January 30, 2005: Half way there to 2!

This kids wears me out. I know I know toddlers need this energy and curiosity to learn at a fast pace so that they can actually run off to college at age 5, but please, I am an old woman, this is too much! An excerpt from Veronika's daily monologues: "Hiiiii! Oh wooooow! No no no. Aaaw. Bis bis bis!!! Ah! Takata takata... ma-ma! Ma-ma! Ib-be, ib-be! Woof. Bay-bee! Nyam nyam. Ssshhhh! Oh-oh. Ko ko! No no nooooo!!!! Maaaaa-maaa! Up up up!" etc.. All the while she gives the dog a treat, yells at him, asks for something, points at something, wants to be picked up, brings a DVD to watch, talks to her doll, feeds the doll and anounces pooping... any time now!

Still, it's getting harder for me to separate Veronika's new achievements from my euphoric obsession. I suppose I see now why mothers always cry at graduations, weddings, recitals and first days of school. Anyway, she is growing at an alarming rate. Being an "early walker" as I was told, she started speaking a little later and only now loves to imitate almost everything we say. It is so much fun to watch her learn new words every single day.

Here is the translation of some of the more difficult terms she used above as well as new sounds:

"ettig!" - fertig (all done)
"bis!" - bitte (please)
"mama" - she says this for me and Lincoln, I suppose she means "parent"?
"ib-be" - Digby
"etto" - Elmo (more about him later)
"coo-e coo-e" - cookie, cookie
"nyam nyam" - eat
"bebe" - baby
"moo moo"
"quack quack"
"ko" - Klo (toilet)

She is also really really smart. She still has her cup of milk every morning in our bed and today once she was done I asked her to bring a book, the book about "Tim, der kleine Hund" and she brought it! We read it and I asked her to bring her "Ten little ladybugs" and she brought that one too! I was so proud. She got some Leapfrog toys for Christmas and she loves them all, although I only keep 2 in rotation (one on each floor), partly in order to keep them interesting for her, but mostly to make them bearable for me and Lincoln. This one you can put on the fridge (it's a magnet!) and you have to match up the front and behind of an animal. If you do it right, the voice says what it is and sings a triumphant song about what a great job you did. Well, you can tell Veronika to put together a "purple cow" and she will do it! I love to watch her look at all the parts and think, think hard which one it is.

In the bedroom we keep the Leapfrog book, and I must admit, although she loves to push all the different pictures that make noise, that thing will tire you out REAL QUICK. We still "read" it a lot though because she just loves it so much. In one of the books there are two cows that will moo the "Blue Danube Waltz"... obviously a neat little detail for semi-Austrians.

She also loves the baby doll she got for Christmas from her Great Grandma. It comes with removable clothes, a blankie, a bottle and diapers. Veronika will get VERY busy with the doll, who is on a gruesome schedule of about 2-second naps, 1-second-feedings and constant lack of pants. The doll gets lots of hugs and kisses though and seems to be taken for a walk in the stroller CONSTANTLY.

I have also attempted potty training and while some of you will now gasp how way too early this is, some will gasp at how late this is. And that's ok. Because I don't care. Anyway, the current idea is to take her to the bathroom with me every time I go and she does sit down on her potty but not for long, because nothing ever comes out into hers and she doesn't find that very interesting. She is making a connection between pooping and the potty though because she will come and tell me "uh oh" when she needs to go. The thing is, if I react right away and put her on the potty before she started, she won't do it. I think the whole potty situation is too much of a fuss and she simply doesn't know how to "go" in the potty. If I catch her in the middle of it, she will "finish" in the potty but also won't continue (see the issue of "fuss" above), which explains why she pooped 3 times today instead of once like usual. It had to be spread out since the potty brought it all to a halt. I'm glad with this development though. It means she's getting it. I'd rather have her out of diapers sooner than later, although I painfully realized this means more work for me (the taking off of the clothes and the removing of the poop etc. etc.), but I always feel bad for big kids with poopy diapers on their butts.

I am at the same time ecstatic and exhausted with her. I love the new stuff but oh, she never stops. Surprisingly though she is still a wonderful sleeper, unlike during some other times in the past, which I have already forgotten. She takes her nap from about noon until 3, usually about 2 to 2.5 hours within that time frame and she loves when I put her down after we read the book and she had her milk and I take her slippers off and hand her the piggy and the tigger. She just smiles and I don't hear a sound (ok, sometimes she will talk a little more, because, you know, the constant monologue from dawn to dusk is not enough) and the same happens at night. Only after she drinks the milk in the dark and I lift her up she BURPS like you wouldn't believe. Right after that she gives me a kiss and then I know she's ready to sleep. Oh wouldn't you love to be in my shoes, huh?