Endearing little ditties

The past month G has been developing in leaps and bounds, and her language skills have exploded. It makes life easier all the way around when you know exactly what she wants. Walking gives her an obvious sense of accomplishment (obvious because of the giant grin on her face while en route), and I think she really loves that we understand what she is saying a lot of the time. A few random examples of some recent developments:

1) Today for the first time, she gave a command instead of just pointing and naming. I went in to get her in her bed this morning, and she was laying on her back chatting with her stuffed animals. I talked to her a little while and decided to tickle her a little. She squirmed and shrieked in mock protest, and then took her little hand, wagged her finger at me and said, "No, no, no!" Now, Gillian's nanny taught her that. When she lunges for Silvia's cell phone or indulges in other naughtiness, Silvia wags her finger and says "no, no, no, Gillian!" (in a far from stern voice...). Interestingly, we have noticed Gillian catching herself about to do something she shouldn't (like start pushing keys on the computer keyboard), and wagging her finger and saying "no, no, no" as if reminding herself she is about to do something she is not allowed to do. Beyond being super cute, it is fascinating to watch all this develop.

2) Another little thing we have noticed is that after we soothe her she pulls back and gives us a kiss and pets our faces gently. This happened twice on the Flight From Hell when Sean held her wrecked little body as she whimpered after a Big Tantrum. In spite of the fact that she was mad, she appreciated his love and pulled back and gave him a sweet kiss and pet on the face. Wednesday when she fell in the kitchen and hit her head on the tile and I picked her up and held her while she cried, she did the same thing. It's nice that she appreciates that we love her, mid-tantrum or in pain or whatever.

3) She nursed the last time on January 21st, and I pumped the last time on January 26th (also the date she had her last bottle with breastmilk in it). This was sad, but at some point, I guess you have to let it go, particularly if your child can't be bothered to wait for letdown (G would sit up and point at her bottle (which we had to supplement with of she would have starved-I wasn't producing much the last month) and ask for it). Now, every now and then, she points at my breasts, says "booo", lifts my shirt, and takes a peek. I guess she wants to make sure they're still there. She has never tried nursing again, but always kisses them, gives an appreciative pat, covers them up, and is on her merry way. As if to say, "thanks for all that work for all those months! just wanted to say Hi!.



4) Gillian loves to wear Sean's knit winter hat and brought it to me last night because she wanted to wear it (and I love when she wears it because it is ridiculous and cute). So I put it on her. A few minutes later, she pulled it off held it up to me and said, "hat. Papa." It is soooooooooo nice that she says Mama and Papa now and means US. But it was interesting that she noticed that the hat belonged to Sean. Also last night, when I was holding her she saw my work ID badge on my pants and pointed and said "mamama". I took it off and gave it to her, and proceeded to kiss, pet, and hug my photo. This made me happy. I felt validated. It is a nice thing that after 17 months, she knows who makes her feel safe and loved and she shows me affection. It is odd that for a very long time she said "mamamamama" and "dadadadada" without context (at about 6 months). Then she knew who we were if we said "where's mama" or "where's papa" (looking for us or pointing; around 11 or 12 months) and didn't say mama or papa for a while, and now she says it and means us.

5) Obviously, we are moving past the hitting a little. We decided to not make a big deal out of it and just remind her to kiss, pet, or hug whatever it is she is hitting. Early on she discovered that hitting = "NO!" from us, which did not deter her from the behavior (and our response amused her). So, instead, we have tried to get her to supplement a more acceptable alternative behavior (giving options seems to work for us). Her baby dolls, for some reason, and the cats seem to be what she likes to wail on. The cats don't allow her near (most of the time), and we have limited time with the baby dolls. Overall, she seems to be back to her sweet self, and the little demon baby seems to be on the outs (at least for now).

And today IS SUNNY. So, it's 27 degree out and not exactly beach weather, but after this dreary, miserable, frigid, and VERY SNOWY winter, I'll take cold and sunny. I mean, 27 actually feels pretty warm some days (all relative I guess). Now, if it would just get warm enough to melt all this dirty snow before we get more snow, that would be fan-tastic. (this is probably the second winter since I have been here where I have been asking myself, "WHY did we move here again?" QUICK-hurry up April and remind me!).