Growing up

I wanted to share my excitement that Cosette is starting to show an interest in climbing and pulling herself into a standing position.  It started this past week with our video rocker chair.  I would lean it up against the couch so that it was backwards (with the longer part on the floor and the short seat resting on the couch).  Cosette discovered that she could climb up on to it and rock herself back and forth.  From there, she learned to pull herself into a standing position so she could get to things on the couch.

Since then, she continues to play with the chair several times a day.  She has also pulled herself up to look into the bathtub (she LOVES bath time), to get to the sand at the playground (the sand is separated from the grass by a low wooden border), and she also pulls herself up using our ottomans.
It's fun to see her growing up.  It won't be too long now before she's walking!

This past week I've also taken Cosette to swimming class.  It was recommended to me by my babysitter, and I thought it would be a good idea to get Cosette used to the water at an early age.  The second class went better than the first, as she's getting more used to it.  We do things like blowing bubbles, splashing, kicking, laying on our backs, and ring around the rosy.  It's been fun.  I think I might actually use the swimming pool at our complex this summer for the first time since we've lived here.

Cosette also continues to jibber jabber and babble a lot.  There are times when I think she's starting to learn more words, but she's not consistent with it so it's difficult to tell.  Her favorite words are Dad and Hi, but she has also said "ba" for ball, something that sounded like tiger (one of her favorite stuffed animals is a tiger), and "dis" and "dat" for this and that.  Mostly, she likes to communicate in other ways, like pointing, whining, and pounding her hands (on the table when she wants more food, and on the door when she wants to go outside).  Her alternative methods of communication have thus far been pretty successful, so she doesn't seem too motivated to talk or sign (I've tried teaching her some sign language, but she just wants to do it her way).