Penny's favorite word

Poop.

Lately when we walk the dog Penny insists on helping by carrying the bag of his poop. I can't decide whether to be appalled or thrilled about this.

Today Penny took a long nap and I took Bilbo out while she was still sleeping. After she woke up and ate a late lunch I decided we should head to the park. We ended up at a park we have never been to before, found by using Google maps when the park we originally intended to visit was discovered to be closed down for the winter. This new park turned out to be a walking trail down to a beach on Puget sound, so our outing became a walk in the woods. As we walked Penny noticed the bag I brought to pick up poop sticking out of my pocket.  She pointed and insisted "hep, hep" (help) and tried to grab it until I relented and let her carry the bag. She happily walked along with the empty plastic bag in one hand, occasionally stopping and proclaiming "Poop!" while holding the bag up for inspection.  I explained to her that yes, the bag for picking up Bilbo's poop, but he had pooped at home and so far there was nothing for us to pick up. She would smile and chase Bilbo with the bag for a bit (because that encourages pooping?) before taking my hand again. Eventually we came upon a small bunch of pine cones. Our conversation went something like this:

Penny, pointing- "Poop! Poop!"
Me- "Those are pine cones. Not poop."
Penny, still pointing, taking a few steps closer- "Poop! Poop, poop!"
Me- "It looks a lot like poop, but that isn't poop. Those are pine cones."
Penny, waving the bag- "Poop!"
"Pine cones."
"Poop! Poop!"
"No, pine cones."
"Poop!"
"Fine. We will pick them up."

So Penny happily carried a plastic bag full of pine cones for the rest of our walk. Anytime someone passed us, and going at toddler pace everyone passed us, she held up the bag and cheerfully told them "Poop!" So much for hello.

For some reason while we were walking I decided it would be a good idea to try to get a video of Penny's singing before she learns to carry a tune and incorporate more words than la, daddy, Bilbo, and mama. I was wrong.

"Penny, are you singing?"
"Lalala." Holding up bag, "Poop!"

"Penny, sing for me!"
"Lala poop. Poop! Poop!"

"Penny, let's sing. Lalala Bilbo, lalala daddy..."
"Poop!"

I did not get the video I was hoping for.

At least she is now pretty consistent about letting us know when she has a dirty diaper.

One is the Loveliest Number

Penny is walking well and working on speed these days. She was walking a bit by 11-12 months but it wasn't until a couple weeks after turning 1 that she really took off. She loves to find random household objects and carry them around, like a DVD or a letter or plastic container that she pulled out of the recycling bin.

Yesterday morning was chilly, so I put a sweater on her but didn't bother to zip it. I noticed it was falling off one shoulder when she disappeared into her room for a few minutes, and when she came back she was carrying it. She noticed one of my sweaters where I had left it on a chair and proceeded to pull it down and wrap it around herself and her favorite stuffed bunny. She failed to dress the bunny, but she wore my sweater draped over her shoulders for the rest of the morning, too cute!

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I wrote the above section over two months ago. My intention was to go on writing about the thrills of parenting a one year old. And two months later I do still love parenting a one year old; The angry stubborn inconsolable screaming and holding her breath tantrums of the terrible twos (threes and fours?) show signs of hovering on the horizon but aren't something we have had to deal with much yet. She is curious and active and amazed at things to me are mundane. She gasped when a pair of seagulls took flight while we were at the park yesterday, for example. I love watching her try to figure things out and the look of joy and pride in her eyes when she finally succeeds at something. I love (and hate) watching her play in the dirt, exploring the texture and examining the particles and making a grand mess of herself and her clothes. I think it's hilarious (and infuriating) when she stands nicely beside me while checking out at the store and then, without warning, bolts at top speed. Oh right, she's pretty much got running down. I cannot get enough of her spontaneous displays of affection when she will decide to give Dan or myself or the dog a hug and kiss. My absolute favorite is "Ah la tee" (I love you). She is constantly learning new words and I love the way she closely examines my mouth when I'm trying to get her to say a certain new word. At 15 months Dan and I got curious and made a list of words she was saying. We came up with around 25 words plus some animal sounds! I am quite impressed. Recently she has started putting two words together, "deedee eye" (silly eye) when I cross my eyes at her, "Hi dog" to stranger's pets, "eat ah-poo" (eat apple) when she wants fruit because all round fruit is "apple" right now. She loves playing our tickle game during which I tickle her until she says "ah done" and start again when she gleefully calls for "mo" (more).

