fun in threes, sometimes fours
the girl
Greenville has a zoo -- a small zoo, but a zoo nonetheless. We took L for her first visit Sunday.
She most liked the giraffes, but seemed generally thrilled with everything -- especially the way I was toting her about at times.
As usual, L made friends with everyone.
And clearly, I wasn't the only parent running around the zoo, trying to document everything my child does.
The other day, it was sunny and semi-warm. What else could we do but take the Girl out for a walk in the front yard?
She's getting better at walking, but our bumpy front yard causes certain navigation problems sometimes.
All of L's linguistic development is in Polish currently. But that's an entirely different post...
L is understanding more and more spoken language every day. She brings things to us; she takes things from one person to another; she puts things back; she gives hugs -- all when asked.
She also recognizes people in pictures.
"Pokaz Papa," I say.
"Pokaz Nana," I ask.
Dziadek, Mama, Tata, L, Babcia, Papa, Nana -- each and everyone she recognizes. (Babcia is in a different picture, though.)
When L wakes up, she often will lie in bed talking to herself or playing. We often know she's awake because we hear the thump of her empty bottle falling to the floor. I guess she sometimes feels upset by being cheated: she woke up with a bottle, but the blasted thing was empty. Other times, she'll just suck on the empty bottle, perhaps wistfully imagining how nice it would be to have a bit of her warmed 10/90 juice/water mixture.
The point being, bottle tossed or no, L doesn't often wake up and begin crying. Which is pleasant enough.
L has begun eating by herself. Cheerios, small crumbs of bread with jam, and blueberries are her favorites -- they all fit perfectly in her wonderfully chubby hands.
Earlier this month, K was giving L some yogurt one evening earlier this month when she decided to let L have a go with a spoon. Of course the paparazzi was there.
It's been some time since I posted any videos. That's because it's been a long time since I had access to the computer on which I edit them. It's in the guest room, which is now Dziadek's room, making the computer Dziadek's computer.
I'm so far behind, it's not even vaguely amusing. Still, I had some time today while the Girl slept and K and Dziadek were out, so I went through the footage I had and put together a little something from Las Vegas.
On the way: Grand Canyon, Sedona, eating with a spoon, and more...
During the last few days this evening, L's begun doing several new things.
Her understanding of communication is simply exploding.
Every night, after I read to L, I put her in her crib and play guitar softly as she falls asleep.
The other night, a bit more about the "i boom!" mystery came into focus. In the midst of some early-forming nightmare, L suddenly woke up, popped up in the crib, and within a matter of a few seconds was climbing out, screaming and terrified. I grabbed her just as she was swinging a leg up, and she clung to me tightly. Within another second, though, she was awake, calm, and asking me to put her back down in the crib.
"It's probably nightmares," K said a few days ago. It seems she's right.
Three hundred sixty-five days pass in a flash. Graduated development means that L seems to be walking almost as soon as she begins turning over. She's gone from barely noticing attention to enjoying being the center of it -- a perfect description of Sunday, L's birthday.
K baked a cake and cooked some lunch (I helped with the latter); we bought some decorations; and we invited some friends over (mainly our friends -- L is a bit short on friends right now).
L having finished her first year means that I have to stop dumping all our photos of her into the "LMS First Year" Flickr photo set. It means that, while we'll continue measuring in months for some time, we can now begin talking about L's age in years.
For L it simply meant a time of presents and cake. She enjoyed the former but didn't get much of a taste of the latter.
For us, it was the first of many reminders of how fast time passes. It brought to mind Malvina Reynold's "Turn Around"
Where are you going, my little one, little one
Where are you going, my baby, my own?
Turn around and you're two, turn around and you're four
Turn around and you're a young girl going out of my doorTurn around, turn around
Turn around and you're a young girl going out of my doorWhere are you going, my little one, little one
Little dirndls and petticoats, where have you gone?
Turn around and you're tiny, turn around and you're grown
Turn around and you're a young wife with babes of your ownTurn around, turn around
Turn around and you're a young wife with babes of your ownTurn around, turn around
Turn around and you're the young girl going out of the doorWhere are you going, my little one, little one
Where are you going, my baby, my own?
Nanci Griffith has a good version:
The Girl is one year old today.
Such a change 365 days can make:
Almost triple what she weighed when she was born, and double the length. She’s walking, playing hide-and-seek with me, understanding “No” (imperfectly, but it’s a start), showing “zaba” and “kaczka” in her picture books when asked (“frog” and “duck” respectively), holding out her arms when being dressed — all within a year.
Enjoy the progress, L, because you’ll never grow — mentally and physically — so much in one year again.