Isla has been with us for over 12 months now, and what a blessing she has been. She is developing fast and continues to pick up new skills.
She can now walk backwards, side step, and twirl in a circle. She really likes the twirling until she inevitably gets dizzy and falls over. She usually hits something when she falls and that makes her cry. She can now go down the stairs sitting on her bottom, scooting from one stair to the next. She can easily climb up onto the ottoman and onto the glider in her room.
She follows simple routine commands, such as 'go get your bear', 'put it in the hamper', and 'give me your suckie'. She knows how to give kisses and hugs when asked (a hug consists of her leaning her head against your body), but tends to be stingy with them. She is beginning to learn her body parts, and can point to her head, ear, nose, mouth, belly, knee and toes on command. She assists in dressing, pulling her shirt over her head, putting her arms in her sleeves, trying to pull her pants down, and trying to put her shoes on.
She has a number of signs. She signs 'eat', 'more', 'all done', 'milk', 'water', 'suckie' (our name for her pacifier), 'bear', 'dog', 'up', 'ball', 'sleep', 'bye', 'help', and 'want'. Her newest sign is 'gramma', and we are working on 'please' and 'thank you'. She nods her head yes and shakes it no.
As for her spoken language, that is not as clear cut. She says 'mom', 'da da', 'hi' and 'bye'. She has repeated the words 'dog', 'duck', 'quack', 'ball' and 'gramma' before. However, she does not say any of these with any sort of consistency.
She is getting more strong willed. She know what she wants, and she is not afraid to tell you. Her favorite thing in the world is her pacifier, and she made up her own sign for it, which is smacking her lips. She only gets her suckie in her crib or her carseat, but she asks for it all the time. She know where it is kept in her room and in the kitchen, and when she walks by it, she will make the sign, then point, then whine for it. She now cries if something is taken away from her or if she is told no. Sometimes when we tell her no, she really gets her feelings hurt and will sob big heart breaking sobs. If she is pointing to something and we do not give it to her, she will sometimes shriek in order to get our attention.
Despite this, she is, for the most part, a very happy child. She continues to love music. She is developing an interest in books, and will bring a book to one of us and sit in our laps to have it read to her. Unfortunately, she often only lasts for three pages before she gets up. She loves balls and can kick one across the room. She enjoys playing with her fridge phonics, her alphabet drum, and her Fischer Price chair. She loves playing with her Little People at Gramma's house. She adores my mother's dog, and the two of them have their own little games that they play. The last time we were at Mike's parents' house, she kept giving their dog hugs. She likes to play chase, get tickled, and be thrown up in the air. She adores her cousin Kirsten.
She is a joy and a blessing, and we thank God for her.
