pirates, fang retraction, and phrases

"Arggh—ahoy, matey!" is something I won't be saying to Bridget anytime soon. Apparently, she's deathly afraid of pirates.

Yesterday, when I picked Bridget up at daycare, they were watching Barney or the Wiggles or some other ghastly children's programming like that (there will never be a big purple dinosaur in my house, let me tell you). Bridget was jumping on the trampoline (okay, her feet never left the surface, but she was trying) and bebopping to the music. She was having a grand old time, but apparently—according to Daycare Auntie—she screams and cries hysterically whenever a pirate makes an appearance on the show. She won't calm down until he disappears. As a parent, I'm glad I didn't witness it; I'd feel a little guilty about being so amused by something that scares my little girl so much. The only time I've seen that reaction out of her was when my friends' poodle, Boris, wanted to investigate her (and this coming from a kid that lives with—and climbs all over—a rottweiler. Sometimes I just don't get it).

Other than her unexplained fear of pirates, there are so many changes happening in Bridget's life that it's hard to keep up with them. The last time I blogged, I reported that Bridget's left fang had popped through her gums. Now I'll have to retract that statement, because it's retracted—the gums have since covered it over again, and neither tooth has broken through again. This happened before with her fourth tooth; the only thing I can figure is that her gums are swollen enough that, until the teeth get pretty far down there, they're not going to let the teeth show. The poor girl is the slowest tooth-grower I know and ends up chewing on her socks and anything else she can fit into her mouth to compensate (although I think the socks are more for the reaction she gets out of mommy when she does it—she seems quite proud/amused with herself when she sits there with a sock hanging out of her mouth and looks at me). Here's to wishing the teeth would break through and stay through, and fast!

As an English instructor, I'm amazed at how quickly my daughter is picking up language. On Monday (the 26th), she actually said her first full phrase: "Go in car." We had just eaten dinner at the local Coney Island and I was buckling her back into her seat when she said it. I had to ask Al if he heard it too, thinking I must be imagining things since I'd never heard her say one of those words before, let alone all three of them together in a phrase. But I wasn't imagining it: he heard it too. Of course, she hasn't said it since, but she has started saying another phrase over and over, even though she's not really saying it in context: "Bye-bye, Dada." She says it in the morning when I get her up (even if Al's usually at work), she says it when we're leaving the house to go to daycare, she says it while we're riding in the car, she says it instead of saying "na-na" (night-night) before bed. But she won't say it when I tell her to say goodbye when Al's on speaker phone. It figures.

Just this morning, another word came out of her mouth that I've never heard her say: "Gibby" (pronounced "Jibby"). Her own name! Well, one of her nicknames. One of the kids at daycare started calling her "Gibby" and "Gibbert" ("Jibbert") even though he knows her name's Bridget, and it stuck. She gets the biggest smile on her face when I say the name(s), because she knows that's what the other kids call her. And now she's chosen that name for herself—at least for now. So cute! (Although I'm sure she won't think so when she's a teen...I'll keep her just the way she is for a while, thank you. I can't just now imagine being the mother of a teenager.)

Well, the life of mommy is a balancing act, so I've got to get back to laundry and studying. But in case you're wondering, the picture here is of Bridget with her cousin, Lily, who just turned one a little over a week ago. This picture was taken at Lily's birthday party. Enjoy!

fangs

Another tooth broke through yesterday—the left "fang" (upper, left of center—I'm obviously not a dentist). And the right fang seems to be breaking through today (although last time I thought "any minute now" about one of Bridget's teeth breaking through the gums, it took two weeks). That makes six teeth altogether. What a big girl she is!

And I do mean big. Last week she had her one-year appointment (yes, one month late) and she was 28 pounds and 32 1/4 inches. Suddenly, her 24 month and some 2T pants fit her in length but are getting too small in the waist (she's 3T if you go by weight, 24 month/2T by height). Thank God dress/shorts season is drawing near and soon I really won't have to worry about pants until it gets cold again! I do love her in jeans, though—sometimes I wish she wasn't so tough to fit.

walking, talking, and blowing kisses—what a big girl!

It's been way too long since I posted, so even though I should be getting busy epoxying the laundry room floor (yay!), I'm taking a few minutes to write about my baby. I mean, toddler. She really is a big girl now, and it's becoming more and more obvious every day.

