June 17, 2008 – 8:20 pm
Mira has been very busy this month.
She has started speaking in full sentences. “Bucket’s a good boy!” happens to be the sentence of choice right now, as our entire day is infused with that one — or versions of it. “Papa’s a good boy!” she exclaims, or “Mommy’s a good boy!” Everyone in fact, despite their gender hinting otherwise, is a good boy. Liz, Tory, Jess, Cici, Mom-mom, Betty, EB…everyone.
Other favorite words/phrases: (and thank you for bearing with me, some of these blogs seem mundane and ridiculous now, but in 6 months when she is reciting the OED from memory, we will at least have tracked her modest beginnings…)
“right here” or “right there” (Because, its true! Everything IS right here OR right there.)
“Mommy, too? Papa, too? Betty, too? Bucket, too?” (Because she is very into us doing things all together…)
“Poop in potty” (Which she says with such glee! And in such earnest! Because YES! she is “in training!” And, chances are that if you know me well enough to be reading my blog, YOU have been used an an example of the incredible kind of person that “poops in the potty.” YOU have been an inspiration to Mira during this wildly challenging and exciting time in her life. We will send thank you notes when diapers are truly a thing of the past…)
The alphabet. Yes, she knows it. Yes she sings it. Yes, it is the cutest thing ever in the entire universe and all universes beyond. Yes, she will perform it for you (for a small fee, of course…)
Other than her language skills which are cracking open her personality more and more everyday, Mira, of course, has a new brother in the house, and a new position of “big sister” to fit into around here. She has done so well with the transition over the last month, and, with the exception of a few days and a couple nights here and there, she has really hung in there. She brings her brother nuks and blankies when he is crying and tired, she gently pats his head and says things that sound soothing and sweet (but who knows, since I can’t understand a lot of it), she loves to hold him and touch him and she even offered him some pretzels this afternoon after nearly attacking him with my return address stamper. Such a sweet girl.
But, we have had fits. And tantrums. And screaming frenzies full of stress and non-sense and exhaustion. She screams about sleeping in “mommy’s bed” like Beckett. She yelps when she is told she may not have one more popsicle. She melts onto the floor when the pacifier she has stolen from her brother is removed — by force, sometimes — from her mouth. She wails for whichever parent canNOT immediately see to her needs due to seeing to Beckett’s needs first. This is all new. And, she is more argumentative than before. She is more challenging. She is bigger. And older. And wiser, perhaps, or just more courageous. And more of a big girl than a baby. Plus, she has had a LOT to contend with. A strange new baby person in the house. A Mom recovering from a C-section and suffering from a severe bout of mastitis. A crazy dog freaking out from recent lack of affection. An absent Auntie Cici. A Papa who, for the love of all goats, will NOT give her another cookie!! You can see, it is a full plate for a one-year-old.
Sooo…though she is trying at times in ways she never used to be, she is so awesome. And smart. And crafty. And funny. And just…well, just Mirabelle.
Effortlessly and unabashedly herself.
And, here, on the brink of her turning two, my fear is that this ease with herself is just temporary — that as she gets older she will become more aware of what others think, and what others say. And that she will lose this extraordinary curiosity of and simple thrill with life. That the things that make her so her — her silly dancing, her giggling and chasing, her sloppy high-fives and sneaky glances, her drawing and her singing, her animated faces and her surprised reactions — will fade away with the awful things of reality like peer pressure, self-consciousness, fitting in, and fear.
But maybe — hopefully — my cynicism will be beaten by her confidence. By her strength and humor and magnetism. By her energy and her charisma. I’m crossing my fingers it will be. I’m crossing them REALLY hard.
So, happy 22nd month of life, Mirabelle Kathleen. May you swing, swim, smile, and sing like you have this month every month of the rest of your long and extraordinary life.
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