Seventeenth-Month Update: Music and Animals

Dancing with her MP3 bear — Thanks Uncle Tod and Aunt Holly!

Turning up the volume on her MP3 bear.

Austen’s early love of music doesn’t qualify her as a prodigy, but she’s certainly showing a predisposition to follow in Grandma Judi’s footsteps — although perhaps with vocal instead of instrumental music. Austen dances to almost any music, even elevator music or bad electronic stuff coming from her toys, and she does so all day long. Her favorite is repetitive music with a strong beat (e.g., Sexyback by Justin Timberlake) and live vocal music. In the car, if she gets fussy, singing or playing Music Together CDs always seems to calm her down … even better than toys or a snack.

Moreover, Austen seems to have some natural talent. She sings the RIGHT NOTES when humming the clean up song (“Clean up! Clean up! Everybody, everywhere. Clean up! Clean up! Everybody do your share.”) This may not seem like much, but Dada can’t do it, and he’s been listening to music for over thirty years while Austen is just learning to speak and control her vocal cords. When Austen sees Mommy throwing something into the trash, she breaks into song. “Eeeennn up! Eeeennn up!”

Animals are another of Austen’s strong early preferences. Her favorite toys and videos feature animals. Her most frequent vocalizations are animal sounds. Just spotting a bird or a squirrel sends her into a tizzy. She shouts with glee when a kitty comes nearby.

“Quack! Quack!”

Each day Mommy is impressed by Austen’s understanding of new commands and expressions. She doesn’t speak in long phrases (except “Oooh, what’s that?” and “Ello, who’s this?”) but her comprehension of English sentences has increased remarkably. She understands much of what is being said to her.

Ask her where her socks are and she’ll open the dresser drawer.

Ask her where the sheep is and she’ll point to the sheep piece of a puzzle.

Tell her to clean up and she’ll carry an object to the trash can.

Tell her to tickle Chacha and she tickles him.

Austen has started saying “No” but not so much that it’s annoying. She’s much more likely to exclaim “Oooo … this!” when she wants something. (But let’s not go into her throwing food and hitting when she gets excited.)

This month Austen’s shown signs of her first ventures into imaginative play. She moves her little plastic animals around and chatters. Also, she pretends to read books out loud. Babbling is interspersed with a correct word every once in a while. “Where’s Mommy? Is she under the table?” is a string of gobbly goop followed by a clearly articulated “No!” She also imitates Mommy and Daddy, doing things like trying on their shoes, wiping the floor, and pretending to put away laundry.

Austen loves to play peekaboo.

Austen still uses a bottle to drink milk before naps and before bedtime (and sometimes in the morning). She uses a sippy cup with a straw to drink water and has been trying a lot of new foods lately.

Books are much more enjoyable now. Austen follows along, looking at the pictures, especially books with flaps, surfaces to touch and animals to emulate. She will regularly bring a book and squat on Mamma or Dada’s lap, insisting that she be read to.

Austen is incredibly strong, runs fast and can climb like a much older child.

First attempt at using chopsticks.

Quick learner!

Hanging With Friends at a Baby Shower