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Goodness gracious. Look at that face. I could just kiss it right off.
It’s been a fully and busy couple of months, getting ready for your little brother to arrive, watching you grow up into an even bigger girl, realizing things never stop changing. You keep amazing us, keep becoming more a lady, keep surprising us, and we’re super excited to see you in your new role as big sister in just a couple of weeks.
We took you to Disneyland one last time this year (We figured out we’ve been 7 times total this year. Not bad. You have it pretty good, girl.) It was super hot, but you didn’t mind. And I managed to make it through, 9 months pregnant and all. We did the princess dinner in Ariel’s grotto this time, and you got to meet 5 different princesses in about 10 minutes. Pretty cool because you’re really into “pwincesses” right now. You claim that Ariel is your favorite, but you alternate pretty equally between the ones you have – Snow White, Ariel and Cinderella. Something tells me you’ll be getting one or two more for Christmas… or your birthday, both of which are coming up fast.
You do all sorts of cute things these days. You’ve become really great at independent play, having your princesses and your dolls talk to each other and you, and talking to various family members on the phone. You told me you were talking to Tia (Carmen) in these photos. And you were having a full blown conversation.
That was early last month. Just last week, you put Baby Lady (photos later in this post) in the naughty chair when she did something wrong (I think bite you). You told her she had to stay for “twos minutes” and then she got out and said “sorry.” You keep doing things like that that surprise and entertain the heck out of me. Just as people foresaw, you really did start to talk “all of a sudden” sometime a few weeks ago. Every day you say something new that you previously couldn’t say, words I didn’t know you even know you could comprehend, let alone recall and repeat. It’s like somebody untangled your tongue. Not that you’re speech is perfect, but if I had to put a number on it, in three weeks there’s been about a 500% improvement. It’s astounding. And so fun! Yes, you do talk incessantly and repeat yourself. But I don’t mind. It’s so good to be able to communicate with you on this whole new level and to know for sure that you really are absorbing everything.
Some words I’ve jotted down that you’ve said recently that I had no idea you knew – hippopotamus, firefighter, batteries, and helicopter. Those are just a few. Each one of those blew my mind though.
Some of my favorite phrases – “already did”, which you say with the emphasis on the first syllable of already after just about anything we ask you to do. (Go peepee, Adela. Already did. Time to take a nap, Adela. Already did. Time to eat, Adela. Already did.) Anything you’ve done in your lifetime that you don’t feel like doing at that particular moment, you “already did.” Cuteness. Also, “two minutes” which I think I mentioned in my last update. But also you say “a couple twos minutes” now, which really just means later. Also, “bebe butta.” Aw. You also are talking about emotions a lot. We’ve been working on teaching you happy, sad, surprised, mad, etc., what they mean and what they look like. So, you let us know now, “me MAD, humph” (and cross your arms, run away and put your back to us), “me happy!”, and “me sad.” You will also say “heart hurt,” to go along with expressions of sadness. Melt my heart.
You’ve also been learning about daytime and nighttime because a few weeks ago you started getting up at like 5am. Since the sun comes up around 6am and sets around 7pm we decided to just go with that as a gauge for when you’re allowed to get up and when you need to get in bed. It works for now. Not so much after daylight savings, but we’ll deal with that when it happens. Now, in the morning you pop out of bed when you see the sun pop up from behind the mountains and you say “Sun Up!” and then you walk around all day saying “Sunny Day, Momma! Sunny, Day!” It’s such a cheerful little phrase. It makes us all smile. You also say “sun sleepies, moon up,” when it starts to get dark.
Your manners are quite good, if I do say so. You say please with encouragement. You still forget a lot of the time. But you say “sorry” when you do little things like bump into people or drop things, all on your own. And you say “thank you” at all the appropriate times. You’ve even started saying “welcome” (as in “you’re welcome”) in the past couple of weeks.
We’ve definitely had our rough days in the past couple of months. Every time one happens, I’m terrified I’ve lost you forever. September 5th was one of those days. You were impossible. Here’s what I wrote on facebook the day it happened…
“Adela just completely mortified me in public in front of a dozen people for the first time since she was about 5 months old. And I just experienced the first time my parenting was called into question by a complete stranger! Good to know that my sweet child can still keep me on my toes, that I am not a perfectly prepared parent (as much as I try), and that people who don’t know anything about me can judge me and I can hold my tongue when I feel like punching them in the face. Wow. Humbling. I still feel like crying. But the really great and redeeming thing about it? After I got my act together and removed us from the situation, we really did have a teachable moment, me and my baby girl, and she told me she was sorry without me asking her to – multiple times and from her heart. So we can’t be steering her too wrong. I tell ya, there is no education like parenting. It is only by the grace of God we survive… And I have a lot of years left to survive yet, heaven help me.”
