7:57:59 PM
Subject: Sierra speaks

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SMwZNVjAz4k



Enjoy!

Sent from mobile

SHE matches mommy

SHE's a slider

Hates yogurt, likes cheese (so far)

We tried happy bellies yogurt drops a few weeks ago and she liked them! and then she tried yogurt the following week and hated it. she gagged and threw it (and other food) up. Then she tried the yogurt drops again and gags on them too. Oh, well.

Today she tried string cheese for the first time. She likes it! She giggled while eating it and couldn't get enough! Hopefully she doesn't change her mind like she did with yogurt!

More new words

I forgot to mention this before, but when Sierra talks, she talks softly and will whisper or almost whisper sometimes. (except when she says "diao le" - see below)

More new words:
girl - she loves pointing at girls in books and saying "girl", like in the purple goodnight book and her flashcards
car - ditto with car
No - as in "do you want x?" "No" (push it away).
elmo - said with a chinese accent (ah-muo) as taught by liling. We bought these toddler water bottle packs that had elmo on them and liling gave one to her on the way back from safeway. by the time we were home, she was asking for "ah-muo". we're always trying to find ways to get her to drink water. she also saw elmo on some sample diapers and said "ah-muo!" and she studies the other water bottles looking for elmo (they all have different sesame st characters. too bad they aren't all elmo like the 1st one happened to be.)
cracker - I felt so bad last night bc we were out of oyster crackers (we scratch off the salt and give them to her) and she was saying cracker for the first time to me. It was clumsily said and I can't remember how she said it, but I knew she was asking for it.

When Sierra asks for something or wants something, she reaches out her arm and gestures for it by opening and closing her fingers like she is trying to reach and grab it. It almost looks like the sign for milk, but in context, you know it's "I want that." It's more like "I want something" and you have to guess by showing her stuff one by one, to which she says "yao" or "no"

She's repeating a lot of words as you say them now, so I think we are at a point where the words are going to come fast and furious soon.

She loves walking to the master bathroom and telling you to "bao bao" so she can look out the window at the xmas lights.

She loves saying "diao le" all the time now. She'll empty her whole play pen and say diao le everytime she tosses something out. She'll get louder if you ignore her, as in "diao le, DIAO LE... DIAO LE!!!!" Gran got such a kick out of this las week.

Gran's been teaching her to say "tong tong" (hurt) and "pa pa" (scared). When she says "pa pa" she pats her heart. I have not seen her say "tong tong" yet, but she'll do "pa pa" when she drops something on the floor that's really loud. When you see her pat her chest and whisper "pa pa, pa pa" it's so adorable. It caught me off guard the first few times (a few days ago) and when I realized what she was doing, it was so funny! I don't think she knows it means scared yet cause I don't think she's scared. Rather, she seems to enjoy it or enjoy scaring you with her loud noised drop! :)

Christmas Tree Lane in Palo Alto

Last night we went to Christmas Tree Lane in Palo Alto. SHE was duly impressed. As soon as we stepped outside the car, her eyes were wide and she whispered "wow, wow, wow" again and again. She says wow with a "v" like "vow, vow, vow". It's amazing. There were carolers and she was entranced watching them sing and whispered "ge ge ge" while they sang. And of course she loves Christmas balls and said "ball" whenever she saw them.

She wasn't talkative at all when we went to san jose to see the lights in downtown. I think that was a little overwhelming (super crowded with kids).

SHE's joining the snowfamily (@ Fulton St in Palo Alto)

SHE's stacking and unstacking (from last night)

SHE got a hair cut

SHE's avoiding bed by moving balls from one side of the room to the other

SHE's goodnight moon

SHE liked the train

SHE's only taken one nap today

SHE's clapping to the music

SHE is dancing to Glee

SHE wants to know what's back there

Hai yao!

She totally understands when you are asking her a question.
hai yao = more (in chinese) and more or yes to her.

Sign for hungry. liling taught her a few weeks ago to pat her tummy
"do you want cheerios?"
"hai yao" and pats her tummy.

Temper

A few weeks ago (during her birthday week, but thankfully not at her party), SHE had a bad stuffy nosed cold and I held her up to sleep a lot. She also started showing a temper, which is really cute.

I was walking by her in the hallway and she was sitting with mudder and liling and she said "bao bao" and I didn't pick her up. She immediately scrunched up her face and turned all red and grunted. Who could say no to that? I turned around and picked up the poor stuffy little girl.

Dancing Queen

Sierra LOVES dancing. I read the other day on babycenter that this is an advanced skill for 18 month olds! Well Sierra has been dancing at least since October. Josh calls it her bangra dancing bc she lifts up her right hand over her head and bounces up and down. Before she could walk she would hang on to the ottoman coffee table with one hand and do this. Once she could walk she would do it without hanging on to anything. It's incredibly amusing and cute, especially the rear view since you see her little butt bopping up and down. ;) What's amazing is you can figure out which songs she likes (and doesn't).

Sierra's favorite songs:
Boker Tov
Snuggle Puppy
Sunrise, Sunset
The Wheels on the Bus
Old MacDonald
and some other catchy dancing ones on her Fisher Price CD Gran had bought.

