Games

My cousin got me a really cute calendar that I'm supposed to use to record the important events in the baby's life as they come along. It's nice because it requires very little effort, so I can fill it out in odd moments when Ela is actually happy on her own. At first, I kind of laughed at the section each month titled "Games/toys I like..." (I being the baby in this case.) A one month old, as it turns out, doesn't really get into toys or games. At least Ela didn't. But 5 month old Ela has come up with a few that are worth sharing.
Right now, Ela is really into touching everything. Some things go straight to the mouth, but others are just fun to run her fingers across, apparently. For example, she likes to grab at the curtains as we walk past them in the hall. She also thinks it's really fun to help me close the sliding doors when we enter or leave an airconditioned room.
On the list of really exciting things to touch is Dory. Thankfully, she hasn't yet tried to put any part of Dory in her mouth. Part of our daily routine now is some time spent sitting on the floor with the dog. Ela sits on my knee or between my legs (she can more or less sit on her own now!) and generally Dory is kind enough to come to us. If she's in a good mood, she gets close enough that Ela can reach out and touch her, which causes Ela to giggle with delight, leading Dory to kiss her face, which is Dory's way of showing similar joy. My job is to make sure that in the ensuing love-fest, no one gets scratched and Dory's tongue stays out of Ela's mouth. This requires both hands, so I haven't been able to get any pictures of them interacting.
On Dory's less cooperative days, she wants to play tug of war and all Ela gets to touch is the dog toy we're tugging on, which she inevitably wants to eat, so those days go slightly less well. But it's always cute to watch.
The other game we play is less a game and more an attempt to feed Ela. She has come to the conclusion that she should be allowed to feed herself. I've tried giving her an empty spoon (or two) to play with during meals, but she really wants to play with the one that has food on it. So now I feed her using a multi-spoon method. Step 1: Fill spoon A. Step 2: Hold it where Ela can see so she'll oper her mouth. Step 3: put in her mouth FAST before her hand closes on the part with the food on it. Step 4: Let her grab the spoon and take control. Step 5: Fill spoon B. Ela will drop spoon A as soon as she sees spoon B coming, so it's sort of like juggling getting the food to her mouth without letting the other spoon hit the floor. But it's also entertainment.

The end of this week is Obon, so I should have some fun pictures to post next week.