Words lately.

The Animalia is a chatterbox and understands lots of words.



She says: agua (for water to drink AND for a bath), papa, pa (pan), babao (dogs and other mobile creatures), vroom vroom (it's spittier than it sounds), mama, da, nana, tata, hi (both as a greeting and as a name for phones), bye, más (actually she still just signs this), nice (when she's petting someone or something, tato (retrato) and YUM! when she likes her comida. She also roars when she's asked what a lion say and moos when she's asked what a cow says. She says Do! for her Dora doll and Rehmo or something like that for her Elmo doll. She also oooohs appropriately at shiny or amazing things. On occasion she talks gibberish, especially into a phone but sometimes also when she's reading or playing by herself.



She also understands: potty, and she'll take you there herself if she has to. She knows that Cooper is the dogs name and that the leash and collar belong to him. She knows where he sleeps too and unfortunately will throw herself on his bed if we're not watching her closely enough. She knows the names of all her favorite dolls including, but not limited to, Dora, Elmo, Babao, Big Bird, Baby Croki and her various ositos. She'll happily point out pansas, hers and yours, and tell you where your ojos, nariz, and boca are located. She knows NO! and sometimes giggles when you say it and tries to sneakily disobey. She knows toes and knows that they are also dedos en español. She knows luz and knows that the lightswitch turns the luz off and on. She'll also get kind of mad after you only let her turn it off and on five times because she can really do it FOREVER. She knows that Tata spends a lot of time outside and in the kitchen because those are the first places she looks for him when she gets to his house. She knows the movement that accompanies Wheels on the Bus and also can do a little bit of Itsy Bitsy Spider. She also knows what to do in storytime. She knows that música is for bailando and sometimes dances when there's no música because she wants to hear some. She knows abrazos and how to give them. We're working on besitos, those are less consistent, but she'll occasionally give a big mmmmmmmwah open mouth kiss, mostly to her Da. She knows how to greet people, with manitas hi or manitas bye. She also knows to stay close, when strangers talk to her, and she'll point us out, saying Mama or Da as she indicates who we are. Best of all, she knows when something is funny and laughs accordingly. Sometimes it's a fake laugh, kind of like her fake cough, but that's hilarious too.

Thanksgiving.

Thanksgiving was great. The Animalia and her Da visited his family early in the day. Apparently the Animalia cried and wouldn't let her Da put her down at first. She's got that stranger danger thing again lately and she's not that familiar with that side of the family. As soon as her cousins got there though she got over it pretty quickly and apparently was running around and doing her tricks for all the little kids. After a little of that they joined me at Nana and Tata's house.

We changed her into this CUTE blue dress with yellow teddy bears and French onomatopoeia written on it and she wandered around for a bit before the rest of the family showed up. At first we had her in some cute blue mary janes that matched perfectly but they were too big and she was walking like Frankenstein. She loves big girl shoes and she seemed happy enough but I sort of thought that after awhile she'd fall on her face so she was forced into some cute enough black mary janes.

The extended family arrived and we ate. Animalia ate stuffing and mashed potatoes and squash and corn bread (PAN!) and a teeny bit of turkey that was smothered in a teeny bit of cranberry sauce. She liked it but hated the turkey I gave her sans cranberry sauce. She's like that with meats, she'll only eat them when they're covered or hidden, otherwise we get the yucky-please-get-this-off-of-my-tongue look. So I wiped the turkey off her tongue with a napkin. And she was done.

I ended up chasing her a bit, a little nervous because her boy cousins were playing with regular sized (teeny tiny) Legos and she wanted to play with what they were playing with so... Anyhow, she escaped me and got to the Legos and shoved her tiny hands in the big box and... she didn't put them in her mouth! She just wanted to touch them, to clink them together, to throw them out of the box and hear them rattle around. So we avoided the choking baby thing and she was happy.

