Babykins' Top Three Obsessions

Now a big 16 monther, Babykins has hit the age where she doesn't just like things - she loooooves them.  And so, a list of Babykins' top three obsessions.

Shoes

Recently, US Grandma bought Babykins a pair of pink Crocs.  Not only are they pink, they have a puppy on the left shoe.  They NEVER leave Babykins' feet.  If we didn't make her take them off before bath and bed, Babykins' little tootsies would never have a chance to breath.

We got our carpets cleaned a week ago, and I was very excited to keep the floors looking fresh for awhile.  Hubbykins and I take our shoes off when we get home, and we've always popped off Babykins' shoes, too.  After awhile she'd remember and walk around the house saying, "Shoes!  Shoes!"  To which we would respond, "No shoes now!"  and Babykins would continue on her way.

This week, though, that's all changed.  Not only can Babykins say, "Shoes," she has now figured out how to put her shoes on all by herself!  These days when I hear Babykins little voice calling out "Shoes!" it's not because she needs help putting them on...it's because they're already on her feet.

Goodbye, clean carpet!  Hello, independent Babykins!

Sesame Street

Back in July we took Babykins to see Sesame Street Live!  I swear it's the only time I've ever seen Babykins sit entirely still for 1 1/2 straight hours.  Since then, Babykins' obsession with Sesame Street has steadily grown.

She's allowed to watch one Sesame Street a day, and over the last month Babykins has steadily progressed in her Sesame Street knowledge.  In the beginning, we were amazed to hear her sing, "Lalalala," whenever she saw a picture of Elmo (as in, Lalalala, Lalalala, Elmo's World).  Then this week she surprised us by actually saying Elmo's name!  That was quickly followed by Cookie (accompanied by putting her hands to her mouth in a mime of eating cookies and saying, "Numnumnum") and Ahkar (Oscar).

So much for no TV before 2.

Baby Doll

The book we had on babies said that most babies choose a favorite animal or blanket as their "lovey" somewhere between 8 and 12 months.  The only lovey Babykins wanted was mama and dada.

Then last weekend Hubbykins took Babykins on a walk.  I could hear them in the hallway for a long time, which is usually a sign that any minute they'll be coming back in and Babykins will be handing me my shoes, insisting that I come along.

Sure enough, seconds later I hear the key in the door.  Hubbykins popped his head in, looked at me, and said, "You've been replaced."  Babykins came shooting in after him calling, "Baby, baby, baby!"  She ran into the living room, scooped up baby doll, gave her a big hug, and ran back out into the hallway, ready for her walk.

We don't go anywhere without baby doll anymore, which is why in the last few weeks she gotten very dirty, fallen in a plate of curry at a restaurant, and has developed some mysterious stains on her head.  Hang in there, baby doll, we need you.

Ok, so there were only going to be 3 obsessions, but Babykins has reminded me multiple times already this morning about her newest obsession...

Being Naked

Babykins has never been a big fan of clothes, but last week she discovered how to take off her diaper, which adds a whole new dimension to the being naked obsession.  Two or three times a day now, Babykins will run up to us, throw a diaper at our feet, then run away laughing, stark naked out of the room.

And once the diaper's off, getting a new one on is akin to catching and subduing a greased pig.  We've started bribing Babykins by specially picking out the diapers that have Elmo on them (see obsession #2).  The diapering process is now immediately followed by pants, which Babykins has not figured out how to remove...yet.

Babykins and Mama Discuss Weaning

When Babykins was born, I decided I would follow all of the baby book advice and nurse her for the first year.  By the time Babykins' first birthday rolled around, I was ready to start the weaning process.

Me: Babykins, wouldn't it be fun to start eating more food and nursing less?
Babykins: Vigorously shakes head, "No."

Ok.  So maybe she wasn't ready.  We'd wait awhile and try again.

Over the next two months, perhaps sensing that the end was near, Babykins actually began nursing more.

Me: Babykins, it's time to start weaning.  Why don't we start by not nursining in the middle of the night?
Babykins: How about if I only nurse two times a night?
Me: One time.
Babykins: How about four times?
Me: Two times it is.