I think a lot of it has to do with familiarity since we have books on the 1st three songs and Gran sings her wheels on the bus a lot.

You know she likes a song bc she immediately will get up from what she is doing (such as one of her favorite pastimes - leafing through old greeting cards we have saved from years past - this will sometimes last her a whole 5 minutes - an eternity in SHE-time!) and start dancing. It's awesome. The Wheels on the Bus especially gets her everytime. There's this electronic part that is really catchy to her.

Sometimes we are sitting there listlessly while the music is playing in the background and she starts clapping her hands and then I realize "If you're happy and you know it" is playing softly in the background. It's funny.

She also loves pushing on her talking farm toy gran got her until it plays "Old MacDonald" (for maybe 30 seconds) which she loves dancing to. She pushes a button on the jukebox, dances, and then repeats (pushes the button, dances), etc.

Walking (almost) like a Pro

"She walks like a drunken sailor"
-Grandma Elman on her visit over Thanksgiving

That she does. But she is doing it very well these days - walking all over the carpeted parts of our house while we spot her on the hardwood part of our house. It's amazing. She can squat down and pick up items off the floor and walk around with them. Last, last weekend, we were at Robbie's and she was picking up his giant plush soccer balls and walking around with them!

Wow!

Today I was opening a box from Grandma and Grandpa and Sierra was watching from her playpen. I showed her the PJs inside and she was saying "Wow!" at everything. Later tonight, she said "Wow!" when I blew multiple bubbles stuck together. Mudder said she kept saying "Wow!" when they took her out before dinner to look at the neighborhood Christmas lights.

Anyway, here are some more words she knows how to say, in approximate order of learning:
otter (she first surprised me by looking at her animal flash cards a few weeks ago and said "otter" and then later at night I was in her room on the phone with mudder explaining that she said "otter" and I was like "where is the otter?" thinking of the stuffed otter, and SHE immediately shot out her hand to point at the otter poster. It took ME awhile to figure this out! Smarty pants SHE. Mudder had early on always pointed out the otter poster and stuffed otter to her and waved "hi otter" so this is how she learned "otter")
bao bao (carry me in chinese - she uses this effectively! as in get me out of this high chair, playpen, carry me upstairs, etc.)
ball (she recognizes all kinds of balls and other items shaped like balls and calls them all "ball!" our neighbor tossed a tennis ball in our backyard at some point and we found it. she loves carrying around the tennis ball and watching us bounce it. Last night, she was throwing it overhand onto the floor and josh was catching it and giving it back to her to toss again. he said overhand throwing is a milestone. she's been throwing overhand off and on for a few weeks now at least. When she first started saying ball, she would pick up a ball and walk towards me with it with a wide, proud grin. Simply adorable. She really likes ball ornaments in xmas trees. We first saw them at the korean food court on a christmas tree there where she was staring and pointing and wanting to touch. I kept saying "ball ball ball ball ball" really fast and pointing at different balls and she laughed everytime.)
diu le!: dropped it! (in chinese). i was changing her to her PJs on the bathroom counter and she was dropping her stacking rings on the floor and I kept saying "uh oh" and she kept saying "diu le!" and then i finally remembered liling told me the other day that she knows "dropped" in chinese "diu le"! simple me was just saying "uh oh" while advanced sierra was saying "dropped it!"
diaper: josh noticed this a couple weeks ago.
hai yao: this deserves its own post... see above.

and she knows a lot more in chinese that i don't know myself!

Speaking of grins, when she wants milk (naptime), she walks down the hall towards me and sticks her hand in the air and signs "milk" with a big grin. It's so sweet.

at this rate, I'm not sure she needs sign language. not that we've been trying much. she picks up sign easily these days - she already knows "all done" even though i'm the only one who does this sporadically. josh once tried signing "change" (diaper) and she copied it immediately.

SHE wants her "ge-ge" (music)

SHE models for a portrait

SHE is doing seal tricks

SHE's a Chanukah girl

SHE loves uncle Ken visits - he makes fun noises

SHE's studying her animals - ot-ter, ma (horse), mao (cat)

SHE's sharing Grandma and Grandpa with Robbie

SHE's going round and round

SHE's on the late schedule today (nap 6-7:30)

SHE says Happy Thanksgiving with a bunch of Elmans

SHE was checked up. Her percentiles: 60 weight, 75 height, 90 head size

SHE goes down backwards

SHE climbs down backwards

SHE loves her grandparents

SHE's in her rain bybble

SHE's rocking out!

SHE's waving her magic "Go Stanford" wand

SHE's a dancing machine

SHE's choosing from her bookshelf

SHE's sliding down the bus

SHE's being chased

SHE's walking down the hall

Baby Steps

Sierra has been walking independently (not holding on to something or someone) for a few weeks now. But this weekend we've noticed that she's taken another leap forward. She's been walking much further on her own - including from the couch all the way across the living room and to the shutters, and choosing to walk instead of crawl a few times. It's not long until she's always rushing around on two instead of four limbs.

