I'm sure I've said this before, but every few months or so, it feels like the girls make a great leap forward developmentally. They can be cruising along at more or less the same social / verbal / physical level for weeks and weeks, then all of a sudden, they surge forward on the winding path from babyhood to childhood.
The latest leap seemed to coincide with our recent vacation, (which I think is part of what made it an especially rewarding trip) and was all kinds of fun to experience. The novelty will no doubt wear off soon enough, but there have been some particularly heartwarming and adorable developments.
Language-wise, things really seem to be picking up, with both girls more frequently imitating words that they hear. We had our first "Oh-sh**t-we-have-to-start-watching-our-language" moment recently: while we were up in New Hampshire, Alastair discovered that he'd sat on some surface with pine sap on it, and complained loudly about having this gross stuff all over his ass. At which point Clio declared: "Ass!" We've also started to do that classic parent maneuver of spelling out words that we don't want the girls to hear us discussing, lest they obsess. Some ("m-i-l-k") are decidedly easier than others ("S-e-s-a-m-e-S-t-r-e-e-t"). But the best recent language event was the time I sneezed and Elsa said -- clear as day -- "Bless you."
Interesting things are also happening in the way the girls play. They finally seem to have figured out --- and manage to remember about 80% of the time -- that crayons are not for eating. And they've gotten to be pretty good scribblers. The other day, Elsa even drew something resembling a large, purple potato. This is exciting, seeing as most of their work consists of back-and-forth lines in the same direction. Can broccoli-shaped trees with the requisite squirrel hole be far behind? I'm also wondering if pretty soon I can try giving them Play-Doh, but I suspect that may still be too tempting for them to put in their mouths. (Hell, I'm 34 and I still want to eat the stuff.)
They also suddenly seem to have strong feelings about stuffed animals and dolls -- Elsa in particular. When we arrived at our cabin at family camp in New Hampshire, there were a couple of stuffed animals left behind by another family, and Elsa got quite focused on them, hugging and kissing them and arranging them on one of the beds to go "night night." Then, when we were staying with friends in Vermont, she formed a fast, passionate attachment to an Elmo finger puppet and a hard plastic horse ("horsey!") both of which she insisted on having in her crib with her at night. (I forgot to pluck horsey out of the crib before I went to bed, and was therefore woken up at 3am by Elsa, crying and whining in her sleep because she'd rolled onto the thing and couldn't get comfortable. Stupid horsey.) Anyway, there's something surprisingly sweet about watching kids personify (and animalify?) toys.
But one of my favorite new developments is an increased -- or at least more clearly expressed and initiated -- desire for physical contact: cuddling, hand holding, lap sitting, wanting to be picked up. I guess that last one can get a little tiring -- especially because when I pick one kid up, the other wants to be picked up, too, which is almost impossible. But it sure does feel nice to hold your daughter in your arms, knowing that it's because she wants to be held. Fringe benefit: my arms are more toned now than they've been since I was 20.
Naturally, there have been some not-so-great things also associated with this latest developmental surge. The girls are more willful and stubborn about what they want, and more inclined to throw little hissy fits if they don't get it. They tussle with each other over toys more, and have learned the words "mine" and "me." It's two steps forward, one step back, just like the Paula Abdul song. (Or was that two steps forward and two steps back?) In any case, while I'm not sure I'd say things are getting easier, exactly, I can say without reservation that they get steadily more fun.
(Bad posture, mommy!)
