Bridget in September '21

I wrote the post below back in September but never finished it up and posted it. Better late than never, I guess? I feel badly that I haven't kept a good record on this blog of Bridget's milestones and endearing little traits. We do love her SO much and enjoy her hugely. I love having big kids to share in the fun.

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[Originally from September 21st.]

How are you a toddler and not a baby anymore?? Nearer two than one?! My sweet Bridget Rose, time goes too fast.

Bridget's vocabulary is exploding as she tries to repeat just about anything we ask her to--and lots we don't, as well! Having four older siblings constantly urging her to say things and praising her for doing so probably helps. But she's definitely much more verbal than Clara was at this age. (Clara only had about 15 words by her second birthday, though she understood just about everything!)

A few months before she turned one, our friendly baby was saying "hi!" or "hiya!" to lots of people. She still likes to greet people (though she's very attached to Mama and hyperventilates in church nursery). In the last few weeks she's finally differentiated "hi" from "bye" (both sounded pretty similar before; now she says the "b"). At the girls' soccer practice, she waved "bye" to the dad who coached and blew him kisses when we left. 

About a month ago, Bridget started clearly saying "Abba" for Abby. More recently, she says "Saza" for Josiah. Clara and Lydia's names are more garbled. She has long said "Pa" (since last Christmas? maybe even Thanksgiving?), though this summer it tended more toward "Baba." "Damumum" or something similar is "Grandma." She calls for Dada and Mama when she wakes up early in the morning, but sometimes she yells "Mom! Mo-o-ommmm!" like the big kids.

While Bridget often resorts to screeching to communicate displeasure or desire, she still signs "please" (a version of which she signs to request nursing) and waves her hands when saying "all done." When asked to speak politely--or say "thank you," etc.--she often complies sweetly with an attempt at imitation. 

Bridget loves Beatrix, the "dog-dog," and pantomimes and laughs at many of Beatrix's actions. She loves to hold her leash (and screeches to get a chance if the bigger kids have Beatrix out on it). She also likes to play a "dog-dog" game with Clara, in which Clara is the dog and Bridget the master, who calls out "Dog-dog! Dog-dog!" and clicks/clucks and calls her as they run around the house.

I love Bridget's effort to have conversation about daily events. She acts out an anecdote, adding in sound effects and words, watching our faces, eager for recognition and amusement. She's definitely turning into a little ham and has a ready audience to laugh at her routines.

Long a music-lover, Bridget now likes to sing her own little songs sometimes (usually with head wagging time, often quietly sweet while nursing before nap or bed). She says "bump-bump" after the Appleseed Song at suppertime, raises her hands in worship at church, and loves to dance to sea shanties and Irish folk at home. She loves when I sing songs while nursing her, especially when accompanied by "rubby."

Perhaps a month or two after her first birthday, Bridget started saying "ous" or "outs" for "outside." These days it's getting clearer and very insistent. She loves to be outside, especially with a sibling. She has taken me by the hand and led me to a door to ask to go "outs"; sometimes she also leads me to the bike shed to request a bike ride. Last week I bought her a second-hand Micro Mini scooter (three-wheeled, so more stable than the big kids' scooters). She was thrilled with the gift and has already become a pro--she can scooter like the best of them, balance well, and glide, though she still struggles with turns. She's already trying tricks (like jumping--from the example of Big Brother).

Also like her big brother, Bridget uses lots of lively sound effects in talking with us. "Om" in a growly sort of voice means she wants to bite or eat (or did already). Sometimes she chases her siblings around with a threat of "om om," meaning she might bite. She enjoys the power of commanding fear. Like Josiah did, she makes a slurping sound to indicate she wants to drink water. Of course, the big kids devolve in their language to her baby talk when offering her things: "Bridget, do you want 'om om'?"

