Dear Scarlett,
It is past time for me to stop referring to you as "the baby." As you will readily tell me, you are now a big girl. You want to do everything on your own, announcing "SELF" and brushing our hands away when we try to help you. "Do you want help?" I'll ask, to which you respond "Oh, no no" without making eye contact. I know, I can be so annoying sometimes when you just want to put your sweater on your legs and head out for a walk.
We spent a weekend in Indiana at Uncle John and Aunt Jamie's house, followed by a week with Nonnie and Pops in Oak Park. I don't know exactly how it happened, but you suddenly know most of your primary colors (plus pink) and numbers up to ten. I guess I need to give credit where credit is due to my school teacher parents. Pops has been working on numbers with you since you were two weeks old. You have always seemed to enjoy hearing him count.
You love to sing and are now the unofficial president of the Raffi fan club. "Raffi?" you say in the morning when you wake up. "Raffi?" you say 100 times a day after that. We own two Raffi CDs and I now hear them in my head all the time. Or wait, maybe it's not just in my head. They basically play on repeat 12 hours a day in the car, the kitchen, and your bedroom. Nonnie and Pops and I were sitting on the couch one night last week and I started to sing Sodeo. "Ugh," Nonnie said. "Why would you do that?"
Today was a really good day. You and I went to music class, visited Dad at work, tasted cheese at the Ferry Building and took a long walk along the Bay. We sat together watching the water, the Bay Bridge, the birds. You were pretty excited about the birds and did not like it when they flew away. I tried to explain that it's just what birds do, they fly, but you wanted to keep them there. So I suggested you sing to them and you chose that perennial favorite, Raffi's Going to the Zoo. "Zoo, zoo, zoo," you serenaded the birds. Some still flew away, but I think it was just to tell their friends about the free entertainment.
Sometime in October you started reading your books with us, which basically means that you have memorized them and say the words before we do. I first noticed this with the rhyming book Pops made you for your first birthday. Your mind (the minds of all toddlers really) is so amazing to me. You are taking in so much, making all of these connections, and beginning to really participate and converse with us. A typical discussion might go something like this:
Me: Time to get in your stroller.
You: Oh, no no.
Me: You don't want to ride in your stroller? What do you want to do?
You: Walk.
Me: Ok, but please take that sweater off your legs.
Love,
Mom
