Bye Bye, Babyhood

Anya is no longer a baby. I'm a little sad to say it, because in some ways I miss things from her babyhood, like being able to rock her to sleep, feed her a bottle (or breastfeed) first thing in the morning and last thing before bed as she snuggles with me and looks into my eyes. I'll miss her sitting in one spot and still being there if I walk out of the room for a minute. Her needs were simple - food, sleep, diaper change.

But Anya is now definitely a toddler. And a handful. I thought we were well babyproofed. I was wrong. She now climbs (or attempts to) almost everything in sight. Yesterday as we were getting ready to have some friends over for dinner, we walked into the dining room and found her standing on the dining room chair holding a corkscrew in one hand and reaching for a fork with the other. Gah!

She has also been getting frustrated lately and making sure we know it. There are some words she knows, but there is still a disconnect between her wants and her ability to communicate them. For example, she knows to use the word "up" if she wants to get on the couch. Occasionally she forgets to use it, though. So when we don't pick up on that fact instantly that she wants on the couch, she screams and carries on and enters this inconsolable state and appears incapable of communication or rational thought. I don't know if this is a temper tantrum or not, but this behavior is a pain in the butt to deal with. We're working on it, though. Ugh, I think we're headed for the "terrible two's" already.

But on a good note, yesterday Anya hit a little milestone. She strung together two words for the first time (technically, she may have done it the other week when I asked if she wanted more cheese. She said "no..............cracker" indicating she wanted a cracker instead). Chris went out the front door and she said "bye, dada. bye, dada" (a few times). Over the last few weeks, she seems to have started a mini "language explosion," as they call it. I would like to think this means our daughter is brilliant and will probably be the next president or Nobel Prize winner. But apparently I was like this as an infant too. And while I'm obviously a total genius, as all who have ever met me can attest to...I'm also unemployed and take care of a baby (I mean, toddler) all day. So this is no indication of her future greatness. But it still is cool to watch unfold.