One of my favorite things Bridget says is "wow"; but it's not just "wow," it's "Wo-o-ow"--very expressive and impressed. She usually says it about big trucks that go by, loud sounds, airplanes, etc., but sometimes she'll pull it out about something relatively common or mundane and make us all laugh. When driving, I hear her "wow!" from the back seat if we pass a construction site with bulldozers, cranes, etc. that she can see from her window. She throws herself onto the couch and clambers up to look out the window and exclaim "Wow! Woowww!" when the garbage truck goes by on Monday mornings.

Bridget thought her toots were funny before she turned one, and months ago she started trying to toot after one inadvertently came out. She'd strain and smile and then giggle at her success. Then she started saying "toots" (more t's and s's and less "oo"), also several months ago. Now she distinguishes between bodily functions and lets me know when she's done "poo-poo" or "toots." She likes privacy for #2 and often makes herself scarce when the need arises. (Yesterday she was in the hall closet, checking out the vacuum [a favorite] while stinking it up.)

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Well, I cut off a little abruptly in September... but at least I have a snapshot of what Bridget was up to then. :)

A Whole Year (and More) with Our Birdie Girl

Bridget turned one two months ago! Obviously I'm terribly behind in posting about her milestones--the neglected records of the fifth child.

What a vivacious, busy, intense, funny, entertaining sweetheart she is! She daily makes us laugh with her antics and swoon with her endearing ways. I love having big kids with whom to share the joys of having a baby. They also help mind her when I need to cook! While not entirely reliable (sometimes distracted, sometimes too overbearing, sometimes tempted to bug), the big girls and Josiah mostly do well keeping Bridget safe and happy outdoors. I don't entrust Bridget to Clara's care in the same way, but Clara is a huge help with Bridget and plays with her so nicely. Bridget loves when Clara pretends to be a puppy and "fetches" things for Bridget. For a while, every morning when Clara came out of her room (Bridget having gotten up with me before everyone else), Bridget toddled over to give her a hug--and Clara was the first person Bridget truly hugged. Then she wanted to take Clara's hands and play a game in which she and Clara made the kitchen-dining-living room-hallway circuit over and over. They play in the mud kitchen together (which sometimes results in Bridget being coated with mud, but it's usually worth it).

Jeremy calls Bridget "the screecher," and she certainly can holler. She continues to be an intense baby: intensely happy--with a contagious smile and mischievous streak (she can't resist dumping the dog water every chance she gets, playing in the toilet if the bathroom door is left open, rummaging in the tea drawer, drinking the washer water, etc.)--but also intensely mad if crossed (oh the toddler tantrums!)--and distraught when overtired. 

Nowadays, since Bridget has been walking confidently for a while (though she still looks a little like Frankenstein, especially when wading in irrigation water!), she has started running, jumping (and finally getting a little air!), climbing up onto furniture, and scaling ladders. (She loves to climb the rungs [nerve-wracking for me!] up to the kids' big fort and go down the big slide--it's way more exciting than her Little Tykes ladder and slide.) 

 

Bridget says "hi" and "bye" (which mostly sounds like "hi"), Dada and sometimes Mama (but usually only when desperate), occasionally an approximation of "all done," and recently "shoes." (She brings me her shoes sometimes, and takes my hand and leads me to the back door--she loves to be outside!) We've taught her some sign language. She makes a sweet "eh-uh" noise when rubbing her chest for "please"; she recently started doing the sign for "milk" when she wants to nurse, but she'll also throw herself into position on my lap and pull at my shirt now, too. She waves her hands for "all-done" and sometimes does the sign for "more." She wags her head in imitation of my "no-no!" when considering whether to do something naughty like pull a plug or empty the bookcase. I think she's attempted to say some of the kids' names--"'Siah," "Abba," and something akin to "Clara." She babbles with all sorts of noises and likes to "tell stories" with noises and laughter (and sometimes screeches). Tonight she tried saying "teeth" as Jeremy taught her to point to hers.

