Friday, June 5, 2009

Maxine: 10 Months + 1 Week


I cannot believe Maxine is going to turn 1 year old next month. I'm so thankful she has been healthy and normal all this time. Besides her bout with teething at the age of 5 months, she has been very pleasant and easily entertained. It is usually pretty easy to put her to bed, although lately when I put her in bed she gets right up and stands holding onto the crib rail, jumping and talking it up. Then she eventually gets tired, whines a little bit (I listen from another room) and falls asleep. When I'm sure she's sound asleep, I quietly enter her room and cover her up with her blankets.
Her Uncle James is hardly ever around but just last Saturday he came over and played with Maxine for a while and we both heard her say her first word: "Ooh-ka". I must explain... When Raquel was a toddler, she used to call James "Ooh-ka James" as she could not pronounce the word "Uncle". We all started calling him "Ooh-ka" on a regular basis. Now, when he comes over, I tell Maxine, "Look, it's Ooh-ka!". So, last weekend, I said this to her and she said, "n-KA!" James said, "Did you hear that?!" So we tested her by repeating "Ooh-ka" and she'd respond each time with, "n-KA!" It was so funny! But the thing is, now she's saying, "Ka!" all the time when she tries to say something. I think she liked the excited response she got from us when we thought she was trying to say James' nickname and now she just uses "Ka!" for almost everything. It's still something. Now that I know she can recognize certain words and sounds, I am always annunciating key words, like, "bath", "daddy" and, "night-night" in hopes she will try to copy me.
Maxine seems to have a sensitive gag reflex and still cannot eat solid food, not even semi-solid food, like a tiny piece of bread, without gagging or choking a little. At this age, Raquel was already picking up half-pieces of Cheerios and feeding them to herself without a problem. Maxine does do the pincer grasp and is able to pick up very tiny objects but she's definitely not ready for the responsibility of feeding herself with her fingers. So Maxine and I just practice a little everyday with semi-solid food. She has 6 teeth and does chew with them--I really don't know why she so often gags/chokes. It makes me think of when she was a newborn and scared me so often by choking while breastfeeding or bottle feeding. Makes me wonder...

3 comments:

Prolifegirly said...

wow i cant believe she is already going to be 1 yr old. wasn't she just 3 months when you came out here? lucas will already be 5 months on monday...it still feels like yesterday...literally feels. lol

That sucks about her gag reflex. what do doctors say? does she throw up like she is allergic to something? lucas is eating cereal avidly everyday. I tried applesauce and bananas but he didnt care for them too much. He does like a little pear juice diluted with water (and it helps him poop). how much does maxine weigh? i just wonder how big lucas is in comparison.

Iris said...

Woah! No way is Maxine going to be one year already. I remember the day you were induced. Jose updating us all. We were so anxious to hear of the moment she was born. I can't believe it. She just got here, and already she is going to be a year old. What are you planning for her first bday? Is there anything we can do to help? I love that her first word is KA :)

Sarah Jane said...

No, Sam, she doesn't throw up at all. She either chokes OR she'll gag, like, tongue stickin' out and heaves a little.