Boo Boo Weekend

There's a lot of stuff to report from the last week. Here's a short summary of the things she can do this week that she couldn't do last:

• Sit up on her own
• Scooch backwards and spin around
• Get up on all fours and rock back and forth
• Roll over in her crib and sleep on her tummy
• Whine when she doesn't get her way

We're not to happy about that last one, but we suppose it was coming. I first noticed this when I put her down on the bed one morning and walked away. I heard a cry begin, and as I came back to her I saw her laughing and crying at the same time -- she was happy she got her way, but hadden't quite figured out to stop crying yet. Since then she's been seen to cry when we take away books and toys. We've been pretty good about not succumbing to her pleas so far, and Rachel is figuring out that whining doesn't let her get her way.

We saw this comment in a Parent's Magazine this week. "Why do kids whine? Because it works!"

Also, as you can see below, Rachel found her toy bin last week. She knows where it is, and what's inside; we'll see her scooch backward off the blanket and pull down the toy bin once every couple of days. As Anne says, object permanence is not a problem.

This new mobility is causing its share of boo-boos. Nothing serious yet, but there have been a few bangs on the head as she whacks into coffee tables or topples over after sitting up a while. The big fall last weekend was when she scooched off the futon, falling about a foot and landing on her bottom (we think). No more unsupervised time on the futon for Rachel! We've started making use of the playpen if we need to be moving around the house. Fortunately for Rachel, she has "Mr. Boo-boo;" a cute elephant that we keep in the freezer to soothe bumps on the head. She comforts herself after a whack by chewing on Mr. Boo-boo; she hasn't quite figured out that he's cold to reduce any swelling that might occur.

That's about it. She turns six months on Friday, and she'll celebrate by meeting Grandpa Marty. Doctor's appointment next week, so you'll see updated stats!