Comprehension

My sweet Echo,

You continue making us super happy with you presence. Our days are hectic, a ton of chores, with little time to accomplish a fraction of them. So we power through everything at light speed. Still, everything takes a lot longer than it should, because with kids, for every chore, there is a ton of interruption. So stress is a daily visitor,but so is the joy of having you, and watching you grow. You understand a lot of things now, and it's miraculous to witness this transformation from a clueless baby.

"Echo, it's trash."
You walk to the kitchen with the piece of trash in your hand, open the cabinet, pull out the bin, throw the trash, watch it fall, push the bin back in, close the cabinet.

Yesterday you didn't push the bin back in, so I said "Echo, close." You walked away. I repeated. You used your body to say 'no.' So I went to close it. You used your body to say 'don't.' You walked to the hallway, picked up a small piece of paper and showed it to me with a smile "see mom? I wasn't done." I hugged you and your brightness. I should have trusted that you knew what you were doing. You threw the paper in the trash, watched it land, pushed the bin in, closed the door.

I take off your socks,smell them and say pewww. You think it's hilarious. You smell them too.
"Echo, put these on the laundry steps."
You walk tip tip tip, with the stinky socks in your hand,and put them on the stairs that lead upstairs, where we keep the dirty laundry. Today, driving to daycare, radio started playing a song called "Stinky feet." you became hushhh quiet the entire song. When it ended, you giggled. I bet you understood what it was about, you little adorable creature. 

You also started helping empty the dishwasher. You know where your plastic containers go, and you can put them in place on your own. For your forks and spoons, I lift you up. When you take a plastic container to play with, you put it back in place when done.

You can use a fork comfortably. Something I didn't expect until much later. You aim at the food, stab it, and haaam. Did I mention in an older post that you figured out how to drink from a straw before you turned one? That's pretty amazing. You can also blow the flute and make sounds. That's a surprising lung capacity, but even more surprising is that you figured out how a flute operates.

You like plums -pla, pla
And apples. I didn't hear you say it, but papa and Zoe heard you whisper "apple."

You are getting used to daycare. Drop offs are still tragic, though not as bad. But you are happier during the day. Pick up time is the peak of my day.  You drop whatever you have in your hand - just drop it on the floor, and run to me, arms lifted, smiling, squealing. We hug, you don't let go. You pull my shirt to access your milk, your fists tight with intensity of emotions, you latch on, hugging me tight, never to let go.

I love you so much, my shining star.

Mommy.

At daycare full-time

Dear Echo,

Today, you officially joined the gang of the full-timers at daycare. Every day, all day, you will be there, except for weekends, vacations, and holidays. I am again at the cafe across the street from you. I dropped you off at 8:00am, hung out with you for 15 minutes, and left for a 9:00am meeting. Your teacher send me a picture of you in the yard, happy that you made a friend. All I saw is a skinny little orphan with big sad eyes, missing her mom.

In the afternoon, I drove to the cafe and settle with my laptop and phone, to be close to you. Can't wait to pick you up, and I know I can't wait until 5:30. So I'm not even going to try. I'll come get you soon, I'll hold you, and I'll make you smile.

Love,
Mommy.