So, yeah. My one year old is pretty wonderful.

What we do

I made some edible finger paints today, and we played with them outside while having bare bottom time.

Delicious colors

Inspiration strikes!

Break for lunch

This baby can't handle any more fun

The masterpiece shortly before she peed on it.

Pocket full of Penny

Wow, my last post was when baby Penny was 2 (1/2) months old! This may be cliche, but my how time flies. I'm not going to make excuses for my lack of writing here. Priorities and stuff, you know how it goes. I never promised I would be a consistent blogger anyway.

 My baby is now nearing 11 months of ripe old age. The last 9 or so months have been quite a ride. Every stage of development is more fun than the last and it makes me sad to think it will end before long. But then the next stage comes along and I don't have time to mourn my tiny, helpless newborn because she is too busy discovering her hands and my mouth and her world and it's positively entrancing.

 Penny has been on time or ahead with almost all of her milestones, according to whatever the standard is that her doctor uses. She has also been on the low end of the weight curve and on the high end of the length curve. Her head circumference is right about 50%. Her feet and hands are still big.

 She likes Bilbo (the dog), apples, peas and sweet potatoes, wind in her face, story time, and giving high fives. She likes picking dandelions, chasing the dog, grabbing at my earrings which are consequently worn only rarely, and all our shoes. She crinkles her nose and grins, and wiggles side to side when she's happy. She babbles new sounds constantly, laughs when Bilbo escapes her grasp and leaves her on her belly watching him flee, and howls when we feed her something she finds less than delicious (asparagus). When she's tired, she touches her ear and stares into space. I'm pretty sure she spends at least half of her waking hours eating. She loves food. She still doesn't have any teeth. She says "ah-geum" and "mmmMMMM" and really high pitched "dat dat dat dah". She has recently started to say "Mama" when she wants me. She likes to hold my hand and walk unsteadily around the house or park. She likes to sleep stretched across her crib the short way, so her head and feet touch the sides. She's a cheerful, curious baby who never stops moving.

She is growing and changing almost faster than I can keep track of.

Parenting a newborn made my day slow down, sliding by like molasses. I was never quite sure what took up my days- I never seemed to be doing nothing but I never seemed to be terribly busy either. She was snuggly, fascinating, fragile, and perfect.

Parenting a baby who is closer to one than zero makes my day flash past, and at the end I only remember bits -like a movie montage. She grins, she giggles, she eats, she plays, she fusses. She naps, she wakes, she wants to be held, she wants to eat. We play, we sing, we read, we go outside, we snack. Suddenly she's eating dinner and it's almost bed time. I find myself wishing she would leave me alone sometimes, and just let me read or poop in peace. But when she naps extra long or Dan watches her so I can have some me time, I find myself missing her.

Today we went to Baby Story Time at the library. At the end I was standing with a couple mom friends, all of us holding our babies. Penny reached out and gently stroked the head and face of one of the other babies, playing with the ear and messing up the hair. It brought to mind the way we have been teaching her to touch Bilbo (gentle, don't pull!) and was so sweet and silly. The other moms were touched, but I was laughing so hard I almost peed myself. Babies and dogs, it turns out, should be touched in much the same way.

It's hard to explain what it feels like to be a mom. I keep realizing that I really never "got it" before I had a baby of my own. She fills my life and my heart to bursting. Every new parent says this but I really never knew I could love someone so much, so wholly and completely. It scares me a little, how totally I have fallen in love with her. Everything I described about her above is something I love about her, but I have realized that even if none of it were true I wouldn't love her an iota less than I do now. If she were short and chubby and hated food and had no interest in crawling or walking or peekaboo and only said "buh buh buh" and had a mouth brimming with teeth and slept in her crib in a more conventional direction, she would still be my perfect darling amazing baby.