My Princess

My favorite thing about toddlers is the so-called "language explosion." Both of my children have been early walkers and early talkers, but, unlike Milo, Violet has never been one to speak on command. As a result, I know that she says lots more than I actually hear.

Case in point: Yesterday at pick-up from daycare, the sitter was commenting on how when she says melon and Cinderella, they sound very similar. I said, "I've never heard her say EITHER of those words!"

So the sitter brought out the Cinderella dress and asked, "Who wears this dress?"

Naturally, Violet just smiled and pointed to the Cinderella face on the dress's brooch. After a little prodding, she finally answers "unna-la-la!" Cinderella, indeed.

My darling is also quite the critic. As I was singing "A Bushel and a Peck" to her while she was nursing the other evening, she sat up suddenly, pressed her soft little hand to my lips and said, "Bop!"

"Did you just tell me to stop?"

"Uh-huh." And she ducked her head back down, back to nursing. Well, OK, then... I'll stop singing, but I've got to tell ya, babe, I can carry a tune. Sure, I'm no American Idol, but I don't sing that badly -- at least not badly enough to warrant the cane...

It is often hard to hear my lil' princess as the prince has a royal motor-mouth. Milo can out-talk just about anyone, particularly now that he's become so interested in relationships between people and in trying to figure out how things work. He has "Great Ideas!" and explanations in abundance, so the fragmented babble of a toddler on the verge of a verbal sometimes blends into the background of the tapestry. But she's getting there, perhaps more quickly that I realize.

The other day, Scott was in the shower and she pulled the curtain back and peered in, announcing, "Want get a bath." Since the top half of her was already wet, Scott stripped her down and brought her into the shower for one of her most favorite of activities -- washing her hair.

Early last week, she even told me, "poo-poo pobby!" and when I put her on the little potty chair, she sat still as a sinner in church until she did, in fact, tinkle on the potty. Two nights ago she was stripped down before a lasagna dinner and skipped away naked into the bathroom, where she almost made it to the potty chair -- she left a little puddle right in front of it. What made this pretty amazing was that no one had taken her in there -- she went in all on her own without prompting.

I am continually amazed by her confidence, her persistence, and her ambition. She is rarely thwarted by frustration and possesses an amazing amount of patience for one so young. I know that she will be able to become anything that she wants; I recognize her drive. Who knows, she could be "unna-la-la" herself one day...