Once the boys left and had put away the Legos she found other things to distract her: Tías' jewelry, agua, libros, and Tata.

It was a good day, a fairly long day, and we finished it with a movie at home. I was sad when she woke me up EARLY the next morning but was glad she did. We hit a Black Friday sale and got her Da one of his Christmas presents. The Animalia loves shopping.

¿Tata?

So the Animalia's Tata was in Chicago for nearly a week and she missed him terribly. We kept telling her "Tata está en Chicago con el Tío Tío" to which she would reply, palms turned upward, "¿Tata go?" and we would feel sad for her. She spent the week looking for him, pointing outside (and to other places that Tata usually goes) and asking "¿Tata?" La pobresita, la abandonada, she was sad and a little confused. One night she even woke up in the middle of the night crying for him, actual tears rolling down her face, pointing at the window and asking for him. It was terrible.

Her Da tried to tease her. He knocked on a closet door, opened it, peeked inside and said "Bad Tata, go home!" This just resulted in her pointing at that particular door day after day and asking "¿Tata?" Her Nana read her a book where a grandfather makes pizza with his granddaughter and she pointed to the picture of the grandfather and said "¡Tata!"

He got back last night and I couldn't wait to see what she'd say/do when she saw him. She has been known to run to him, arms outstretched, saying "¡Tata! ¡Tata!" whenever he's gone for a couple of hours and she sees him get home. So we got to the house this morning. He came out to greet her. She gave a half smile and then she ignored him. He was talking to her, he clearly missed her, and she wouldn't look him in the eye. She looked away with a funny smile on her face. They went inside and he took her out of the car seat and she started pointing things out to him but still wouldn't look at him. She wouldn't give him abrazos or besitos. It was like she only kinda sorta recognized him after all that time. Or like she was a little confused... she LOVES her Tata but where was he all that time? She didn't pull away from him though, she didn't complain or yell, but she did say "Nana" several times as if asking for reassurance. Her Nana would never abandon her. Never.

¡zapato!

The Animalia said zapato last night and this morning. She said it in her best breathy drag queen voice. "daaahhh. paaahhh. tdoooh." Like that. Like three separate and distinct words. It was hilarious. So that becomes my new favorite word that she says. I also like "pah" which is not papa, but pan. These things make her even more adorable to me who loves zapatos and also pan. And drag queens. I do love drag queens and with the penchant for disco and club music and breathy voices, the Animalia will too.

Busy weekend, not a holiday at all

It was a busy weekend, not like vacation, not like relaxing, but nice nonetheless.

Friday evening dinner at On a Roll, a delicious new sushi place downtown. The Animalia was cute, ate deconstructed vegetarian roll and miso soup and sweet potato fries. She waved to the people and chatted. She even got the hostess to come over and show her the many silver bangles on her wrist. The Animalia marveled at them, very clearly saying "ooooohhhhhh!" Sushi tired her out and she crashed when we got home.

Saturday afternoon we took the Animalia to Canoa Ranch. We saw the buildings that had been restored and those they're still working on. There was food, Animalia ate guacamole and cookies. There was music, Animalia danced and danced and danced, even trying to dance with the young girl mariachi singer as she was singing. We saw Tío Pancho, my Tata's only surviving sibling, and the Animalia showed him her skills, answering the questions ¿Que dice la vaca? and ¿Que dice el leon? and ¿Dientes? appropriately with mmmmm, rowr, and tapping her top and bottom teeth together respectively. She also showed him her pansa. The photographer there to document the event took more pictures of The Animalia Show than anyone or anything else. The Animalia Show was definitely on full force. She was exhausted and fell asleep as soon as she hit her carseat.