When I take Bridget out of her highchair after breakfast and after supper, she knows it's naptime or bedtime, so she starts waving and saying her "hi-bye" to all at the table. She also blows kisses--at request and sometimes spontaneously. Because I often say "pee-eww, stinky!" when she toots or poops, she's started pre-empting me and poking at my noise while using a high-pitched voice to approximate my exclamation. She chuckles anytime she toots, too. I nurse her before naps and bed, and she's at the stage where nursing and gymnastics combine--it's like a challenge to her to see what contortions she can perform while staying latched. 

Our poor, long-suffering dog Beatrix (new to the family in January) patiently endures and mostly tries to avoid Bridget, except at mealtime. The moment she hears me snap on Bridget's highchair tray, Beatrix stations herself near, ears up, eyes alert for the first food Bridget might drop. Bridget loves the attention and often feeds Beatrix outright, though plenty falls inadvertently. Bridget is a finnicky eater and still relies on Mama's milk to get her through the day. She's got an eagle eye for when Daddy pulls out the chips, though; woe betide the family if we all get some and neglect her! 

Back to Beatrix: Bridget loves doggie kisses and squats next to Beatrix and leans her head in for a lick whenever possible. Sometimes she chases Beatrix around and tries to grab her curly fur, though; so Beatrix is skittish around Bridget--though she's never nipped or growled at her. 

Both Bridget and Beatrix love raw carrots. Bridget spends awhile gnawing on one when I give it to her and now does a pretty good job eating a decent amount of the chunk. But she also loves to feed Beatrix, so she'll often strategically place her carrot on the ground and look expectantly toward Beatrix or even try to call her with a noise. If Beatrix doesn't come take it, Bridget will pick it back up and gnaw on it a little longer till trying again in a new spot. It's so funny to watch.

Bridget has long loved music. Even at eight months she had started swaying/"dancing" to music, and now she'll sing along with sweet sounds when we're singing, listening to music, playing piano, etc. She asks me to sing by swaying her head and making sing-song noises, often when I'm nursing her before nap or bed. She smiles with delight when I start a song, and her wide smile at the supper table when we all sing before praying is the cutest. (She also likes to hold hands with Jeremy, me, or both of us at the table.) When she sees the piano open, she makes her sing-song noises and books it over there to play the keys. She loves when one of the big kids pulls her up to sit on lap or bench and play from that vantage point. (But she screeches when they're trying to practice and keep her away from the piano keys!) 

Jeremy often turns on some sort of music after supper--Irish pub songs, folk, soundtracks (Josiah always requests Star Wars or Pirates of the Caribbean), sea shanties, etc. Bridget sways, spins, claps hands, smiles, walks backwards, tiptoes, makes circuits 'round Jeremy, and otherwise invents dance moves and is the star of the show.

Like her brother, Bridget has never been a calm or cuddly baby. But recently she started cuddling at my request--and sometimes on her own, particularly when I sing a lullaby right before she goes to bed. She lays her head on my shoulder and pats my back. It's the sweetest!

Camping with Friends

Here are pictures from our Nikon camera from our camping trip with friends in August. We loved having the Davids camp with us! The kids got along so well, tramping through the trees, making forts, playing tag, giving piggy-back rides, etc. etc. etc. Even with the cold, rain, and hail, it was a fun weekend.

Malachi and Abby

Jax and Abby

fort building!

Flagstaff in August

Jeremy's parents graciously allowed us to stay in their house in Flagstaff while they were in Montana in August. We so enjoyed the chance to get away from the Phoenix heat. Jeremy worked most days and I did some schoolwork with the kids, but we also took some time off for a day trip to the Grand Canyon, a long weekend camping trip, and early evening hikes. 

We spent lots of time in the backyard and got several afternoon monsoon showers! The kids and I went across to the forest several times, and we also hiked with Jeremy to Elden Springs, the Elden homestead site, the crack/gap, and on other trails. 

