If you ask her a question, any question, she nods her head and proclaims, “Da!” This, apparently, is “Yes” in baby-language. I’m not sure when my baby became Russian, but “Da” it is!
If you ask her if she needs her diaper changed, she nods her head and proclaims, “Dah-der!” This, apparently, is “diaper” in baby-language.
If you ask her to throw something away, she walks over to the garbage can, carefully lifts the lid and peeks over the edge while holding tight to whatever it is she’s throwing out. She’s taking inventory of what’s in the can. I’m not sure what, exactly, she’s thinking, but she takes a long hard look before dropping her garbage in and closing the lid.
When she’s done playing with something, I will ask her to put it away. She will take it, walk it over to the garbage can and open the lid. We’re working on the difference between “throw it away” and “put it away.”
If she hears music, she immediately begins moving her head side to side and smiling. Other times, there will be no music, but she will start dancing, just for the pure enjoyment of it.
If you get a pack of fruit snacks or a fruit strip out of the pantry, she immediately sits down and waits for you to give it to her. If you ask her to sit down, she will immediately plop down.
If you open the refrigerator, she will immediately come to stand in the open door. It doesn’t matter what she’s doing or how far away she is, she will be right there within moments of pulling the door ajar!
When someone she knows appears at the door, much excitement ensues! She jumps up, claps, dances in circles and goes running up to the door, arms lifted high, wanting to be picked up. ”Um! Um!” she demands. Nobody denies her request.
She loves Kevin The Dog. She puts her hand out to him, opening and closing it, calling him to her. ”Da-da!” He comes to her. And she grunts at him. We couldn’t figure out why she is always grunting at him. One night he was outside and he started barking (which is uncommon for him.) She ran over to the door and started grunting at him. We finally got it! She was barking like Kevin! They say imitation is the greatest form of flattery, Kevin should feel honored.
When we tell her it’s time to go night-night, she takes off up the stairs, grabs her books and plops down onto her butt. We read. And then we snuggle in to nurse to sleep.
Sometimes, at night, she’ll be more difficult to get to sleep. She’ll nurse, then turn away, sit up and clap her hands. Waiting for my response. I’ll lay her next to me, tuck her in and tell her “It’s night-night time.” She will nurse, nearly fall asleep and then roll away and try to hurl her body off the bed as quickly as she can. She seems to think if she can make it to the bedroom door, it’s play time and “night-night” time will be abandoned. (She hasn’t made it to the door yet.)
Each time I lay her back down, she nods her head at me and says, “Nigh-nigh”. She knows what’s supposed to happen, she just had different plans in mind!
The other night she was particularly difficult to get to sleep. After laying her down and pulling her towards me numerous times, I was getting frustrated. She came off the breast (for the twentieth time) but instead of rolling away from me and trying to escape, she put her hand on my cheek and she laughed, simply out of the blue. I, of course, couldn’t resist breaking into my own laughter.
This made her laugh even harder. And we laid there, next to one another, laughing like two fools. I was no longer frustrated. I was simply in love with her.
She’s funny, this little girl of mine. She’s comical and humorous.
She loves to dance. Music is her muse.
She loves to laugh. Making others do the same is inevitable.
She loves to love. And hug. And give big, open-mouthed kisses.
She’s full of magic.
What A Difference A Year Makes!
Even though my life before was tragic
Now I know my love for her goes on
-The Police
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