Ain't nuttin but baby talk up in here

Just some Lily chat and mommy thoughts here.

She still climbs everything and now can mount the futon by lifting up a foot, placing it on the seat and hoisting herself up. Very humorous to see (Eh-hem, Oli.).

Her comprehension of English and Spanish grows by a handful of phrases each week. Tonight I almost scared her with my shouts of joy when we were in the bath and I asked, "Donde esta el pie de Liliana?" and she franticallly searched the water for her foot, finding it and lifting it into the air with her hands.

Overall, we girls had simply the best evening together. A trip to the library to grab some baby books set us up to meet some little Mexican girls who switched from English to Spanish as soon as they realized we understood. They poked Lily, chased her, hugged her and kissed her, and were sad to see us go. It made me hope our life in Spain might be like that...

Lily ate a big dinner and I must say, I do love dinner time sometimes because I take the opportunity while Lily is tied in a chair to entertain her with all my talents. While Lily eats, I generallly do the dishes, then dance and make faces at her, getting her into hysterics by putting my back to her and then looking at her quickly over my shoulder. Somehow she manages to feed herself, and sometimes me, during all this.

Bathtime, another time for us to be silly, was stellar as well. Lately Lily is learning to wash people, including herself. The only danger is the old soap-in-the-eye bit. When that happens, Lily knows water needs to be dumped over her head, which she is rather ok with, so long as it gets the bastard soap out. Similarly, as much as she hates putting on or taking off clothing, she understands how it works and lifts legs, arms, whatever to make the process go faster...that is, when she's not yelling at you to let her go.

All in all, this post is a big Yeah to myself that I feel Lily and I are buddies, that we're communicating, whether it be about getting clothes on, new vocabulary, or blowing bubbles in the bath, and perhaps most importantly, that Lily understands I like and respect her. I sometimes worry that I'll focus way too much on intellectual development and just be a mean mom who's no fun, that I'll explain way to much to her and always try to show her how to do things "right" rather than letting her take the wheel. On the contrary, lately I've really been enjoying being goofy, teaching Lil through goofiness, and generally just letting her know that I think highly of her. I'm really trying hard to teach Lil without stepping on her toes, to let her know she is good, and to just generally respect her so that as she grows she'll be open with me. Our buddiness is the first sign that she's getting the messages I'm trying to send her! So, that's all, just a post to share my worries and a little personal triumph.