The Bambino Files

The short version: she is totally awesome.

Very determined little kid, very intent about practicing the new skills she is learning.

So during my visit she was all about climbing stairs. She had just figured out how to go up so she wanted to keep practicing, practicing, practicing that until she perfected it. And she wanted to go down like an adult would (holding on to an adult's hands, of course). We thought, "She's probably never seen a baby go down stairs before" so we modeled for her how to do it safely, on her bum. And she looked at us like, "That's interesting, now give me your hands so I can do this properly."

She is also finding her voice. Lots of practice with babbling sounds and other sound effects. She discovered Auntie C is a fun one to practice this with because I also love making all kinds of sound effects and will either mimic what the bambino does or supply the bambino a new sound to mimic. :)

She has a great sense of rhythm. She bounces to the beat if there is music on. One night after dinner, I made up a song about all the foods she likes to eat and I put a little rhythmic clap in there. After watching and listening for a couple minutes, she started clapping with me, not indiscriminately, but exactly with me, in the right place, right number of claps, right rhythm.

And she is walking. She did it for the first time when I was there, on Sunday after church, she walked by herself a few times that day and then wouldn't do it the rest of the week, regardless of our encouragement. But then a week after I got back to MN, she started doing it on a regular basis. And is apparently undeterred by impromptu baby gates, she will climb right over them.

As I said, the bambino is totally awesome!