I was thinking just now that there are so many things Meredith can do when you ask her, that I should get a list going. Several months ago, she learned to clap and then she could put her arms above her head when you would ask to to "put your arms up". So, it used to just be a few things over and over we would ask her to do. She learned the latter commands because of her videos ("Your Baby Can Read"), but I'm finding more and more now that she is learning from her books and by watching us closely. Her favorite book by far is "I Love You Through and Through". This was a book from Grandma Perry and it tells about how we love her and all the silly things she does and includes different parts of the body. She will follow right along and show you the body parts at the appropriate page.
Here are all of the things she can now do when you ask her:
- Clap (She will sometimes do this even without being asked, like when she is excited).
- Arms Up (She puts one or both arms straight above her head. This is when it is most fun to tickle her arm pits.)
- Mouth (She will open her mouth when you ask her where her mouth is, or where her insides are - the latter is from her favorite book pictured above.)
- Head (She will put her hands on her head and push her hair down on her forehead.)
- Hair (This is hit or miss. She will sometimes point to her head when you ask her where her hair is.)
- Toes (She will touch her toes and even come and touch our toes, also. We have to be careful, because she's been known to bite Mommy's big toe on occasion!)
- Fingers (When you ask her where her fingers are, she moves her fingers around. Sometimes she looks down at her hand while doing it, as to say, 'I can't believe my fingers are moving!')
- No (When you tell her "no", she will shake her head back and forth. She used to struggle with doing it and walking at the same time :) Kind of cute in the beginning, but now it's a bit frustrating, because she will shake her head after you tell her not to do something, then will go ahead and do it anyways.)
- Picture (If you ask her where her picture is on the wall, she will point to her pictures mounted behind the TV. She has recently started pointing to our wedding pictures along the stairs when we ask her where we are.)
- Nap (Our sleep training has paid off nicely. When it's about time for her nap - around 8:30 am and 12:30 pm - if you ask her if she is ready to go take a nap, she will walk towards you while sucking her finger.)
- Turn the Page (When we read to her, she will help us by turning the page, sometimes even before we ask).
- Hug (She will give her puppy and teddy bear hugs and occasionally will come up and give us one).
- Kiss (This is one of the cutest ones, without a doubt. When you ask her to give you a kiss and begin to make a kissing sound, she will walk around the room making that sound. She just doesn't yet know how to kiss our cheek or blow kisses.)
- Wave (When you ask her to say "hi", "bye", or "wave", she will move all of her fingers in kind of a fist. It's very cute, especially at bedtime or when she waves while still sucking one of her fingers.)
- Pray (Last but not least, this one gets us every time. When we pray before meals and with her before bed, and you ask her to pray, she puts her hands together and somewhat bows her head. It is sooooo cute!)
