Walk, Talk, Sign, Whine

OK, she doesn't walk yet, but she cruises.  You know, like along the couch, the ottoman, the sliding glass door, the entertainment console....she crawls at lightning speeds to whatever destination is most enticing, pulls herself up to standing and walks alongside, holding on.

In January, Kierstyn said her first two-in-one word, which even included a contraction!  She started saying "what's that?" which really sounds a lot more like "wsssaaa?" accompanied by a chubby little pointed finger. Oh, if you don't think that was a proud parent moment! And she was pointing at the sparkly hot pink curtains in her room, of all things!  Something she had stared at since birth and I had just been certain she had deep appreciation for.  I love it when my instincts are right on.

Since then, she picked up Da-Da, Ma-Ma, Ti (Kiel), Ba-Ba (bottle), Ba-Ba (bye-bye), A Da (all done) and ta (this and that). Oh yeah.  I understand her.  Spend 24/7 with an infant and you will understand these small variations in speech, too.

Now, I haven't ever tried signing with any of my kids and that may have been one of my greatest parenting sins of omission. My brother, Kollin, went on an ASL mission to Florida, married my beautiful sister-in-law, BreAn, and stood over the crib of my infant son, Jespen, signing to communicate in complete silence as Jespen slept undisturbed.  I was amazed and envious.  Then I watched as they taught their two girls to sign. Of course, with Signing Time, Meet the Fockers and other resources, it's become somewhat common and even trendy to teach babies to sign and what a wonderful thing!

So, BreAn taught me a few signs and I passed them along to Kierstyn.  Her first "sign" was bye-bye, along with the words Ba-Ba, which helps when differentiating between wanting her bottle and saying goodbye.

Then the very next day (this was last week, by the way) the most amazing thing happened.  She was sitting in her high chair, put her hands in the air, flipped them back and forth and said A Da all in one graceful, adorable, glorious motion.  It was magical.  She signed!  And spoke the meaning of the sign!  Oh, sweet girl - you must be a genius!  (What?  She has to be! ;-D )

The whine. She's not bad.  No, really.  Kierstyn is a very, very good baby and as drama goes, she's a bit spoiled and already quite used to getting her way, but easily distracted when I decide she needs to learn how to cope with NOT getting her way.  She's got plenty of whine, but it's not out of control.  Her whine is mostly in the evening, as most whine is served.  In my house, anyway. Actually, one of Kierstyn's older brothers, who shall remain unnamed, can outwhine her in a New York minute.

I do, by the way, refuse to have a spoiled little brat.  Her brothers do whatever she wants as soon as she wants it.  It's the sweetest, cutest, most wonderful thing to see.  It absolutely warms my heart and I am so proud of my boys.  She is the luckiest girl EVER.

J.R. and I are a bit more temperate.  We don't tend to her every beck and call. (I know,  I know - sounds like we don't need to). But even when big bros are at school or out playing, Kierstyn provides her own entertainment.  She will play and explore for a long time without much maintenance required. She's toughened up about bonking her head (she used to SCREAM at the tiniest little bump) and getting hurt.  Now, depending on the degree of pain, she'll either bonk it over and over for fun, move on after thinking about it for a minute, cry and look at me to see how I react, cry until I react, or cry until I give her a hug. After that, she's fine.

So that's Kierstyn.  She's growing up.  10 months and 6 days old. With barely, but just enough hair to put in a tiny little ponytail on top of her head.  She went from 6 lbs. 5 oz. at birth to 5 lbs. 11 oz. when we took her home to 22 lbs. at 9 mos. to 20 lbs. 10 oz. at 10 mos. (she got sick and started crawling). She still sports chunky legs and squishy cheeks just so I can chomp on her all day. Five tiny white teeth show up when she grins and her fake laugh will make you laugh so hard your stomach will ache.  It goes on and on and on, too.

She sits on the wood floor turns around by using her feet and legs, really her ankles actually. She cuddles with her head buried in your neck, on your chest, anywhere soft and warm.  She's shy and friendly.  She'll let about anyone hold her. She loves Turkey and Vegetable Dinner without the chunks.  She's a water baby through and through.  She loves the bath, the shower, the pool, anything and has NO fear of anything with water - she'll stick her whole face right in and doesn't mind even a  little bit.

I love this little girl.  She makes our home brighter.  She brings our family together.  She brought softness to her brothers.  A blessing, a beauty, a treasure of infinite worth.  That's Kierstyn.