And in response to the question of what actually happened….
“Oh just a general melt-down fiasco in a very crowded, very small restaurant. Me trying everything, the attempted distractions followed by the attempted bribing following by increasingly severe threats (which I followed through on every time) followed by the ultimate time-out on the steps in front of the restaurant, followed by 2 minutes of peace upon re-entry into the restaurant followed by an even-louder meltdown… making clear that in fact the two-year-old, not the mother, was in charge. The 2 ladies next to us were talking “under their breath” about “bad parenting,” one of them literally shook her head as she looked over at me. That smarts! Truly. Because I didn’t lose it. I didn’t do anything wrong. I didn’t yell at Adela. I didn’t let her get away with anything. I wasn’t too lenient or too hard on her. I don’t think, at least. I did the best I could given what I had to work with. I thought I did alright. But it was really embarrassing because EVERYone in that restaurant heard and saw it all. I could hear them (in one case, literally) grading me and drawing conclusions about me and about my daughter – who is NOT normally like that! Sheesh.”
I love facebook for quick memory-keeping like that. I wonder if it will still be around when you care enough to read it. At any rate, I love that I was just able to go back and read what I wrote in the heat of it because honestly, it’s already a long-forgotten memory. There has been so much sweetness in the past couple of days, I’m not sure who that little tyrant was almost exactly a month ago, lol.
You’re fully in love with your bed. And you almost always get in it and stay in it when you’re supposed to and even when you’re not required – play time, nap time, night time.
I do your hair after bath times now. It looks so cute dried with a round brush. It’s so fine it takes no time at all. And of course it doesn’t hold a curl at all. As soon as you get sweaty it goes flat again, but it’s cute while it lasts. You certainly didn’t get my hair… just the color.
And just for funsies, here are some random favorite pics of some of the most important people in your life right now (minus the ones who are too far way to be in photos at the moment).
You giving me Eskimo kisses.
You blowing out Papi’s birthday candles.
You playing in your tent, a gift from Auntie Steph, with Mimi. (By the way, we’ve officially decided to let you call her Mimi, instead of Mima, your choice.)
You playing with Baby Lady, Jeffrey and playing “kitties” with Natasha, you’re awesome babysitter we were so blessed to find. She comes and hangs out with you for a few hours every Thursday mornings these days, to give Momma some uninterrupted computer/work time.
You playing “doggies” with Daddy.
And another sweet memory I want to record of us goofing off in your bed when one day last week when you woke up especially grumpy. My thoughts from that day…
“This was one of those moments that was such a good reminder for me how much we influence our children and how clear a reflection of us they are. In this case, instead of scolding her for whining and making her get out of bed, I stayed in bed with her and goofed around with her until she was giggling, grumpiness gone. So worth it. This could have easily been a rough night. She’s so impressionable. When I can pull myself together and act rightly, it tends to rub off on her. I wish I could always see things so clearly and act so maturely. Alas, it isn’t always that way. But this was a good night. A good reminder. That I’m the adult and I wield a lot of influence. I pray I use it wisely more often.”
And you jumping on the bed with Baby Lady, who is the first stuffed animal (aside from “Doggie” your pillow pet) who you have ever wanted to sleep with and who currently – since our last trip to Disneyland several weeks ago – goes with you everywhere you go. She’s your new best friend and the first stuffed anything or doll or toy that you have actually gotten attached to. I love it. So cute!
A couple more random tidbits I jotted down to remember…
- A little like me…You are so tidy for a 2-almost-3-year-old! You put your shoes away where they go. You close your own drawers when you take things out, and if the panties are hanging over the edge, you re-open the drawer to push them back in. You straighten rugs. You are definitely a daughter after my own heart. I love it!
- A little like Daddy…You refuse to keep sheets or blankets on you. Every time I get you up from naps, ever time I check on you at night, you’ve thrown all the covers off. You like having the air blowing on your bare legs. You get that from Daddy, not me. I always think you will be cold, but your little hot body somehow keeps you comfortable.
And one more photo, just because I like it. You playing with balloons at Papi’s 65th birthday party.
Gosh, 2 months is too much to narrow down into one post. Such a thin cross-section of photos and memories. Love you, baby girl.