Growth Squirt

It’s amazing what you discover about your kid when you spend more than just a few hours a day with them. Five days a week, I see Finley for maybe an hour or so in the morning before she’s off to daycare. Then when she comes home, she’s maybe up for another two or three hours before it’s bedtime.

Of course, we spend our weekends with the munchkin, but this past week, we got to spend 24/7 with her while we were on vacation and really began to notice how much she’s growing from a baby to a toddler.

There’s little doubt that the biggest reason for her growth is from all the time she spends with the kids at daycare. Finley recently moved up from the infant room to the toddler room and watches those big kids’ every move.

The most noticeable change we’ve seen is in her mobility. She started walking at about 10 ½ months and just a little over three months later, she’s moved on to running and much to our dismay, climbing. And it’s not just pulling herself on to the lowest ledge… That would be too easy. Our little monkey has figured out how to put toys and other objects against higher objects to help her “step” up to the next level.

We got home from vacation and were unpacking when out of the blue, little Miss Shortstack was standing on the coffee table with a little help from her princess couch. And just earlier this evening, I watched as she pulled one of her push cars over to the entertainment system so she could climb up to get closer to Mickey Mouse on TV.

I can’t even explain her fascination with her laundry hamper. She tips it over, crawls in it and rolls around like she’s having a seizure. From the outside you can’t see her, so the hamper takes on a life of its own, like it’s some sort of misshapen and spastic muppet. It’s pretty darned funny.

Then there’s the communication aspect of her life. Don’t get me wrong, crying still rules the roost around here, but she’s now beginning to point at what she wants… Her little index finger outstretched showing us what she wants. If we’re lucky, she’ll add a Finley word to help explain what it is. We were wondering if the term “manamana” was her name for her binky, but I’m beginning to think it means “I want.”

She’s a bit more selective with “dada” these days, too. It’s fairly clear she knows it’s me she’s talking about when she says it. And “mama” is used more frequently around Heather. She understands what “ni-ni” means, too. When she’s playing near the floor, she’ll often lay down and look up and say “ni-ni,” as if she’s about to take a nap.

But there are a couple of big things she’s beginning to do that are making me realize just how fast she’s growing. The first is she is starting to understand the word, “hi.” She’ll pop around the corner and say “hi.” She’ll say it when you pick her up, and if she’s in a really good mood, she’ll see that we find it funny and repeat it and throw in a smile, because she knows we’ll get excited. She knows how to play us, for sure.

The other thing – my favorite – that’s she’s beginning to do and understand, is give kisses. I’ll be holding her and say “Give daddy kisses,” and she’ll lean over with her little mouth half open and peck me on the cheek. For my money, there’s nothing better in the world than that. We’ve taught her how to blow kisses, too, but I’m not sure she really understands what she’s doing… It’s more of a play move at this point. But that’s how she’s learning.

Just like the rest of us, she’s associating learning and fun. Which is why daycare is so valuable to her, right now. It’s also why we need to keep teaching her while having a good time… while she still can. I’m not sure when learning got boring, but I’m hoping we can keep her excited about education now. It’s a lot more fun to sing the ABC song than it ever was trying to learn the periodic chart of the elements.

So, until that time, we’ll keep watching her develop and help her as much as we can with as much fun as we can put into it. And, if my little squirt decides to give me a kiss on the cheek along the way, I won’t complain.