She had a bad day

(Written 4/2/10)

It was 80 degrees in early April! No Fools. Back in March, it was in the 70s. We've had warmer weather this winter than last summer. I love love love it! I also love my little girl and loved spending the whole day with her today. Everything started out great, but the universe was anti- nap. She went down for her first mid morning nap and 5 minutes later the people who live behind us had beefed up men, heavy duty machinery, and other power equipment gathered to chop down trees. Our house was violently shaking and the nap only lasted 4 minutes. Awhile later, I finally got her down, but the phone rang twice followed by someone knocking at our door sending Odie into a barking frenzy. Another failed attempt. Despite the lack of sleep and 3 blowouts, she was in a great mood. She chatted, jabbered, and played all day, as long as i was still close enough to pay attention to her. I wasn't able to clean or work on my wedding photo album from 5 year ago, but it was still lovely. We went outside during the cooler evening hours and she loved looking at the sky with Ellie-like intensity while watching the birds fly overhead. I optimistically thought she would go to bed easier, but it took twice as long.

Lately she is so cute and responsive. She shakes her head yes and no (copies us) claps her hands, says lots of word combos, but mostly da-da. The look on her face while she talks is priceless. Wide eyed and animated. She calls her cookie monster "kaka", her dad "da da" or "dady", lots of other things "daDA" and me "blank stare". She recognizes her own name and looks around for odie if we say "where's odie" She also knows "bottle" and if you dare say the word without having a mixed one ready to go, watch out. She also is reacting to our facial expressions and loves to make us laugh. She flew peas all over and made us laugh so hard we we got excited and couldn't hide it and she busted out into a huge belly laugh and looked so pleased with herself.

I LOVE this time in our lives right now. She is sitting, pivoting, and crawling backwards so she has a little mobility to keep her satisfied, but not enough to make us go crazy. She is so content to play with her toys or chat with us. Every day is a little something different and amazing. I'm going to burst with happiness and rain gumdrops all over a street near you.