Baby mine

I mentioned I've been working from home for a few days with Z. What a precious time. I am not really complaining. It has been so fun.

She will be 18 months old next week. It really is a developmental corner for her. She is turning from a baby into a little girl.

She is learning to express what she loves. She toddles around singing to herself all day. No words, but I can always recognize her songs. Mostly the Imperial Death March and I Am a Child of God. Put a little music on (currently, "Raising Sand" by Alison Krauss and Robert Plant) and she stops whatever she's doing to dance.

She is learning to take an active role to make sure her needs are met. She tells me (by pointing at her little bum) when she needs a diaper change. When she is tired, she lies down on the floor, or climbs up on the new couch, and goes to sleep. She calls me Mama now. When she cries, it's a word, "Nah! Nah!" General expression of unhappiness.

She is learning to be brave. In this wind, she doesn't hide. She turns her face to the gale and lets it blow the hair out of her eyes. And squints, and smiles. She likes to run away from me. Last night at the elementary school open house, I chased her down the sidewalk three different times while trying to talk to S's teacher about whose class he should be in for (gulp!) fourth grade.

She's getting down my emotional connection with food. She enjoys a lot of string cheese at lunchtime. When she's in trouble (for example, when she started throwing the pears off her high chair tray after her string cheese was gone and I took it away and gave her a pretty stern "no") she does this adorably manipulative fishy-style "kiss me" face. I can't resist it.