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!
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