Sara Update Month of June and half of July 2001
Hello friends and family,
It has been a long time since the last update. Some of you have wondered if we picked you off the list. Well no, we went out of town and it took a long time to get back in the groove of things.
First things first. We went on a 16 day vacation from June 8 through 24. We went to NYC (NY), Boston, Ipswitch, Sagus (MA), Portland, Lewiston, Gray (ME), and North Hero (VT). We took planes, trains, and automobiles. We flew 5000 miles, rode the rail for 300 miles and drove 2000 miles. Through it all Sara did great. She slept on the plane, slept on the train and slept in the car. With all that sleeping, Sara was as well rested as she ever has been and was generally in a terrific mood when awake.
As for Sara's development, we tried to keep track of it all. For the big milestones we have specific dates, but for some of the smaller milestones we just know they happened over the last month and a half.
Beginning with the major milestones: June 8 - Free Standing. It means that Sara let go of something she was holding onto and didn't fall down, thus she was "standing" without assistance. It started as a second, then two, then three and as of today, Sara can stand about 45 seconds without falling down. At first when she sat back down, she would clunk down on her tush (another reason God gave babies diapers). Now, Sara gently lowers herself down. It's very lady-like.
June 29 - Two Steps. Yes, Sara took two steps. Victoria held Sara out - arms outstretched - and Sara walked two steps to get to mom. We now understand why they call them "baby steps" since Sara doesn't cover a lot of ground. But, it is thrilling (and terrifying) watching Sara move while upright.
July 13 - Sara learns to back herself down a stair. This is a major big deal since Sara used to lunge herself, head first, off of our raised tile area. Plus, this is really cute to watch. Sara will climb onto the raised tile area, roll onto her tummy and push herself backwards until her feet go off the edge and she lands gently on the carpet. The cute part is that because she doesn't know exactly where the end of the platform is and can't turn around on a dime, she will turn backwards very early and push herself and push herself and push herself (turn her head, look, turn her head back) and keep pushing herself backward until finally she gets to the edge.
July 20 - Sara walks! Sara walked three and a half feet, from the couch to the chair. Now, Sara has been practicing since June 29th, but really only taking two steps at a time. Then, on July 18 she took three steps, then four. She took a day off and on July 20 she took 10 steps to move three and a half feet. The most incredible thing is that she waited until Alan and Victoria were both there to see it. Way to go Sara. Nine and a half months and she already knows who to impress.
July 23 - Clapping. Sara has learned how to clap. Sometimes Sara only claps with one hand and forgets to use the other hand. The result is one hand waiving vigorously from side to side and the other hand just hanging in mid air. Then she wonders why there is no contact and moves both hands. It's pretty cute, too.
Smaller milestones since June 8: Sara's speech is getting more advanced. We can't understand what she is saying, but it is clear she has desires and tries to voice them.
Sara can hold two objects of different sizes. She can hold two objects in one hand. She will close her hand around an object and hone in on it instead of her younger "rake" approach to picking something up. Sara can pick up very small objects using her pincher grasp (thumb and index finger) and very large objects using both arms and raising them above her head).
Sara can let go of an object and put it down instead of just dropping it. Sara has been able to take objects out of a basket for many months, but just recently (over the last 3 weeks) began putting objects into a basket.
Sara is interested in books. She used to eat them, now she will look at the pictures, turn the pages and likes it when we read to her.
Sara likes games. Sara gets a kick out of peek-a-boo. Before June 8 she would just look at you. Now, she laughs. Sara likes to chase. Sara likes being chased and very gently tickled. Sara likes to spin and be lifted high in the air. Sara loves to play tug of rope with Cleo (the dog). That, she thinks is the funniest game in the world.
Sara loves her mommy. She interacts with, smiles to, reaches for, cuddles with, climbs on, cries on, spits up on, hugs, holds onto, and rests her head on Victoria.
Sara loves her papa. She interacts with, climbs on, plays music with, hugs, holds onto, makes funny noises with, crawls to and positively beams at Alan when he comes home from work.
Hope this one has made up for lost time. The next update will be next week.
Check the website www.alanandvictoria.com where there are some new photos. We will also be adding some more this week.
