Betsy Tricks

Well, Betsy continues to know no bounds to her tricks. Over Thanksgiving, her greatest joy was clapping. Smiling and clapping. Clapping and smiling. Granted, she's been clapping now for several weeks, but apparently, there's much more to clap about at Memaw and Poppa's than there is in boring old Provo. Pretty dang adorable, I have to say. Actually, she loved crawling, too, but that's been going on now for, gosh, at least four or six weeks. Zipping everywhere!

Also over the break, she began pulling herself up to a standing position. She'd use the mantle in the Shea's living room or the edge of the tub. What glee! You could just feel her excitement when she stood, finally, all the way up on her own. It didn't always last very long, but she'd just doggedly start working at it all over again.

The stranger anxiety most kids go through at her age is really manifesting itself in Betsy -- but not in the usual way. She's more social than ever! Oh, nobody loves to smile and coo at strangers the way Miss Mary Elizabeth Shea does. ...But when it's just her and I, well, nothing will do but holding her. I can't set her down, let alone walk a few feet away!

Our latest advance happened just yesterday. She's started consistently signing more! Technically, I think she started doing it when we were in Washington over the Thanksgiving break. The only catch is that she does it by clapping, of course. So you feed her a bite, she claps. You feed her again, she claps. Then chews. Then claps. It took several episodes before we could really be sure she was truly signing more. She not only signs while eating, but while playing games with Daddy. That's totally the cutest part!

Old standby tricks she's been doing for a long while now include holding her hands up to be held, feeding herself with finger foods, and perfecting the art of a graceful fall.