"Dog"

I think it is perfectly fitting that Sweet B's first word that I absolutely know that she understands is "dog."

Nothing could make me happier! As I have written previously, our poodles are an extremely important part of our lives, and continue to be, even since our sweet little "HMB" (High Maintenance Baby) entered the picture. In fact, I'm choosing to see her understanding of this word as a tribute to my Tucker boy, my sweet brown poodle who went to heaven eight weeks ago.

I have been repeatedly saying "dog" to Sweet B whenever the dogs are close. And that is often. Our three-legged dog Charm is constantly by my side. Yesterday, while at the doctor's office, I said "dog" and she repeated it. And repeated it again and again after I repeated it. Then when we got home, I asked, "Where's the dog?" She looked right at Charm. Then to make sure that she really understood, I've done it several times since, and she definitely knows who "dog" is. Now, since both of our poodles are white, I don't suspect that she will know the difference between them for a while, unless she notices that one is missing a front limb, but I seriously doubt that.

My cousin swears that she heard Sweet B call me "Mama" when I walked away from her, and she swears that she also heard her say, "Dada" when M walked away from her. This week we ended up having to go to physical therapy twice because she was sick each time and cried and cried. (It's her first cold and it has put a major damper on things!). Anyway, when her physical therapist would hold her, Sweet B would cry, "Mamamamama." Then when she handed her to me she stopped crying. She swears that she is calling me by name. I'm not 100% convinced though, as she has babbled "mamamama" before, I think... Hopefully I will be soon be writing with confidence that Sweet B said my name!

Watching her understand what a word means brings such joy to my heart. Sweet B is smart.

She's also continuing to get better at sitting every single day, although she would prefer to lean back into me.

We had to go to the doctor due to her cold, and I just wanted to be sure that she didn't have an ear infection, since we had to miss her physical therapy and cancel with her teacher this week. She didn't have one, thank goodness. She is now 17.5 pounds, which alarmed us at first, as this was only a pound of weight gain in six weeks, but her doctor assured us that her weight gain is going to slow down, and that if she were to gain too much weight, she would have difficulty with her gross motor skills. She is almost at the 5th percentile for one year-olds, and she is at the 10th percentile for ten months, her adjusted age. Yeah! Way to go from being a Polly Pocket to just a mini-me.

One thing that I secretly enjoy about her being sick...She is even more of a cuddle bug than she normally is. She really wants me to hold her right now, and make her feel better. There is nothing in the world that compares to my little girl being comforted by my embrace.

And now on to some pictures...

This is Sweet B at physical therapy on her swing. She kinda hates it. But it's so good for her arm and back strength.

I make Sweet B sit in the front yard often, because it's so beautiful out there, and it's really good for her to feel the grass (she hates it) and the wind against her face (she might not like that so much either.)

Her Auntie Joni got her this fabulous toy. B's in heaven!

Her NICU nurse gave her this adorable zebra dress for her birthday. We are so blessed to know her. 

Just plain cute. Need I say more? (But I will say that I am so sorry for the quality of these pictures. I usually just whip out my iPhone to take them, but they aren't the best quality.)

Who's that cutie in the snail mirror? It's me! It's me! 

"Dog."