It’s My Blog and I’ll Brag if I Want To

First let me explain this funny and slightly disturbing picture. Last week, I was humming around the house, doing what I do, when I suddenly realized that I hadn’t heard from Pace in a while. I mean heard from literally, because having a toddler is a lot like being suddenly struck blind. There is no way to keep a constant eye on these fast moving and curious wonders, so you learn to listen for them. I know exactly what my Tupperware sounds like as it pours from my cabinets. I know the rustle of pens clinking together means she’s in a drawer in the study. Clink, clink means she’s into the blue china in the dining room but clang, clang means she’s touching the crystal…AAGGHH! Rattle, rattle means the vitamins on the island in the kitchen are getting a good shake. Well, you get the idea that I feel my hearing has been heightened like a blind person, since I can accurately place Pace by the slightest sound. When I get worried, however, is when there is no sound at all. That means she’s really having fun. As you can see from the picture (which I hope doesn’t offend anyone), Pace discovered tampons in this quiet moment! Not only did she discover them, she pulled them out, one by one, and placed them into the toilet. I was so shocked and frustrated when I caught her mid-crime, that all I could do was laugh and go find my camera. So, there she is with that sweet, guilty look on her face. “What, is this a problem?”

Pace will be 15 months old next week! I can hardly believe how fast the time goes. After her 1 year birthday, I quit meticulously recording every little milestone because she is just developing so rapidly now. It’s funny to look back and see that I wrote on my calendar the first time she made an “m” sound, but I didn’t write down when she learned to say her own name. She learns new words all the time now, and I don’t want to forget how precious each new step is. So today I made a list of every word she knows, and I will one day be able to tell her how vast her vocabulary was at the tender age of 15 months…!!80 words!!… Does that blow anyone else’s mind? This does not include the words that she has said once or twice and might possibly know. There are 80 words that she uses every day, or at least every week. I thought I might be exaggerating when I told the doctor she probably knew 50, but no she knows 80 and counting. OK, I’ll stop but can you tell that I’m proud?

She knows the color red and sometimes pink. She is walking, but isn’t exactly running. She seems to take her time and enjoy the scenery pretty much everywhere she goes. She knows horse, cat, and dog and can tell you the sound that they each make. She can name most of her body parts, and she knows the names of several of our family (and extended family) members. She cunningly knows to throw up her hands in question and ask “All Gone” as we walk by the bowl with the M&M’s. She loves to imitate me in the kitchen by taking a spoon and a bowl and vigorously stirring. She also knows how to give a hug and a kiss, though she is EXTREMELY stingy with her kisses and gives them to Daddy and her baby much more than Mommy. She is very independent and while she may act demure when she first meets a stranger, she is more than happy to go to their arms after about 30 seconds. She favors men over women, and Jeremiah takes this as a very bad omen of things to come. She can feed herself with her fingers and is very interested in trying to use her spoon (she can do it, but dipping the food out of the bowl is a challenge as well as keeping that tricky spoon from turning upside down). She knows how to blow on her food if she decides that it’s HOT. She can tell me when she wants a bite of my food, or a cracker, or milk, or water. She also talks us through her bedtime process: bath, teeth, lotu, papoo, night-night, lu-loo (Translation: bath, brush teeth, lotion, diaper, good-night, love you). She tells us when she wants a book and when she wants her baby. All in all, I think she’s a genius just like every other mother thinks their child is a genius.

She has had an ear infection off and on since the middle of December and we are on our fourth round of antibiotics. She has learned how to pitch a fit, and can create one of the most high-pitched screams that I have ever experienced. For the most part, however, she is a very sweet baby, and I like to excuse the tantrums as direct results from the ear infections 🙂 (Jeremiah thinks I am deceiving myself.) Well, I know I just bragged my head off, but I am very proud of this little girl.