first word and other developments

it's official. we're calling it: bryn's first word was "doggie" dated march 7. as i mentioned in my last post, we'd been hearing "doh" for awhile, mostly around the dog. but that day, bryn was looking at truman, pointed to him and said "doggie!" we gave her lots of positive affirmation, and she did it two more times, and again later that day and the next. she now also points out "doggies" in photos and on tv, although she still sometimes calls other, wildly inappropriate things "doggie" (her father, a cup, the grass). she also uses "daddy" and "kitty" with about the same degree of accuracy and reliability, as well as "yucky" and "uh oh" (but i think they only sort of count as words). she is just starting to say "hi" (playing with a phone or walking into a room to find me) and "no" (which seems to be for both no and nose). bryn now also recognizes the inflection for questions but, so far, she still seems to think that the only answer is "yeah," which is nice to hear if not all that informative. i'll confess to feeling a little slighted though... i was prepared for bryn to say other words before "mama," but it's starting to get a little excessive. the other morning, i went to get her out of bed, and she looked right through me to declare, "kitty!" with a huge grin.

we also had another great visit from the chen family. grandpa and grandma are still spoiling bryn, and she's still loving it. she also helped out by giving them, and aunt teresa, a few subtle hints while they were babysitting. as teresa and my mom were having a discussion about whether or not she needed a diaper change, bryn went and got a diaper and her changing pad, then stood in the middle of the family room floor (where we usually change her diaper... yes, we are those people) and waited until they caught on. she also showed them how to put lotion on (push down on pump and rub hands together), which is part of our morning and bedtime routines.

in other news, bryn is getting much better at following basic directions - "can you get..." (book, diaper, baby (doll), socks, shoes) and, when it suits her, "put it back." she runs around and hates having to hold hands or be restrained in any way. and, when bryn doesn't get her way, she likes to push the envelope with mini-tantrums, which look something like this:



that is usually a sign that a nap is in order.