she's not a talker. she just isn't. this is something i've had to come to terms with over the past many months. just because bennett was communicating with 3 word sentences using pronouns correctly at 12 months doesn't mean that his little sister will do the same.
pailyn said momma and dadda early on and then delighted us with bye bye for a day before retiring that word all together. she prefers to grunt and point and make a huge array of interesting noises to communicate with us regardless of my plead for her to "use words." use words if you want your juice, pay. can you say juice? juice. say juice. juice is a word she made an effort at saying a few months ago...followed by huge cheers from chuck & i. it, too has been retired. frustration!
pailyn has a precious routine when she wakes up each morning and goes to bed each night that involves her baby. santa brought baby stella to her this past christmas. baby has a bed in pay's room and baby has her own (magnetic) paci.
from the beginning-well since she was 4ish months old, i have not offered pailyn her pacifier all the time. they are not just laying around the house for her (noooo...that might deter her from speaking, ha!) i was the same way with ben and separating him & his beloved "p" was successful (and a fabulous story for another post) i digress...when pailyn wakes up she has learned to hand my paci or she'll throw it down in her crib so it's ready for her naptime rock.
i take her out of her bed and she's been going straight over to baby. she picks her up from her bed, "loves her" (gives her a sweet long hug) and then swipes paci from her and throws it down. she'll then either take baby into the den with us or *sit* her back on her bed.
at night before we tell everyone goodnight we straighten the den, which by then is a train wreck of books and toys and i tell her to go put baby to bed. she picks baby up, loves her and proceeds to her room...running...because she pretty much runs everywhere these days, and lays baby in her bed and gives her her paci. sweetness, right?
so tonight...after preforming yet another word she picked up from the pj-animals short that comes on sprout at night. well, heck, let me get that down for memory's sake while i'm at it. an adorable set of jim hudson (is that his name?) puppets sing a song about going back to bed if it isn't morning. the lyrics include: is the sun shining in? no. no. no. so our day can begin? no. no. no. can you hear the birds sing? is your day gargling?you get the idea. so after she saw it for the first time a couple weeks ago we danced and sang it together and she did her finger in the air to mimic me and said no. no. no. yiiipeeeee! she talks!! i had her do it a few more times and then carried her downstairs where she preformed her new trick for chuck just once. the next morning she did it one time and *nothing* since. sigh.
back to where i was beginning that las paragraph...tonight that same song came on again & she "no. no. no" -ed a couple times for everyone.
bedtime comes shortly after and we are headed into her room to put baby to bed when mysweet baby gave baby her paci laid her in her bed, pat her belly a couple times then decided she's sleep better on her tummy so turned her over (hold onto your seat!) and pat her on her back twice while saying "night night." clear. as. could. be.
found these photos from mid april of her playing with baby :o)
that's worth staying up super late to blog about right?! you bet it is.
i have no expectations of her repeating it, but my goodness did she absolutely melt me being such a sweet (vocal) little momma to her baby. oh goodness, i love her!