Miss Personality

Our Dani keeps getting more fun by the minute. She is really showing her personality more and more every day. In the beginning, I found myself comparing her to Jack. It's impossible not to compare your children in some way. But I find that I don't compare them in terms of who is better at what but rather, I compare and enjoy their differences.

Dani is such a happy girl. She is ALWAYS ready with a smile. I realize that it is still very early but she is not as shy as Jack. Jack always observed a situation or person for sometime, taking it all in, assessing and then coming out of his shell. Dani jumps in with both feet first! Today at the Barnyard Zoo, she enjoyed the animals but preferred looking at the other people and smiling at them. She has a sense of adventure. At the park, she loved the swings and laughed as I "pushed" her. I went down the slide with her and she had a big gaping grin on the way down. I remember Jack being indifferent, observing. Dani just enjoyed the ride.

I get the feeling that Dani is just going to enjoy the ride a lot. She's likes any situation as long as she is with you. She just wants to hang out and be there--it's enough to make her happy.

When Dani isn't happy, she let's you know. She definitely has an opinion about most things. If she doesn't want to sleep, she'll tell you. If she is done with her bottle but hasn't finished the milk, she's still done and you can't convince her to drink more. She's more extreme than Jack. Both of my kids have been happy, but Dani will let you know as soon as she is not pleased. Yesterday, I thought she was tired. I put her down and she screamed. I let her cry it out a bit since it is not uncommon for her to cry when you put her down. But she howled. I thought her foot might be stuck in the crib slats so I hustled up the stairs. She was in the middle of her crib, sobbing. I picked her up and tried to soothe her. I sat in the rocking chair in her room and she just kept screaming. Finally, I got up and left the room. As soon as I crossed the threshhold, she stopped crying and was all smiles.

Speaking of crying, Dani has been exhibiting some signs of separation anxiety. At get togethers, people always want to hold her. Sometimes she's fine, but sometimes she starts to pout and then cry. Most of the time, it's enough if she can just see me, but sometimes she just needs to be back in my arms. She also often doesn't like it when we put her down for naps. And she figures out where she's going as we are going up the stairs. The little pout comes back and evolves into full crying as soon as I lay her down. It subsides quickly but she lets me know she wants to hang out and not be left alone. Like her brother, her Rainforest soother helps out. She really likes it and I am thinking she is trying to figure out how to turn it on. She has kicked the button twice by accident and the other day, she was on her side and, with her back to it, was tapping blindly at the machine with her backhand. Trying to turn it on???

Dani also gets frustrated easily, as I have explained in previous posts. She puts EVERYTHING into her mouth and happily squeals as she hugs or plays with a toy. A few minutes later, the squeals turn to desperate shrieks, as she gets overwhelmed. Then we have to take the toy away and she calms down, breathing hard. For as frustrated as she gets, she is also one determined little girl. She loves to play with things and tries REALLY hard to play with objects or make her body do what she wants it to. She also has proved herself to be very physical. She is very strong (which was confirmed by her pediatrician) and though she can't yet crawl, she can find a way to move her body to where she wants to be. I'm sure she will crawl soon. Partially because she seems physically there and partially because she wants to do it so badly.

Dani's a grabber. And she's getting quicker and more accurate with her swipes. This now means we have to watch our drinks, forks, hair (she is a major hair puller) etc. Jack also must learn to protect his cup. Dani wants Jack's sippy cup bad. A few weeks ago, my mother-in-law took the kids to the bookstore. Jack had a sippy cup and Dani tried to grab it. Jack moved away but once they got to the bookstore, he put it in her stroller so he could look around. Dani was happily chewing on it until they went to leave and Jack decided he wanted his water back. Dani SCREAMED! At first she just loved to chew on it. She figured out how to use the sippy cup yesterday and thinks that it is even more interesting now, as you can use it as a teether AND get a drink from it!!

Speaking of teething, Dani is NOT a fan. With Jack, we barely noticed at all. I don't even think he really noticed. He was kind of like, "Hmmm. There is a mild discomfort coming from my facial region." Dani is like, "OH MY GOD! My face is on FIRE!" They say the first tooth popping through is the worst and then kids get more used to it. I think we are all ready for that first tooth to show up!

Our girl is a big mouth. She is a big time babbler. Jack has always been very verbal but Dani beats him in the babble department. This could pose a real problem when she's 2 and Jack is 4. There may never be a quiet moment in our house again! She wakes up babbling. And she makes really weird noises. This morning, Paul woke up and commented, "She's definitely going to be a lawyer."

She's happy and loves to smile and lately, laughs more readily. Sometimes she is so excited, she just slams her little face into the ground and laughs or just grins big until she can stand to look up at you again. She loves peek-a-boo which sometimes turns into, hide-and-jump-out-at-her, which she actually prefers.

Lastly, our Dani is a sweetheart. She's snuggly (though she will let you know when she is done), she loves to grab your face and slobber on you, she loves to be held and is getting more assertive about telling us (the other day, I put her in her Exersaucer and as soon as I did, she cried until I picked her up. Then she was all smiles), and she loves it when you stroke her cheek which I do whenever I put her in her crib. I always get a big, loving grin with twinkly eyes.

It's been an awesome six months and I can't wait to see her grow more and become more her everyday.