So much language. It's amazing to watch a person develop, and mama can sort of understand a bit of the fascination lots of folks have with science. The whole 'study-of' bit about growing up our baby-adorable brings new wonder to our days, along with a lot of laughter.
The word of the week is 'okay', though it's inflection is always in the vein of 'surprise' - as if the girl had just realized something, or just discovered the answer herself. Sometimes it's preceded by an 'Oh' or an 'Um' or some other such 'let-me-think-for-a-second' kind of vowel-consonant combination, but it is always said with a happy and sort of astonished smile. And it always means a happy 'yes'. We-the-parents like it.
Mama: "Averie, would you like a tomato?"
Averie: "Oh, okay!!! Yeah! May-toh, Mama!" (big smile)
Dadoo: "Averie, how about we go get a dry diaper and then wash hands?"
Averie: " Ummm. Okay!! Yeah! Okay, Dadoo! Okay! "(big smile)
Also overheard this weekend during a trip to the local wildlife center:
Dadoo: "We have to go fast, Averie. Can you walk faster?"
Averie: "No."
Dadoo: "Do you want me to carry you?"
Averie:" No."
Dadoo: "Ok, then, would you like to ride in the stroller?"
Averie: "No." (Pauses. Thinking) " Oh! I know! Run! Run, Dadoo!" (running ensues)
How cute is this? Oh! I know! It's the . . . well, of course, you know!
There are lots of new words here at Chez Adorable as our tiny toddler finds new ways to express herself and alert us to all that she sees and experiences.
A walk two weeks ago took we-the-family past a small, yappy dog's residence. 'Puppy!' the girl cried as the little, wildly-barking dog ran up to us. 'Chihuahua' said Mama as we continued our walk.
A walk a few days later took us past the same residence with the same little, wildly-barking dog. 'Kih-wah-wah! Kih-wah-wah!' the girl shouted as we continued our walk. 'Bye, bye, kih-wah-wah!' she said. "!!!!" said Mama & Dadoo to each other, speechless as we realized she remembered.
Other words, bigger words, words with more and more syllables are joining her vocabulary. 'Humidifier' is a recent favorite, along with 'negotiable' - as in 'Putting your jacket on before you go outside is non-negotiable'.
The biggest language change, though isn't just the sheer volume of new words the toddler is learning. It's more about the way she uses them. These days there are very few of those baby-type phrases spoken. These days, it's all about a multitude of words, all the ones she knows that are relevent to the current situation, pouring out into as many sentences as she thinks it takes to explain herself to us.
'Mama, Dadoo fix milk for Averie. Dadoo come see us milk.' ... 'Dadoo, one, two, three, four, jump! My turn!' ... 'Come on, Mama! Come on!' ... 'Dadoo! Open. In there. Now!' ... 'No! Other ones! Other ones! Heark ones!' ... 'Mama an' Dadoo, see? Wah-Wah (flower)!' ... 'Hi Wee-ull (Will, our neighbor)!'
And last night, a new line, more evidence that she's got stuff figured out:
Dadoo: (eyes tired, arms covered in spaghetti and cookie crumbs) - "Averie, we don't play with our food. Eat your cookie or I'll take it away. Do you understand?"
Averie: (mouth full of cookie, eyes shining) - Nods head. "Yeah." (In stronger, determined voice) - "No, Dadoo. Dadoo, I take it away. Now." (Cue small hand holding cookie stretching away from Daddo until cookie is out of his reach, meanwhile toddler's eyes gleam.)
Mama: (sits silently, hand over mouth, stunned by the mocking-bird voice of defiance coming from her tiny girl . . . wondering if Dadoo understoond what just happened, then realizing he didn't.)
Dadoo: (suddenly becoming more aware) - "What just happened?"
Mama: "Um . . ."
Averie: "All done. Get down. Now."
Fin
It's hard for we-the-parents to believe that our tiny baby is now two. It's hard to believe that it's been that long, so many days, since the minutes we first held her and kissed her tiny head.
Our Mardi Gras girl was born at 9:18 a.m. on Fat Tuesday - a fitting date for parents who spent many a courting day in La Nouvelle-Orléans. Her arrival was the miraculous result of almost 3 years of hoping and waiting - a day of joy for us like none we'd ever had before.
She spent her 2nd birthday enjoying all of her favorite things - including having all three of her favorite snacks for breakfast: cheerios, animal crackers and 'bubble-bubbles' (goldfish). She watched Sam and Ty about ten times each ('watch Sam? watch Ty? watch babies, Mama?), and spent nearly an hour doing 'ark' with her crayons and stickers. She watched her beloved George so many times Mama can't remember, and had a special birthday lunch at Clary's before heading off to see the ducks at the park.