Sunday we did nothing until the evening. Actually we ate and watched TV and watched Animalia play with her things. In the evening we went to the All Souls Procession despite the wind, impending rain, and potential cold. The Animalia wore a warm and cozy skeleton outfit, almost like fuzzy pajamas. She seemed to like the procession, clapping at her favorite things, laughing and chatting. She was hungry so I reached up and fed her pieces of banana while she sat on her Daht's shoulders. He was concerned that he'd get banana in his luxurious locks but she was good and I think only wiped her hands on his head a couple of times. Then it got COLD and the wind picked up again and the lightning and thunder started up so we decided to walk home. We stopped to where the Nana and Tata were waiting so they could see the Animalia and a light rain started. We ran to their closer house instead and they drove us home. Animalia was exhausted.

Monday. Baby gym, the last class til the new year. She was wearing the exact same romper as another baby, something that prompted the other mom to compliment me on my taste, and a whole different mom to say "Fashion faux pas." I kept my mouth shut. The Animalia wandered around mostly, we played on a few obstacles but she mostly wanted to wander. Until she saw the parachute. She got so excited she forgot that she doesn't know how to really run quite yet but she ran anyway and fell flat on her face. Thank god for the spongy padded floor. She got up without even whimpering and sat herself down right in the middle, happy as a clam. After we left we headed to the Nana's for a bit. Later we joined siyeh and her mom for lunch. Animalia slept through the first half then ate roasted red bell pepper and cheese through the second half and walked around and waved and did a couple of tricks at the end.

Tuesday was the Animalia's lab work and thrift store wandering with the Nana and Tata. I bought her some bracelets (ooooohhhh) at the thrift store. Cheap ones so she can lose them and no one will even notice. Enjoyable but tiring. Later she obliged us by falling asleep kind of early so we could have wine and cheese for our anniversary.

Wednesday back to Nana's for the Animalia. All day while mama "go working." I was sad to leave her after so many days together. Need to win the lottery. Good news though... the Animalia's slight anemia looks like it was temporary, everything is back to normal and no more iron drops in her juice!

In conclusion, the major theme of the weekend was lots of activity followed by the Animalia falling asleep early.

ELECTION NIGHT

First there were the few days leading up to election night. A few teeny volunteer excursions with the Animalia and the Nina. Then there was election night itself. The Animalia ate, wandered and was carried by various people. She dragged her Tata around, dragged her Nana around and was generally cute. At some point her Tata wandered away and she wandered after him asking people for ¿Tata? with her tiny palms upturned when she asked. This was totally new. She had never asked questions like that before. Then right before Obama won! the Nina and I were outside watching the big screen and one of the analysts was talking about how great for young children if he were to win, with two little girls in the White House and an African American president. These children wouldn't know that it was a HISTORIC WIN, they would just know that it was normal. Then he WON! and we hugged and screamed and were so excited and I thought about the Animalia, that several years down the line she would say matter-of-factly that Barack Obama had been president when she was five and it warmed my heart that it would be matter-of-factly and not like something unusual at all. What an incredible thing.

Baby Croki

Baby Croki is a Leapfrog toy that sings and lights up and says things like "¡Dame un abrazito!" The Animalia LOVED him when she was tinier, I think because of the songs and the lights on his tummy but she didn't exactly know what to do with him except stare and smile. So Baby Croki went away for a bit, into her overflowing toy bin. Now he's back! Back with a vengeance. The Animalia LOVES HER BABY CROKI and now, when a light flashes, she knows that she can press it and he'll reward her with a song. And then she dances. More button pressing, more lights, more "Este es una estrella amarilla" pronounced clearly and properly, more dancing. She can be occupied this way for 20 minutes. It's amazing and quite a nice little break for me.

The dancing is also quickly becoming amazing and hilarious. A couple nights ago she was actually wiggling her hips, a new dance move that came to her while listening to the Dance station on cable. Before the hip wiggling came the waving back and forth move, then the squatting move. This hip wiggle was brand new. And to Dance music. Who is this child? Did I really just birth one for the Nina (who loves Madonna, disco and gay club music)? Do I have to give birth again to get the punk/indie rock kid of my musical dreams?