First, she's walking. Not all the time, mind you, but she walks a lot more (at home) than she crawls. The funny thing is she takes very careful, very deliberate individual steps and looks proud of herself the entire way. She started doing this Friday, April 2, when she took 12-15 steps at a time across the family room and made several trips. I've included a short video here, although that number of steps wasn't captured on video. (This is the salvagable portion of the video—my husband cut her head off in most of it! Never give the camera to him again, methinks.) She still prefers a finger to hold onto, but when she's playing by herself she likes to walk around carrying things. I'm sure the slow pace will pick up soon and then I'll be running to catch up with her, but it's so cute to see her wobble back and forth to try to maintain her balance at every step!

Bridget's also talking a lot more. She says Papa (she calls Steve that since she hears her cousins calling him that), but also says it when she's looking at pictures of my dad. He hasn't heard her say it yet, though! She says doggie, night-night, all gone, and a few other things that I can't quite figure out (but she sure thinks they're words!).

My favorite thing, though, is the way she kisses us. Her cousins Ella and Lily taught her how to blow kisses right around dad's birthday—the first time I saw her do it was on March 27. She puts her hand to her mouth and very dramatically pulls it away and says, "Mmmmuahhh!" But she also started kissing us, both when we ask her to and when we're not expecting it. Up until the last couple of days, they were always the big, open-mouthed kisses of babies when she'd lean in to our lips or cheeks and say, "Mmmuah!" over and over again—just the kind Aunt Carolyn likes (wink, wink). (They're not super wet, slobbery kisses, though—what a relief!) She's even kissed Mya (our dog) like that. But the last couple of days I've noticed that she's started putting her lips together sometimes at the beginning of a kiss. Already moving to the real kiss stage! I love being a mom.

bridget's first birthday

Yesterday, my little girl turned one. The fact that this little girl, this little life was once a part of me, literally inside me, still amazes me when I look at her. And I'm amazed when I suddenly realize she's getting bigger, older, smarter, etc. She's talking. She's almost walking. She laughs, cries, pouts, fakes tears, pretends to talk on the phone--amazing. To me, Bridget is just amazing.

We started the day by eating breakfast at Kerby's and getting pictures taken at Portrait Innovations--her first professional pictures, courtesy of Papa (my dad). The rest of the day, for me, was a blur--run home, frantically try to clean the kitchen, set the table, frost the cupcakes, prepare the taco dinner for fifteen adults and five children (two of whom didn't eat it, since they're still on the young side), and "direct" Al in house cleaning, chilling the beverages, and sorting through pictures to give to his family. (I'm bossy, and I'm blessed to have a husband who puts up with it even when he doesn't like it.) Thankfully my sister and dad arrived early to help (actually, dad was at breakfast and the photos with us). The party got off to a slow start, people arriving between 3:30 and 4:30 (the start time was 3:30), and I had to spend most of the time grinding coffee and making it for everyone in my two-cup coffee pot, over and over and over. Then, before I knew it, it was present time. Bridget wasn't really interested since she was getting hungry, so I rushed it and then made her bottle and set dinner out for everyone. I sat for about three minutes before giving up my seat and finally eating cold tacos and preparing Bridget's dinner (tacos), which her Grandma fed to her for me.

Then, finally, cake. Bridget loved being sung to by everyone and got off to a slow start on her birthday cake. (Seriously, the video is about twenty-five minutes long). But eventually she was covered in gray frosting (white frosting with black and dark pink flowers=one gray mess on a baby) and cake crumbs, and loving every minute of it. She managed to get some in her mouth, too, as was evidenced by the St. Patrick's Day colored poop in her diaper this morning. (Ha! How it turned that color from the frosting, I'll never know.) We had to hose her down with the shower head afterwards, which she also loved--this girl loves to play in water. Just doesn't like it on her face yet--but no fits, even if it gets in her eyes. Everyone left shortly afterward, and the evening was over and I was exhausted. My legs still hurt. I'm not used to standing that much in one day.

Seriously, it was a wonderful day. If my tone sounds a little melancholy, though, it's because it is. I was so busy preparing and playing hostess that I barely had time to spend with my daughter yesterday. I haven't been able to find my own camera for two months, and am not too fond of Al's, so he took most of the pictures--and I wish I had so many more, and a lot better pictures. (I'm not to fond of his point and click and then look shooting style. And half the time they're blurry and I have to delete them anyway. Sigh.) I'm not complaining, really, but I think next year I'll just do something small--maybe just a tiny me, Al, and Bridget affair--so that I can enjoy the day with my daughter. After all, the day is a celebration of her--and I want to be able to show her how much I love her, care for her, and how special she is to me (us) on this very special day.

ka, ka

"Ka, ka" is now actually one of two words: "Clap, clap" or "quack, quack" depending on the context. Likewise, there's only a slight difference between "baby" and "bye-bye"--baby is more drawn out and has more of an "iee" sound at the end of it, and when Bridget says bye-bye (and in the right context, too!) she makes little waving motions with her hands, palms turned in toward herself. For me, though, the funnest part of it all is beginning to understand what actually comes out of my daughter's mouth!

