Spoke Too Soon

This morning:

Me: Dang! Zoraya's diaper leaked on the bed.

Boogie: Fucking baby.


I guess she did pick it up. Though I have to admit, I never said 'fucking baby' in front of her. I dropped the F-bomb in a conversation about two balloons that I received while in the hospital with Gorilita that I'm dying to get rid of, but am too attached to. I said the 'f-ing balloons' and she repeated 'f-ing bombs' for some reason, but hadn't said it since. Ooops.

Month Thirty-Three

Hello Darling Girl,

You're just a trimester short of your third birthday, but you are acting like you're four times as old. I think you may have even rolled you eyes at me the other day, but I can't be sure. You've taken to responding to every question with "huh?" Which Granny says you get from your Papa, and even your facial expression mimics him when you say it. Irritating? Yes. But irresistibly cute as well. We were driving up to Petaluma for your Tia Elba's birthday last week and you started talking about getting married for some reason. You told Papa and I you wanted to marry him, and he couldn't be my husband anymore. I have no idea where it came from, maybe because I call him 'husband' when I am angry, so I asked you again today who you wanted to marry, and you said Jack-Jack. You also asked if you could marry him today and said how fun it would be.

By far the most interesting thing that happened this month was you starting preschool. You are such a champ. No tears or prolonged goodbyes. You are so into other kids, and your teachers say that you share very well, something a lot of the other kids don't do yet. Every time we leave the house to go, you are so excited, talking about seeing your new friends and saying hi to your teachers, and when I go back to pick you up you are always so chipper, telling me about your art project for the day and the new toys you played with and singing the songs (with hand motions) that I don't know but love hearing you sing. My wish for you this month Angel, is that you continue to thrive in school and love learning as much as I do. I can totally see this is one of your elements, and I think we picked a perfect time to start you. I know you will do awesomely learning and exploring and creating, and I hope you never lose the wonder you feel now at new educational experiences.

We haven't done much in the way of going places. The weather has been shockingly beautiful this month, very little rain and 75 degrees in March is not something to be wasted, so we've been going on lots of walks and spending lots of time at the park. One of the things that continues to amaze me about you is that you are so sensitive, but so low-key. When I tell you it's time to leave the park without any notice and your sister is screaming on my shoulder, you are so compliant, never throwing a fit or begging to stay.

And most days the three of us end up in the rocking chair together while I am trying to get you to sleep, and you are just so understanding of your sister. Even today she grabbed a handful of your hair and yanked it, and you calmly asked me to take her hand off your head, then you looked at it. And when you saw she had pulled out a piece of your hair, you unwound it from her fat little finger and put it back on the top of your head. :)

You are only 2, but when people hear you talk they always ask if you are older. You have actual conversations with people, and it is getting much easier to understand you because your vocabulary is continuing to expand at a crazy-fast rate. And em, you're repeated a few swear words I said, but only that one time. I'm sure you'll bust them out at the most inopportune time (and use them appropriately to boot) but for now I'll trick myself into thinking you forgot them. You and I talk all day long, about nature and people and cars and buildings, read stories and talk about what's happening on the pages, and we've even had conversations about God. You are simply amazing.

And as I say every month and think to myself a hundred times per day, you are such as special kid, I am so blessed to have you in my life. And I love you more than I ever thought possible.

Love,
Mama

First Week of Preschool

Boogie is a real preschooler now! She started this week and went two days, and loved it. I was worried at first that she would be super shy and not talk to anyone, but the first day we showed up I only hung around for about 5 minutes, and she was fine. She was the only girl playing cars with the boys, ans when I came back to pick her up, the teacher's assistant told me that she didn't shed a tear, and was holding her own against a bigger buy who was trying to take her toys away from her. She even painted me a picture!

Today was her second day, and when I dropped her off the TA said she was so impressed by how confident Boogie is, that some kids that have been in the preschool since the Fall still barely talk to the other kids and cry when their parents leave. I had to do a double take to make sure she was talking about my Boogie. I am so happy that she is thriving and loving it. She is non-stop chatter in the car talking about her new friends and playing with the toys. She made a necklace today but ended up eating all the Cheerios off it before I could see. Typical Taryn.

Anyway, I'm so excited to see her thrive in yet another situation. And I sort of dig the two hours I got to spend alone this week, drinking a coffee, listening to my ipod and reading a book.

Month Three

Hey Babydoll,

We've hit the end of the first quarter, and I just have to say, I'm not late because if February had enough days, today would be the 29th. I have a feeling I'll be pointing that out every year.

You have blossomed into such a charming young thing this month. You were already smiling when we went into it, but now you'll smile at perfect strangers and people just can't get enough of your dimple and your laugh. It still sort of sounds like you are coughing, but you'll also blow raspberries while you're smiling, or blow spit-bubbles while you do the goo-goo thing. Your favorite person is Boogie, or course, and just seeing her across the room makes your face light up. But you are also fascinated by the fan, and staring at it (and stopping crying to stare harder) must be a trick you picked up from Jaden.

Oh, but the raspberries are so cute, and you do it when you are falling asleep too, and start blowing spit bubbles when you get too tired, so that no matter where we put you, there is a drool spot on your jammies right under your neck. Actually, you drool a lot more than I expected. I asked the doc if you could be teething, but he said no, so I guess you just salivate a lot. When we hold you with your belly on our forearms, the little crook on the inside of our elbows always end up dripping wet.

Okay, so you aren't a huge fan of tummy-time, and it's probably my fault because we don't do it much. I'd rather put you propped up on the boppy pillow in front of a mirror so that you blow raspberries to that cute stranger who is staring at you. You can already bear weight on your legs, and I'm terrified you'll be walking before your sister. Even 11 months was not long enough for her to take a first step, and I'm sure she'll be right there egging you on to start even earlier. But you can stand when we hold your hands, you can hold you head up and steady, and you can do little baby push-ups, though sometimes I think your head weighs too much because your legs kick around in the air when you do it, like you're trying to get some traction but your body is an off-balance see-saw.

We've been out and about more, and you're actually starting to not hate the car so much. For a while there you just screamed the whole time you were in your car seat, but now I have a good 10 minutes before you start, and you fall asleep pretty quickly. I think developmentally you're getting used to this big, cold, loud world, because you're taking a binkie too, and your sleep is getting much more regular. You are a very even-tempered child, easy to figure out what's wrong most of the time, and the only time you get super-agitated is when you want to sleep, and I've figured out that for the most part either popping you in the sling or taking you outside will knock you out.

Sleep has been wonderful for us both lately, your 5-6 hour stretch makes me the happiest mom on the block, and you wake up ready to play. My wish for you this month Sweetpea, is that you keep the knowledge of what recharges you, whether its being out in nature or listening to music, and you make sure that you always take time for yourself no matter what. I'm still learning the long, hard lesson that I can't take care of anyone unless I'm taking care of myself first, and I hope you can sidestep the suffering it took me to learn that, and be a self-care pro.

I don't even want to sit up here writing this, because I know you are downstairs waiting for me, so I'll end for now and just remind you that I am so blessed to have you in my life.

I love you,
Mama