It’s been a big week at our house (aren’t all the weeks?). Clare has started imitating gestures, like waving, patting and clapping. We’ve had a few moments of it before (an occasional wave, clap, etc.) but now it’s consistent, intentional, and she will even instigate it to get our attention. Of course when she claps, pats or waves we make a big deal out of it, clap back at her and everyone smiles, laughs and shrieks with joy. I mean, has there ever been a smarter baby? We don’t think so 🙂
Clare has also started getting up on her hands and knees regularly and rocking back and forth. It’s quite a sight – and it kind of strikes fear in my heart since I know that her stationary days are numbered. Not that she’s really stationary these days, but she generally is confined to a 5 foot radius when I step out of the room for a minute. Once she figures out how to crawl (and move forward) she’s going to cover that five feet in about five seconds. Look out world! Really, it’s look out pets. I think she’ll spend most of her time chasing around the dog and cat.
Clare is also starting to ‘say’ her first signs. She’s understood the sign for ‘milk’ for a while now, but she’s now started doing it when she’s drinking a bottle or nursing. We’re also working on ‘more’ (she’s struggling with the distinction between ‘more’ and clapping) and ‘all done.’ Lately Clare has been getting very opinionated while eating and I’d like to give her some more communication tools besides yelling her frustration or displeasure. 
Lastly, our girl has turned into a little bookworm! She’s showing some partiality to specific toys (loves the stacking cups) and lately, books. At first she was just interested in turning the pages, but now she’s started looking and touching the pages. She has quite an attention span to sit through several stories, so we do a lot of reading. Being a bookworm myself, I love it.
