She is now able to laugh and respond to jokes, eat sushi, and when asked how she was feeling, said 'I'm better'.
Giffords started her intensive rehabilitation last month and is having to learn, as a baby would, how to speak again. She is now able to mouth the words to songs like 'Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star'.
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Aides have been giving her bedside briefings on the unrest in Egypt and Libya.
The New York Times reported that an email sent to friends recently by Giffords's mother revealed she had been doing squats and repetitive motions to build up her muscles and was walking through the hospital's halls while holding a cart.
She has even beaten one of her nurses at tic-tac-toe and has changed from 'kind of a limp noodle', to someone who is 'alert, sits up straight with good posture', the e-mail from Gloria Giffords said.
