Sunday, May 2, 2010

This is how we do it

That's a bit of a song she sings -- she heard it on the iPod or Sirius or something, that old lite hip-hop song, and now she sings it sometimes. Hilare!

So, she and I are in Texas right now, visiting Mamalah now that she's feeling better and able to handle visitors. Annika was a total champ on the plane getting here -- a real propaganda kid -- and although there are YEARS to go before this is a done deal, she's really actually getting it when we explain what's going to happen, a series of events that will take X amount of time and result in Y, and which need her to do/behave/not do this, that, and the other thing. She understood that she and I (and not Daddy -- god forbid if she just began to get THAT at the airport!) were going on a plane to see Mamalah, and that she had to be a good girl on the plane and not kick or scream and had to wear her seatbelt when the captain said so, and y'all -- she did it. By typing that I realize I've doomed myself to one of those national-news-worthy "kid from hell" trips on the way home, but ... it really did happen. :-) And of course she and her grandmother and aunt L. have been getting along like a house afire, a mutual admiration society that is a true joy to be around -- the fun never stops here, I tellya! She's also been thrilled to see her Uncle J. and Aunt J (lunch, followed by ducks! and turtles! at a pond!) and her great-grandpa K. (although she gets all shy and quiet while we're there ... argh). In general this has just been a great trip (minus the "I want another balloon!" meltdown on the way home from Ft. Worth yesterday, OMG) and we are looking forward to more good times tomorrow.

So what else has been going on? Read and find out ...

Impressions
A couple of weeks ago I'm sitting at the kitchen table working, and she comes up and perches on her chair and goes, "Hey Mommy -- Mason says 'I want ice cream!' and Header say 'Iss not fo yo breakfiss!'" And she did the quotes in Mason's throaty/weirdo funny voice that he does when he's goofing around (especially when he asks for something he knows he'll be denied, like ice cream for breakfast) ... I about DIED laughing, so then I asked her to do it again so I could get it on my iPhone video thing -- and she repeated it exactly (although that time I had to ask her "What does Mason say?" and then "What does Heather say?") It is GOLD. Comedy gold.

Baseball season
The game is on more or less every day now, since we have the MLB Extra Innings package, so she's used to seeing it and hearing stuff while she plays. One day the YES announcers mentioned that Jeter was out because he had a cold, so she picks up on that and tells us "Derek Jeter doesn't feel well. He's cold." And now whenever he IS in the lineup, she tells us "Derek Jeter isn't cold today!"

Getting it, a little too well
She knows damn well she has to behave and do what her teachers at babyschool tell her, so it was pretty funny -- and pretty difficult to stay stern-faced -- when she told us how and why she got a time-out one day: Miss Nancy (aka Miss Messy, according to Annika) told her to put away the job she was playing with, and "I say NO! And NO TIME OUT FOR ANNIKA!"

Finest of fine motor coordination
You should see this kid with those Imaginarium wooden blocks -- they are very well milled, beautifully weighted and proportioned, and we all love making towers ("Hafta build a good, good, good good base!", she'll tell you). But it is amazing to me the delicate and steady touch she has with the blocks -- she can build higher than her own head, placing blocks of all shapes perfectly centered, gently and easily -- I don't think I ever in my life had hands that steady. We were quoting the old Operation game commercial -- "Verrry steady hands ..." while she was doing it once, and now she says that herself. Heh.

I, Me, Mine
I am declaring total victory over pronouns -- she gets it. I, me, you, yours, her, his, mine, yours, she, him ... it's all in there and pretty much 100% correct. And the doubly astonishing thing, to me, is, she's almost got complete control of verb tenses, too -- she's got it down, and usually only needs one correction to permanently imprint a new one (e.g. throwed ---> threw).

Good etiquette begins young
It's never too early for please and thank you, and as of last week, we have added thank-you notes to the program. Grandma sent a box of goodies (stuffed doll, stickers, coloring book, etc.), so I wrote a thanks on construction paper and had her decide what else went on it to say thank you to Grandma for such a sweet and thoughtful gift (as it turned out, she wanted to trace her hand a few times, and my hand, and do some enthusiastic coloring with markers on every facet of the folded paper). She put it in an envelope and licked the glue, put the stamp on by herself, and mailed it at the post office -- and I have it on good authority that the card was received and enjoyed. :-)

Mind like a steel trap
Sometimes I wish I had a voice-activated tape recorder to carry with me all the time, because these things happen out of the blue and with startling regularity, but anyway -- this kid remembers stuff. Stuff that happened MONTHS ago. Half of her LIFE ago. For example: I told her we were coming to visit Mamalah in Texas, and she instantly replied, "I will ride my Plasma Car!" None of us had mentioned that since we came home from our last visit in December. And this kind of thing happens ALL. THE. TIME. Blows our minds.

The quotable Annika
--As we determine that we've got everything we need and are ready to go on an errand: "Let's ride!" (We say that all the time ... it's a Tenacious D-inspired thing. She's obviously listening! Scary ...).
---As she pulls three hats carefully off of a display in Eddie Bauer, puts one on herself and indicates she wants me to wear one, but SHE has to put it on me so I have to lean down so she can do that: "Mash down! Mash yoself down!"