Later in the day, she opened cards (she loved this) and presents, 'talked' to her Aunties & her Gram & Grandpa G, and had a dinner of her favorite foods (mostly red): spaghetti, strawberries, tomatoes, sweet red peppers and grapes. And then there was cake.
Though she wasn't much of a fan last year, this year found our tiny girl shoving tiny handfuls of cake into her mouth. Cake was everywhere, just as it should be.
And just because it was her very special day, the girl got to play rock-star and stay up late with Mama and Dadoo so she could spend an extra bit of time watching . . . George.
The face of our tiny two:
**Photo of our newborn baby girl by our friend Tim.
After two years, the girl decides she likes cupcakes. At least, she likes the frosting.
Happy Valentine's Day!
We're all tied up here as we-the-family work toward the days of diaper-free living.
The current score:
Team Toddler - 1
Team Tee-tee - 1
Round one went to the girl who showed poise, endurance and good judgement in keeping the tee-tee in until the diaper was on.
Round two went hands down to the tee-tee, which showed strength, determination, and an amazing ability to spread . . . down the legs of the girl, down the back of the couch, and down the pants of the Dadoo who was sitting on said couch playing 'nigh-nigh, hop-hop' with the girl. Luckily for Mama, she was sitting on the floor and so avoided getting soaked.
The girl was not so happy, and wanted panties removed immediately. She seemed upset, and not quite sure what had happened. The tears stopped once she and Mama decided to get out her 'ruffle' jammies and watch George* for a few minutes before bed.
This morning while she was getting dressed, she asked to wear her 'pannies' but seemed to be ok with practicing wearing them later tonight.
The game continues. And it feels like progress. Yet it also seems a little bit like a disaster waiting to happen. Mama has a sneaking suspicion that the whole 'learning to potty' thing is going to involve just as much laundry as those early, newborn days. And a small, tiny, itsy part of her finds diapers to be such a convenient container for all the stuff she doesn't want to have to wash out of tiny clothes. It's a mixed bag to be sure....
*
This George that we're watching is the 65th anniversary edition and it has a lot of stories on it - including some of the 'Frog and Toad' ones. The opening story, 'Curious George comes to America' shows the Man in the yellow hat practically stealing George from the jungle. Which is bothersome. Mama seems to remember that George was rescued from poachers . . . but she doesn't have the book on hand to check. Anyone know what the real story is here? Was George kidnapped?
Not very many days ago, mama's growing girl requested ribbons for her hair. Mama obliged, and raided her craft stash to find tiny satin ribbons for the toddler's tiny curls. Each day since, the girl eagerly awaits the adornment of her hair. Her most frequent request is for 'pink ones, mama! pink!'. Today, a ribbon in the hair wasn't quite enough. She needed one for her wrist as well. After she was sufficiently bedecked, she gathered her candles (battery operated, of course) for some moments of meditation on the (holy-cow-it-needs-to-be-swept) kitchen floor.
In other itsy news, the toddler wore her first pair of itsy panties last night. This big-girl practice run went extremely well with no accidents at all. She wore them for about 2 hours and even told mama that 'tee-tee coming! it's coming' in time for us to race to the potty. In truth, it wasn't coming, but it was good training for we-the-family. After her bath, the poor girl cried when we put her diaper on - she only wanted to wear her 'tiny pannies! no diaper!'. It broke our hearts. She recovered quickly once we agreed she could watch George before bed.
**Editors note: Original title edited to remove '& panties' for obvious reasons.
This morning.
Dadoo and toddler are playing happily together, choosing outfits for the girl's magnetic 'paper' doll, building with blocks, bowling, jumping and shopping.
In the midst of the playing, there's a rules infraction (team toddler) and a warning (team Dadoo). Alas, the next minute sees repetition of said infraction, and so comes a calm explanation and the consequence:
'You didn't listen to Dadoo and now we have to put this toy away'.
The tiny toddler displays her traditional sad face as Dadoo removes toy. She turns to Mama and makes her traditional sad plea for intervention. Mama's reply is that we have to listen to Dadoo and do what he says. The girl nods. Looks sadder. And turns away from Mama.
'Tigh-out' she says. 'Tigh-out, tigh-out, Mama'.
And she walks herself over to her time out space. Where she sits down. On her own. And waits.
Good? Bad? Good?
