Twenty Months: How you doin'?

Dear Miriam,

Have I mentioned your Jersey accent? People have asked where it comes from, and frankly we have no idea. But now that you're chatting away in 4-word sentences, it's even more apparent.

In the morning, you say Sleepsack off, Daddy, or Downstairs make bottle, Mommy, and it goes from there. You still jibber-jabber, but usually you're commenting on the world around you: two dogs, motorcycle!, bus for kids (school bus), funny Moki. You tell us exactly what you want: Shoes off inside, Runny nose (which you proffer to be wiped), iPod on, Enzo music.

Lately you're obsessed with Enzo music; when his songs are on you tell us, when they're not you announce Not like this in a bid for change. We bought a few more CDs, because as much as I like Cripple Creek, everything gets boring the thousandth time.

You've been dancing to your favorite songs for months, but now you anticipate the verses for some, like Wheels on the Bus and Side of a Mountain Top, and request others, like Moomaway (The Lion Sleeps Tonight) and Dee-do-dah (Song of the South).

Your verbal acuity seems to be helping you transition at daycare. You actually ask for Ana if you haven't seen her for a few days (although you also tell me No Ana on occasion). I accept that there will be days when you cry when I drop you off, but you're always participating when I arrive, and I can often hear you requesting songs through the garden wall. We've also noticed a change in the way you play. Up to now your only interest in blocks has been in knocking down our towers, but now you want to build things. You regularly ask to Play blocks, you spend tons of time building towers off your fire engine, and this morning you pulled out and assembled your wooden train, something you've largely ignored for months. The change is so sudden, we think it must be the way you see other kids play at daycare.

You ask for Enzo and a few choice playmates, but when they're before you, you don't yet know what to do with them. You show signs of wanting to play with kids, but right now the interactions are brief: holding out a hand, saying Hey'o, or perhaps proffering a toy. Then you stare or wander away, on to the next thing.

You've become shy with strangers and when seeing people after an absence. You warm up quickly, but in those first few minutes, you cling tightly and go quiet, which still surprises me a bit. I have to remember not to push you.

This new stranger shyness comes with increasing familiarity with your Tribe. You have such a rich life in that regard, as your Daddy observed, nearly every day someone you love comes by to take you out to do something fun, and when they're not here, you ask for each of them by name. At night, when I tell you what we have planned for the next day, you say Again to whatever includes your favorite people (your grandparents and Aunties especially), wanting to hear it twice or three times.

It seems to us that you've rounded a cognitive bend and you hold your tribe close. With Mana and Papa down with your cold, you ask for them frequently, and parrot back the explanations you've been given as though working it through for yourself: Mana sick, Papa sleeping, Papa's head hurts. When I give you kisses from them at night, you smile sweetly and lean in. All the while asking for Bubbie and your Aunties and anyone else who has made a good impression in recent weeks.

Overall you continue to be a happy kid, and we continue to be completely besotted. Thank you for another delightful month.

All my love,
Your Mommy