"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!