Words

Here are the words Sierra can say:

Wa (socks in chinese)
APP-uhl (apple, and other round foods)
Bahb-bul (bubble, as in "See this container? Blow bubbles for me!")
Mama (duh)
Meeeeh! (What all animals say, as in "Yang yang shuo shemma?" (What does the sheep say?)
Up (as in going upstairs, pick me up, or flicking the light switch up to turn on the lights)
Ma (horse in chinese)
Ba-ba (equivalent to dada which she doesn't really use)
I'm sure there are a few more, I just can't remember!

Words Sierra can understand:
all of the above, plus:
milk
he shui (drink water in chinese)
belly button (as in "where's mama's belly button?" and she pulls up my shirt and points, and "where's sierra's belly button?" and she points to her belly)
mao (cat in chinese)
Lemma
Naya
bee (as in "what does the bee do?" And she tries to say "Bzzzzzzzzz" but it's more like a raspberry)
"If you're happy and you know it" (to which she claps her hands. she's been doing this one for awhile now!)
And there are definitely more, as babies understand much more than they can say. I'm just spacing.

SHE's driving around the neighborhood

SHE's playing quietly after waking up

SHE likes the fountain running like her nose

More on her 1st B-day

Last night, we were blowing bubbles again and she said "Bubble" and pronounced it very well!

I forgot to mention that about 2 weeks ago, Gran spent a whole day going through every toy (5000 toys in her age category!) on toysrus.com to find the best toys for her birthday based on ratings and also what SHE might like given her personality. Gran sent Josh a list to buy online with our coupons and rewards points and gave us a check for them. She got a Little Tikes school bus slide, Little Tikes rocking puppy, an Infantino where's my tail? puzzle, a Vtech piano with microphone... Last weekend Gran picked up a Chicco farm where you press animals for words and music. There was also an $80 soft activity block that plays music that was a little hard to get her interest so far. We may return it.

Happy 1st Birthday, SHE! (And bah-ples!)

To my wonderful, sweet little girl - happy birthday! I can't believe it's been a year.

Unfortunately, Sierra has had a cold since Sunday night. Monday she threw up continuously just as she was starting lunch. I've also had a slight cold and may have given it to her. It's much worse in her though with her head all stuffy and gasping for breath while nursing. It's like she's swimming (suck, swallow, gasp, suck, swallow, gasp...) Poor little girl.

Earlier this week we were blowing bubbles for the first time in awhile and it's her new favorite thing. She laughs and smiles and pokes them to pop them. She has great restraint with watching them and gently touching them (hoping not to pop them). She says "bah-ple" and crawls to the bubble container to ask us to blow bubbles. She does this all the time. If we stop blowing bubbles, she goes "bah-ple" and looks at you to blow more.

For lunch today, she had fresh fetuccini pasta from whole foods. She loves noodles. Tonight Mudder is making a meatball for her at the suggestion of Liling for her birthday. It's for good luck.

SHE's ONE!!!

SHE says "Bah bul" (and she is all sniffly :(. )

SHE wishes Robbie a Happy Birthday

Palo Alto zoo

Saturday (yesterday) we went to the palo alto junior zoo, a small zoo with raccoons and bobcats. Sierra really enjoyed making various circles around the zoo while we walked her around. She waved wildly at another girl her age who didn't seem to get it. She also waved at various animals and plants. She laughed at the goose honking. The goose was probably her favorite bc of this. He was pretty vocal and entertaining! Afterwards we went to the playground next door and then on the way home, I saw her blinking, blinking, blinking... and then she fell asleep! in the car. She hardly ever sleeps in the car. She'll cry if she is tired instead of sleep.

Happy 1st birthday party, SHE!

This afternoon was rainy outside but sunny inside with Sierra's happiness and enthusiasm running around the house during her birthday party featuring Norm/Jen/Jade and Kevin/Diana/Diana's mom/Kui. Robbie called in sick.

Dada downloaded a bunch of happy birthday songs to play in the background and gran gran hung colorful balls (christmas ornaments in fuschia, turquoise, gold, ) from the ceiling and i hung a "HAPPY BIRTHDAY" banner from the wall above the gap between the living and dining room. It was very festive. Mudder had bought these two decorations the day before and it was nice to see her excited about decorating for Sierra when she's usually so practical about everything.

Sierra wore her pink bunny outfit. I baked a dairy free apple cake and used dairy free frosting mixed with natural food dyes to write happy birthday in purple, an apple, and a heart in pink. gran cut a piece of pea pod into a leaf and stem shape so that the apple looked like an apple instead of a pink blob. :)

Sierra was outgoing and happy as usual. Jaden was a little shy but warmed up later. Sierra had some apple cake but gagged some of it out after eating a bit too much. Then she excitedly walked around back and forth and back and forth even though it was naptime.

Jen mentioned Jaden gagged out most of his lunch after eating a piece of eggyolk that was too big, so maybe this is normal baby behavior after all!

SHE's starting her birthday week celebration

SHE loved mommy's homemade all natural "ap-po" cake

SHE's a baby model