Last Sunday (February 28th) was Bridget's official first step, although an unsteady one at that. Since then, the most she's taken is three. Al encourages her every night to walk to him. Mostly, she tries to stretch her arms out and grab him while her butt's still leaning on the couch or until she end's up crouching over and plays with the carpet. Other times, she'll literally launch herself at him--fall forward with arms outstretched and take one or two steps on the way into his arms. The tiny steps she has taken have been pretty hesitant, but I'm counting on having to chase her around the house pretty soon.

This week is Bridget's last official week as a baby, although I'm thinking of her more and more as a toddler every day. Her first birthday is Saturday and it's been strange to me these past few weeks to be planning my kid's birthday party. I can't believe how fast the first year has gone--if this is any indication of the future, she'll be moving out before I know it. One thing's for sure: I couldn't have asked for a better kid to teach me how to be a mommy. I love her!

wrestler

I've got a little wrestler on my hands. Who's getting pretty good at standing on her own, too. You can see both in this video if you've got the staying power: it's a little over four minutes long. Wrestling's up front, standing's about half way through.

And the new word of the week: clap (ka! ka!). Baby (baa-byeee) is still pouring out nonstop, too!

standing, head-butting, and pointing (in that order)

Bridget's been eleven months old for a week now (I'm starting to panic about finding the perfect birthday present!) and she seems to be learning by leaps and bounds. This week, she started working on a few things--and not all of them good.

First came standing (good). That is, standing without holding onto anything. To be honest, I probably can't call it standing quite yet, since she only does it for a split second when she's reaching for something and needs both hands to get it. But she's let go of the ottoman/couch/upside down laundry basket or whatever she's using for support almost without seeming to think of it, always when she's reaching to grab something else. The first time I noticed it was Sunday morning (the 14th) when I went in to get her in the morning. I reached my arms out like usual, and this time she let go of the side of the crib to reach back to me. Honestly, I almost missed it! I hesitated right before I grabbed her to look at her, and there she was, standing without support. I'm just wondering how long til she's steady at it...and how long after that til she walks!

Next came head-butting (not good). That's right, I said head-butting. I don't know if she watched videos of goats at daycare or if the kids there have been play-wrestling (I doubt it very much, knowing Auntie) or if she just came up with it on her own, but Wednesday night (the 17th) we were at home on our own while Al went to hockey and she got mad at me, gave me this stubborn look, and slammed her forehead into my face. She hit me hard--if she would have hit my nose, she probably would have broken it. But she got my cheekbone and it stung. I know it had to have hurt her a bit, and I made the wrong move (in retrospect). I was so stunned that I reacted by getting upset, asking, "Bridget! Why did you do that? You hurt mommy!" and by coming close to crying. Well, she must have liked getting a reaction from me because when I picked her up from daycare the next day, bam! Right into my face, although not as hard and more in greeting/fun than in anger. Auntie and Uncle (daycare) laughed saying she'd been doing it all day and it was a "greeting." No, I told them, and told them about the first time. I really hope that if she keeps doing it they'll stop her instead of laughing at her, because it worries me. She was trying to do it again when she was getting tired and cranky last night, only this time was with anything within reach of her head. What is wrong with this child?

This morning came pointing (good). Pointing! Again, I almost missed it. I mean, I saw it, but it almost didn't register what she was doing. Bridget wanted to play in the dog's water bowl and I told her no. When she put her fingers in anyway and looked at me, I pulled them out and gently tapped the back of her hand, saying no. She didn't move away from the bowl, but sat next to it, pointed right at it, and looked at me with a little puppy-dog look on her face that said, "Please?" "No, Bridget," I said. She did it again. "You can't play in the water," I said. "I don't want you getting all wet." And after sitting there with a look of disappointment on her face, she crawled away and started playing with something else. I was so proud of her--and realized right then and there that she really isn't a baby anymore.

Speaking of babies, she's trying to say the word baby now. It comes out sounding more like ba-ba or ba-bye (and no, she's not trying to say bye-bye), but she's definitely trying. She loves looking at a picture of herself from almost six months ago, or board books with pictures of babies in them. She smiles and laughs and talks to them and looks at me and tries to repeat baby after me: "Ba-ba. Ba-Bye." Hasn't quite got the long vowel sounds down yet, but she's getting there, too! Oh, my little girl really is a little girl now. Sigh.