The Verdict Is In...

Brianna seems to have chosen her favorites out of all the Christmas toys she's received so far.  One of the most telling was a bib Grandma Petrik (my mom) got her that said "Who needs Santa? I've got Grandma!".  Unfortunately, I wasn't able to make it to Justin's parents in Oklahoma so she's yet to be spoiled by Nana and Pops but that will come soon enough.

So, what are her favorites so far?

Fisher Price Sorting farm house: She will play with this for several minutes and if you get it and her bubblegum machine out, she's fully occupied for a good 15 minutes.   Also pictured is the Sesame Street remote that Justin and I got her.  Its noisy and slightly annoying to us, but she loves it!

Here's a quick video of her playing with one of her other favorite toys, the talking/singing puppy Kris and Jen got for her.  I couldn't resist sharing this video of her dancing and giving hugs to her very own puppy dog!

One of my favorite items she received is the Soothe and Glow Seahorse.  That's because at 7:00 on Sunday morning, I heard her turn it on and instead of waking up for the day, she went back to sleep with it till 8:45!  Its also very helpful at bedtime when she's a little too animated to settle down enough to sleep and needs a calming distraction.

Let's see, what else.  She's 11 months old today so the party planning has started for her first birthday party.  We're not doing anything too big as far as a theme since its mostly for the adults at this point anyway but invitations will be in the mail shortly (Yes, Alana, they are pink and purple!) A few things she's been up to:

- not wanting to be fed baby food unless she has her own spoon and can "help".  She's got the concept & coordination to put the spoon in the jar, then in her mouth just fine ... there's just not quite enough coordination to keep it from being a total mess!

- moved up to room 2 at daycare (12-18 month room).  Miss Rose and Miss Donna were very sad to see her move up to the next room, but she seemed to be just fine with it.

- curious about table food.  She's very curious about what Justin and I are eating and will occasionally taste it but she's not fully in to table food yet.  We tried it at daycare this morning but she spit it all out.  The peaches were the closest things to success as she kept putting them in her mouth, which makes me think she likes the taste, but maybe not the texture yet.

- adding to her sign repertoire.  She will now sign, on a fairly regular basis the following: so big, more, eat, drink, bath time and is very close to getting puppy and kitty.  She signs puppy when he's not around so I'm not sure if she's asking for him or if she's hearing him and trying to let me know that she does.  Her favorite sign is "So Big", which she's doing in the below picture.  She'll do this almost any time you ask her if she's so big or just at random moments, not stopping until you make the sign back to her to confirm that yes, she's So Big!

- doing things on her own.  Give her a sock and she'll place it on top of her toes.  Same goes with shoes.  Its much easier to dress her now because I can tell her to put her arms/legs in her shirt/pants and when I hold them up, she pretty much does it all by herself as much as she can.  Give her a comb and she'll put it up to her head and move it back and forth.  She also wants to "comb" my hair and Justin's, which is pretty funny.

I think that's about it for now.  I simply can't believe our baby girl is almost a year old!