Love to all, Alan and Victoria
It has been a long time since the last update. Some of you have wondered if we picked you off the list. Well no, we went out of town and it took a long time to get back in the groove of things.
First things first. We went on a 16 day vacation from June 8 through 24. We went to NYC (NY), Boston, Ipswitch, Sagus (MA), Portland, Lewiston, Gray (ME), and North Hero (VT). We took planes, trains, and automobiles. We flew 5000 miles, rode the rail for 300 miles and drove 2000 miles. Through it all Sara did great. She slept on the plane, slept on the train and slept in the car. With all that sleeping, Sara was as well rested as she ever has been and was generally in a terrific mood when awake.
As for Sara's development, we tried to keep track of it all. For the big milestones we have specific dates, but for some of the smaller milestones we just know they happened over the last month and a half.
Beginning with the major milestones: June 8 - Free Standing. It means that Sara let go of something she was holding onto and didn't fall down, thus she was "standing" without assistance. It started as a second, then two, then three and as of today, Sara can stand about 45 seconds without falling down. At first when she sat back down, she would clunk down on her tush (another reason God gave babies diapers). Now, Sara gently lowers herself down. It's very lady-like.
June 29 - Two Steps. Yes, Sara took two steps. Victoria held Sara out - arms outstretched - and Sara walked two steps to get to mom. We now understand why they call them "baby steps" since Sara doesn't cover a lot of ground. But, it is thrilling (and terrifying) watching Sara move while upright.
July 13 - Sara learns to back herself down a stair. This is a major big deal since Sara used to lunge herself, head first, off of our raised tile area. Plus, this is really cute to watch. Sara will climb onto the raised tile area, roll onto her tummy and push herself backwards until her feet go off the edge and she lands gently on the carpet. The cute part is that because she doesn't know exactly where the end of the platform is and can't turn around on a dime, she will turn backwards very early and push herself and push herself and push herself (turn her head, look, turn her head back) and keep pushing herself backward until finally she gets to the edge.
July 20 - Sara walks! Sara walked three and a half feet, from the couch to the chair. Now, Sara has been practicing since June 29th, but really only taking two steps at a time. Then, on July 18 she took three steps, then four. She took a day off and on July 20 she took 10 steps to move three and a half feet. The most incredible thing is that she waited until Alan and Victoria were both there to see it. Way to go Sara. Nine and a half months and she already knows who to impress.
July 23 - Clapping. Sara has learned how to clap. Sometimes Sara only claps with one hand and forgets to use the other hand. The result is one hand waiving vigorously from side to side and the other hand just hanging in mid air. Then she wonders why there is no contact and moves both hands. It's pretty cute, too.
Smaller milestones since June 8: Sara's speech is getting more advanced. We can't understand what she is saying, but it is clear she has desires and tries to voice them.
Sara can hold two objects of different sizes. She can hold two objects in one hand. She will close her hand around an object and hone in on it instead of her younger "rake" approach to picking something up. Sara can pick up very small objects using her pincher grasp (thumb and index finger) and very large objects using both arms and raising them above her head).
Sara can let go of an object and put it down instead of just dropping it. Sara has been able to take objects out of a basket for many months, but just recently (over the last 3 weeks) began putting objects into a basket.
Sara is interested in books. She used to eat them, now she will look at the pictures, turn the pages and likes it when we read to her.
Sara likes games. Sara gets a kick out of peek-a-boo. Before June 8 she would just look at you. Now, she laughs. Sara likes to chase. Sara likes being chased and very gently tickled. Sara likes to spin and be lifted high in the air. Sara loves to play tug of rope with Cleo (the dog). That, she thinks is the funniest game in the world.
Sara loves her mommy. She interacts with, smiles to, reaches for, cuddles with, climbs on, cries on, spits up on, hugs, holds onto, and rests her head on Victoria.
Sara loves her papa. She interacts with, climbs on, plays music with, hugs, holds onto, makes funny noises with, crawls to and positively beams at Alan when he comes home from work.
Hope this one has made up for lost time. The next update will be next week.
Check the website www.alanandvictoria.com where there are some new photos. We will also be adding some more this week.
Love to all, Alan and Victoria
posted by Alan T at
Wednesday, July 25, 2001