The kids love climbing the boulders--the more challenging, the better! Even Clara kept up well with the bigger kids and scaled many a steep rock face. Here she is "riding her horse":

Abby

The kids were thrilled to find some water trickling out at Elden Springs. They set to work to clear the streambed and redirect the water where it ran into obstruction.

We originally planned to go to Whitehorse Lake campground with some friends from Phoenix during our middle weekend in Flagstaff. But all the campgrounds seem to be booked and overly busy since the pandemic. So we took Scott and Dortha's advice and went out FR151 to a beautiful area sort of to the back of the peaks. The higher elevation meant much cooler weather--and lots more weather than we bargained for! We had monsoons every afternoon, and Saturday's monsoon turned into a thunderstorm that became a pounding hailstorm. We got hail and rain all afternoon; our shade structure leaked, everyone got wet and cold and dirty, and all the girls ended up half-frozen in our tent to change and cuddle up in sleeping bags til the weather cleared. It was such a difference from the 90-degree weather we'd been having in Flagstaff!

Bridget was a happy camper overall. She had a bit of trouble sleeping in her pack'n'play in the tent, of course, but that was to be expected. Poor baby got pretty cold at night. I tried to keep a hat on her and bundled her up as well as I could, but it's always a bit of a challenge to keep the baby warm. She enjoyed playing on our mat and thankfully hadn't quite taken off with crawling yet at this point, so she was slower to get to the dirt, leaves, and pine needles on the edge. 

As you can see from the succession of pictures below, Bridget is an active baby! Most of my pictures of her include some blurry appendage . . . 

Here she is bundled against the cold:

We drove out Thursday morning (and Jeremy had scouted and claimed a campsite on Wednesday night), and our friends joined us Friday afternoon. We camped on a slope that was heavily forested with lots of deadfalls and boulders nearby. The kids had a wonderful time making fort after fort with the logs and caves and boulders. 

We took some hikes around--one back into the trees, which was hard going (so many deadfalls)--and a few up the nearby trailhead through a meadow and onto a larger meadow where the trail met the Arizona Trail and also led to Bismarck Lake (not a lake, just a dry tank). There were still a few wildflowers--some late, dying lupine; Indian paintbrush; and others I didn't know. The kids were too loud for us to spot elk or deer, but we did see a red-tailed hawk up close and some birds, including mountain bluebirds and white-breasted nuthatches. I think I saw a red-breasted nuthatch, too.

I got a few pictures of all five kids together--unintentionally color-coordinated!--just before we left the campsite on Sunday:

One of the highlights of being in Flagstaff was getting to see the relatives! We spent an afternoon with all of them, and then separately time with Emily and her boys, and Anna and her girls (and got to see Justin, too). Sadly, we didn't see James. But we did get to spend time with the newest cousin, Mia (born in June)! She's a sweetie. The girls even got to hold her. Cedar and E wanted to hold Bridget, too. She wasn't as cooperative as Mia. She really doesn't prefer to be confined. 

Clara and Mia

Cedar and our Birdie-girl

Abby and Mia

Clara and Cedar

Especially with the opportunity to spend time with cousins, our kids didn't want to return to Phoenix. Lydia in particular cried about going home for a couple days leading up to our departure. They were sad to miss Pa and Grandma, too!

We took up most of our food so as not to have to do much shopping in Flagstaff. We kept meals simpler and did a few repeats (pesto pasta with chicken sausage one week, and with salmon one week; burritos a couple times; etc.). Dortha left a couple cast iron specialty pans for us to take if we wanted, so I tried them out while there. One was an abelskiver pan, but the other we had to look up. We discovered it's a plattar pan to make Swedish plattar pancakes, which are like tiny crepes. Here's a recipe I tried and liked: https://monasterykitchen.org/swedish-plattar-pancakes/ (minus the sugar, plus a teaspoon of cinnamon). The kids gobbled them up.