2.5 & .33

Here is an unfinished draft of a blog post I was composing a year and a half ago:

Okay, so the reason I was reminiscing about what it used to be like with Zuzu is because now that she's 9 months old, she's so fun, so fun fun fun, that I can't believe I didn't think the early months were boring.  And I really didn't.  I have continually been delighted and fascinated by her.  At every moment I have wanted her growing-up to slow down, not speed up.

But seriously.  She used to just lie there.

Now: she crawls! She stands! She laughs! She claps! She plays!

I wish I'd kept writing, so I could relive more of the 9-month-old version of Zuzu. So here are a very few bits and pieces of what the kids are like right now, more for my sake than anyone else's.

Zuzu is now two and a half. There is a poem that has been written about her:
          There was a little girl,
                 Who had a little curl,
          Right in the middle of her forehead.
                 When she was good,
                 She was very very good,
          But when she was bad she was horrid.

I don’t like the word horrid applied to Zuzu, but it’s all true, even the curly hair, and especially the fact that she’s everything rolled up in one person—the very very good, and the very very naughty.

She likes to do things on her own, and I love letting her do things on her own. It makes life easier for me when she can get a cheese stick by herself, instead of waiting for me to finish nursing Bear so I can open the fridge for her. She can dress herself, and definitely has strong opinions about what to wear, but the results are not always fit for public.

She chatters fluently, and likes to be understood. She will often repeat a statement until we have correctly interpreted it and repeated it back to her. (This can get a little nerve-wracking if we have no idea what she’s saying, but usually we can figure it out quickly.)

Right now it is very interesting to her to categorize things. Wet and dry, bright and dark, girl and boy.



Bear is four months old, and still at the just-lying-there stage, but just-lying-there is obviously a matter of perspective. He:

• kicks his legs like he's trying to break down a door
• stares intently at people and objects. One of his favorite objects to stare at is a two-tone blanket my sister gave me that has words written on it in big capital letters. This blanket, when not in use, is usually folded up and draped over the couch in the place where I sit holding him all the time. Therefore, when he's on my shoulder getting burped or whatever, he's facing the blanket. And when I crane my head to look at his face while he's in this position, I find him in deep, wide-eyed concentration. Besides the blanket, he loves looking at many objects, but I think he likes people best
• coos in the most beautiful sing-songy voice, gentle and sweet and happy
• gives big open-mouthed smiles
• laughs! Not long laughs, short bursts of laughs
• wraps his fingers around anything they touch with a vice-like grip

And much more than this, like drooling and chewing on his hands, etc. He still has some of his newborn hair, but it’s light brown now, and new hair is coming in that seems to be dirty-blondish like Zuzu’s. He’s a big, solid, heavy, sweet, wonderful little baby boy.