Kayla is now 16 going on 17 months old and her days of being a baby seem to be moving farther and farther behind her. She is such a little KID now. She has all of these thoughts and feelings and needs and desires. She is exercising her right to direct her own world and she is trying desperately to express herself in a way that the big people can understand. She is no longer aimlessly babbling, trying out new sounds simply for the sake of making them. Instead, she is combining "words" and hand signals to get across actual points and she is looking us dead in the eye and saying "Ah ga baba dada ga?" with such intent and perfect inflection that we can almost understand what it is she's trying to say. Almost. She's also developing more and more true words every day, although her favorite form of communication is still singing. The child sings non-stop, all day, every day, running through a repertoire of songs that would impress even the most advanced karaoke machine. And she sings IN TUNE. I kid you not, the child will sing a song and it is crystal clear which one she is crooning, be it Twinkle Twinkle, Row Row Row Your Boat, The ABC Song, or The Wheels on the Bus. I don't know...maybe all kids can do this, but honestly, I don't think so. This kid has some musical talent.
Back to the words though. The newest word in Kayla's repertoire is "outside". Yes, "outside". Before she says "bowl" or "cheese" or "mama", she says "outside". I want to be bothered by "mama" still getting shoved to the background, but to have her say "outside" as one of her very first words...I'm also a little bit proud. Thanks to Lake Ontario, who clearly inspired this need to finally voice her love of the outdoors. We spent the weekend at a friend's cabin this past week and after running around the huge yard and surrounding fields like a crazy person all night, Kayla woke up our second morning, rushed straight for the patio door and started shouting "OUTSIDE! OUTSIDE! OUTSIDE!" My daughter rocks.
Other than the vocal milestones, Kayla has started to work on her climbing skills - oh. yip. pee. And she is focused on trying to imitate everything we do. On the plus side, this includes brushing her teeth and hair. On the downside, it includes trying to walk down the stairs. On the plus side, it means being eager to throw things in the trash when asked. On the downside, it means putting things into the trashcan when NOT ASKED, i.e. when Mom isn't looking and she finds a clearly trash-worthy bowl, pair of sunglasses and set of house keys.
The other thing Kayla has developed is an ability to run.
Like the wind.
Nearly every day for the past two weeks, we've gotten a call from her daycare:
"Hello, Mrs. Duck. Everything is fine, but we wanted you to know that Kayla fell and bumped her [insert new body part of the day here] today."
When I picked her up yesterday, I signed yet another pink slip saying that no, I will not sue them for Kayla's newest bruise, when the teacher said to me, "You know...we have been calling you a lot."
"Yep. Almost every day."
"Yeah...you know...the problem is that Kayla doesn't walk. She runs. She runs really really fast. And she never stops. And so when she trips and falls...it's a big fall."
My daughter doesn't walk. She runs. She runs and she climbs and she rolls and she climbs and she spins and she stomps and she is a crazy little whirlwind monkey monster.
And she is hilarious.
She has a book of actions which is one of her new favorites. It says things like "I am a seal and I clap my hands. Can you do it?" and "I am a cat and I arch my back. Can you do it?" And there she is, trying to do every maneuver. She watches us and tries to do what we do. She watches me squat and she squats. She sees a kid on the playground Jump and she Jumps. She sees everything and she understands so much more than you would think. Another part of the same book shows a row of ducks. First it shows their "fronts", then it shows their "backs". I say to Kayla, "Front. Back." and I kid you not, Kayla, without any prompting, first points to her belly/chest and then tries to reach around to grab her back. Seriously...how does she learn these things?
All of these developments, all of these changes...it's not all fun and games though. The last week, in fact, we've been dealing with something kind of tough. For a number of nights running, Kayla has been waking up in the middle of the night screaming. Not crying or whining, but screaming. She is screaming like someone is stabbing her in the stomach or like some terrifying monster is pawing at her crib. It's horrifying. Last night, even after I went in, picked her up and tried talking to her, touching her back, rocking her, she kept screaming and screaming. All I can think is that it's night terrors - that she's not really awake and that's why my being there doesn't comfort her like it normally would. The experience is horrific. Not being able to comfort her is the worst. And the sleep deprivation ain't a lot of fun either. I'm hoping it's a short phase...that it will pass quickly like so many of the phases do. It's not a fun phase. It's a scary one and I'm trying to resist calling the pediatrician to ask for advice on something that I'm sure they'll say "will pass".
But no more talk of that. Putting her to bed tonight was rough and, frankly, I'm ready to simply pass out myself and be done with the day. But before I do that, here are some happy pictures of the little munchkin who, despite the recent sleepless nights, still makes me fall in love with her over and over again, each and every day.
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