Little Black Bug by Margaret Wise Brown

Little Black Bug

Little black bug,
Little black bug
Where have you been?
I've been under the rug,
Said little black bug.
Bug-ug-ug-ug.

Little green fly,
Little green fly,
Where have you been?
I've been way up high,
Said little green fly.
Bzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

Little old mouse,
Little old mouse,
Where have you been?
I've been all through the house
Said little old mouse.
Squeak-eak-eak-eak-eak.
--Margaret Wise Brown

I really don't have time to be writing this blog post. I need to go to Grandma's and pack for my trip, but I really want to write about how clever Elizabeth has been today.

First, she stood up in her Pack-N-Play all by herself! It's not like a normal crib with slats that she can hold onto to pull herself up. That means that in order to stand, she needs to get right up to the edge, get up onto her knees (sitting on her heels) then stretch her hands up above her head and lift her bum as high as it can go to reach to top bar. Then, she needs to pull herself up with her arms for at least long enough to get her feet flat underneath her to push up. This is a baby who is not content with crawling, and is doing all she can to learn how to stand. She still has a way to go before she walks -- she has figured out how to move two or three feet sideways along the edge of a couch or church pew, but she only goes to the right, and it's not a coordinated effort. Of course, all this just means that she's even LESS likely to fall asleep when I put her in the Pack-N-Play. I found her standing this morning because she was screaming her distress at being left alone in there.

Later, we were sitting in the rocking chair, and I thought she might like to read a book. I got out Eloise Wilkin's Poems to Read to the Very Young. It's a board book that's a little larger than a Little Golden Book, so there are several pictures and poems on each page. She likes to pat her hands on the pictures as I read, and today, I noticed that she was patting the little children's faces. Every time I'd turn the page, she'd find another face to pat. I turned to a page with some animals on it and said, "Look, there's the cow. It goes Moo." and I pointed to the cow. She patted the cow's face and scratched at it with her index finger. I pointed again and said, "Here's the doggie. He says woof." Elizabeth patted the dog picture. Then did the same when I pointed out the sheep. She really wanted to pick up the little black beetle from its page (with the poem above) and kept going back to it. It makes me happy to see that she's paying attention to what's on the page, and what I point out to her.

We went into the office so that I could check my email, but she was still unhappy about being left alone -- even when I'm sitting to feet away. I sat on the floor with her, and when she spotted her jingle ball (a stuffed globe with a chime inside), we made up a game. I'd roll it into her lap, then she'd push on it till it fell out (she can't really roll it back on purpose yet). Then I'd pick it up and roll it back to her. She loves to see things roll, and will chase a ball across the floor -- then go further and further as her attempts to grab a large ball in her tiny hand just make it roll away again.

When she was done with the ball, she saw the tiger xylophone-piano, crawled up and over my legs to get to it, and started hitting the keys to make music. This is one of the first times that she seems to have done that on purpose -- other times she has hit the keys and the metal and the plastic tiger head pretty much indiscriminately.

I'm so proud of my baby Elizabeth. It's like a switch has been thrown in her brain that lets her figure out what's going on and what things are for. Feats that were too much for her brain or coordination just a week or two ago are becoming old hat, and now that she's figured out how to figure out, all sorts of possibilities are opening up.

She is also very clear about what she wants. Certain things just make her happy, and she goes back to them over and over. And it's not because Mama pushes them on her. Take, for instance, metal poles. She loves metal poles. She finds them on lamps, fans, Grandma's walker, Susanna's crutches, Mama's little camera tripod, etc. The other day, she crawled under the pack-N-Play, grabbed one of the poles that held up the bassinet part (that I took off when she started rolling over and sitting up), Crawled back out, and sat happily playing with it. She dragged it with her all over the house, and when she happens to see it, she picks it up and holds it above her head and bounces happily like she's holding a trophy and saying, "Look what I did! I got it! Now I have one of my very own!!!"