Conversations

Skyler has become quite the little blabbermouth, and I think her voice is the most adorable sound ever.

She’s always woken up in the morning singing or babbling in her crib, almost since the day she found her voice as a baby. But now a lot of it actually makes sense. She might be politely asking for me or Daddy, or repeating the newest word that she’s learned. I’ve heard her in there naming the objects in her room: “yight” (light), “fan,” “doh” (door), and “rockie” (rocker). Other times I hear her in there naming off her daycare friends names: “Thinny” (Sydney), “Wywee” (Riley – this little boy is almost a year old and she is obsessed with him. Robbing the cradle already!), and “Finny” (Finley). I’m actually surprised she does so well with Sydney & Finley since they sound so similar – but she knows the difference!

Her favorite thing to play lately is to put things “nigh night.” She’ll take Pink Bear (or me, or Ronnie, or Bruno), spread out a blanket on the ground and say “lay down now.” If it’s Ronnie or me, she’ll actually push on our shoulders or head toward the ground to force us to lay down. Then she takes however many other blankets she can find and cover her subject up. I think the most adorable is when Bruno is already laying there and she puts the blanket on him and says “nigh night.” He just lays there.

She’s also got an independent streak developing. First let me preface with the fact that she does not like to wear clothes. As soon as we get home from anywhere, she’s pulling on her shirt & pants saying “Off? Off?” So she runs around in her diaper most of the time. I’m sure our neighbors think it’s so classy when she’s standing at the front door looking out with no clothes on. But when it’s time to get dressed, we have a very regular conversation that goes a little something like this:

Me: Let’s get dressed!
Skyler: No.
Me: Yes.
Skyler: Nooo.
Me: Yessss.
Skyler: Noooooo!

Right now it’s fun to argue with her, and we’re both usually giggling while we argue over this – it’s like our little game every morning before leaving. But one of these days, I know it’s going to end up a battle, and neither of us will be smiling about it!

Finally, we’re starting to see clues that potty training is on the horizon. I honestly have no problem with diapers at this point, so I’m not trying anything with her until she’s ripe and ready. I haven’t the slightest inkling how to go about it when we get to the point, and frankly it scares the bejeebus out of me and stresses me out just thinking about it. So right now, we just talk about it. When Ronnie or me goes to the bathroom, often times we leave the door open so she can wander in and observe and we’ll tell her what we’re doing. When I change her diaper I tell her if she peepee’d or poopoo’d, and also let her hold a wipe. She’s now telling me if she poopoo’d (but not peepee’d), though she’s still doesn’t care if the dirty diaper gets changed – she’d rather continue about whatever business she was involved in. She’s also starting to take the wipe I hand her and try wiping herself. I guess that’s good progress, though her technique has much to be desired. She just enjoys wiping things clean in general, so if I’m not quick enough, she’ll wipe her bottom and then immediately wipe her face with the same wipe. Yikes!

So we’ve got lots of talking and learning going on. It’s so fun and exciting – I love to hear whatever new words she has, and it’s so cool being able to communicate more and more. But, it’s also my baby getting to be such a big girl. Ah, bittersweet!