Z has loved all of the hullabaloo. These last few months coincided with the age we moved P cross country to NYC. He had very little to say about it at the time, though he had great verbal skills. He didn't call anyone by name other than E and I, so we never knew if he was missing his far flung relatives or if they were just gone for him.
I think he was just missing the words (and, most probably, the family:). Cuz Z remembers Everything. And misses her people. And can elaborate on that fact quite clearly. Which, I have to say, continuously shocks all of us. As she lists each and every visitor we've had this summer and if they left us by plane and who they left with and if they are far away or down the street...
When family first started arriving, sweet Z had a decent vocabulary and strung simple sentences together still mixed with lots of single word phrases. But by the time my mom arrived 3 weeks ago, Z was talking. As in, full paragraphs. With words I didn't realize we'd ever spoken around her. We're trying to perfect our 'not surprised' look as she seems to dance intellectual circle around all of us.
Yah, I'm not going to try and play it coy and act like she is normal. Because it is becoming pretty obvious the girl has stuff figured. My favorite talent these days being her storytelling. It's fascinating to hear such a young mind weave a long tale with dramatic sound effects and pratfalls.
My other favorite is just basically hearing anything that comes out of her mouth ;). Like last night at the movie in the park. She turns to me with her popcorn breath and says, "I freak out at zombies." Ever so unexpected from a one year old ;). But then again, this one year old has a big brother that talks about brain eating zombies, so, not so very odd, I guess :).
My other favorite is her use of the word "hate." This being an emotion, or word, that P didn't express until he was 4. Which pleased me greatly at the time :). Z uses it like breathing. In the car she will ask for music. Then dance in her seat. Unit the wrong song comes on, at which point she will tell me she Hates it.
Or when P taunts her and she screams at him. And he laughs and taunts her some more and maybe even adds some sort of bodily insult (a push or a yank on her toy) and she will lock him with her steely grey gaze and say "i h-a-t-e it.". Just simple and straightforward, to let him know she's not mucking around. I have to laugh.
But I didn't laugh a couple weeks ago when she found some pretend ice cubes in the play kitchen and proudly showed me her hand, saying, "Mama, look, diamonds!" I didn't remember using the word diamond, ever. Obviously one of us has. I made validating sounds and went back to cleaning. At which point she placed the diamonds on the stool and said, "Mama, come sit by me on stool. With diamonds. Three diamonds." My mother had just told me earlier that day that Z was counting balls up to five and I had told her she was bat shit crazy. So I quickly glanced over at the stool to see... Three ice cubes. And Z returning from the play kitchen with another ice cube saying, "Nope, four diamonds."
I don't know about you, but I find a 22 month old speaking like this disconcerting.
And peers at the playground find it misleading. And with her height, she fits right in with the three year olds. But she is one (almost two!!!), but really still one and its so strange to see her move with the ease of an older kid and speak as well as many much older kids but still be One. A friend once told me having tall kids suck because everyone expects more of them, expects them to act so much older. And she was so right. Fortunately, Z gets lots of peer practice in with P, so her social skills can handle some expectations, but I still feel for her sometimes when she doesn't know what's going on (because she hasn't seen a whole 'nuther year of experiences!).
One social skill that makes me laugh though, is her "sowwy." She really appreciates hearing sorry from P when she feels wronged. Likes it so much, in fact, that she uses the phrase herself. Talk about endearing. She woke early the other day (I mean really early here:) and I told her it was really early and I wanted to sleep. She tried. She lay down and flopped. Finally she sat up in bed and said, "Sowwy , Mama, I awake," rubbing her little chest in the sorry sign at the same time. She also tosses out thank yous and pleases and tries to shake hands. So funny the stuff they pick up!
The sheer truth is, she walked and talked and jumped and figured everything out so early and quickly that my grand plan to enjoy her babyhood feels unbelievably robbed. I still feel that passionate pull you feel towards tiny ones, the unarguable urge to wrap yourself around them and smoosh your face against theirs and love on them so much you could practically eat them up. And she is getting too big for that too fast. And my womb too old to do anything about it. Sigh.
But she is cuddly. And that makes up for a lot of the early adulthood ;). She still nurses a ton. And loves hugs and kisses. And loves to eat dinner with everyone. And loves to sit on the counter and help me cook. And loves her brother.
The other morning we were making food, waiting for P to wake up (her nights are still short) and she said, "I like P.". All conversationally. Like two girls chatting. I laughed and said I like him, too. Which tickled her, so she said, "I happy." And seeing me smile she added, "and Mama happy!"
She talks about being sad and mad and frustrated and happy. And for the most part, she blows off steam pretty well when she becomes upset. She doesn't necessarily want help calming down, though sometimes she wants a hug, often she just takes a deep breath and walks into the next room, and then comes running back in a minute later laughing. Except for those rare times E upsets her. Then oh. My. Gawd.
My mom got to see one of those. I was really sick with a fever, having been up tending to P and Z with fevers for two nights and I was desperate for a little sleep. So E tried to take Z for a walk (her fever was gone.). She was not interested, to say the least, and Ethan wouldn't let her come in and wake me and she Fell Apart. My mom (who had four of us and we weren't all angels all of the time;) said she'd never seen anything like it.
Yah, Z is a fair ray of sunshine, but she knows how to commit when she is crossed :). She has her warning shriek down. Followed by a "No, P (it's usually P, let's be honest;), Go Away. GO AWAYYYYY!!! Stop It,". And my favorite ending to that diatribe? "No mess with my hair!"
Speaking of not messing with her, she is so obviously a little sister. Poor kid. She has definite "don't mess with me I've got to protect myself" issues (thank you , brother Phoenix!) If she sets her food down she will connect with you before walking away, saying first, "No eat my waffle." And if she is reading a book and sets it down for a moment she will lay down her rules, "no mess with my book." I told her this morning that BB likes smoothies (she was drinking hers and holding him) and she fixed him with a look of distrust, marched over to the diaper bin and tossed him into it saying, "no take my smoothie!"
Poor kid:). P so loves to mess with her it is Unreal. But he so obviously adores her, too. Ahhh siblings.
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