I started working full time, and we managed to drop to 3 times a day during the week.  During the weekends, though, it was another story.

Me: Babykins, why don't we try sticking to 3 times a day during the weekend, too.
Babykins: Noooooo!!!!!
Me: I know you can do it.  You're a big, bad 15 month-er!
Babykins:  Waaaaaa!!! (Translation: I love you so much, mommy, and all I want to do is nurse, and why are you being so mean to me, you're stinky!)
Me: Well, if you're that upset about it, maybe...
Babykins: Yea!!!! (Runs squealing into her bedroom, both hands thrown above her head making the nursing sign.)

Maybe we'll try again at 18 months...

Woof, Woof!

Babykins has long been a fan of puppies.  Over the last few months she's gone from staring, to pointing, to yelling, "Woof, woof!"

Recently, Babykins has started to pretend she's a puppy.  We'll be walking along, and she'll suddenly drop to all fours and begin crawling along saying, "Woof, woof."  It's adorable.

Then yesterday we were walking through Walmart, when Babykins went into puppy mode.  In the middle of the store, she began crawling down the aisle.  It was very cute, in a crawling on a dirty floor and making people swerve their carts, kind of way.

Hubbykins and I smiled at her, said "Good puppy," then told her it was time to get up and walk.  At which point Babykins instead dropped to her tummy and began slithering across the floor like a little wiggle worm.

Funny.  Very, very gross, but funny.

Luckily, Hubbykins and I realize that not everyone thinks our child is as cute as we do, so we scooped her up off the floor and popped her in the cart for the rest of the trip.

This has become a regular occurrence, now.  At least once or twice a day we find ourselves in a random place with Babykins crawling and barking, pleased as punch to be a puppy.  Everyone who sees her just smiles and laughs.  Just like a real puppy, Babykins is bringing happiness to everyone around her.

Mommy's Little Helper

Babykins has discovered the joy of cleaning.

It all started two weeks ago at the mall.  Babykins and I were snacking on shaved ice with Grandmakins and Auntiekins, when I managed to spill a large portion of my snack.  I grabbed some napkins and wiped up most of the spill.  As I was finishing up, Babykins grabbed the rest of my napkin stack and hopped off the bench.

I reached for her, thinking she was about to make a break for it.  Instead, she squatted down and began to wipe the floor with her napkins, too!  I thought she was just mimicking the motions, but realized she really understood the cleaning concept when she purposely moved over a bit to wipe up another puddle.

The next thing I knew, Babykins was lying on the floor of the mall, tiny arm stretched as far as it would go, trying to wriggle under the stroller to get at the last of the mess.  I couldn't decide whether to gaze proudly and support her new-found love of cleaning, or quickly pick her up off of the gross mall floor.

Since then, Babykins is unstoppable.  She goes around our apartment wiping down furniture and floors and cabinets.  Give her a cloth and she will happily spend 10 minutes scrubbing the ottoman in our living room.

Then last week I looked over to discover Babykins had taken the next step in cleaning...she was creating her own cleaning supplies.  Babykins sat on the kitchen floor with her water cup in one hand and a rag in the other.  She would tap the straw of her cup on the floor to let out a few drops of water, then wipe it up with the cloth.  While I made dinner, Babykins happily sat there scrubbing down the floor.

Now, if only we can help her keep this love of cleaning for a few more years... 

Are you for real?

Babykins has long been a fan of including people in her play.  She'll often try to feed us bites of her food, and there's nothing she like more than carrying her phone from person to person so that everyone has a chance to participate in her pretend conversations.

Recently, Babykins and I were playing telephone.  When she handed me the phone, I said hello and pretended the person on the line wanted to talk to Cooper (her teddy bear).  After exclaiming that they wanted to talk to Cooper, I handed the phone back to Babykins who immediately turned, ran to Cooper, and held the phone to his ear. 

She waited a moment nodding (I imagine Cooper had sage words to impart), then brought the phone to her own ear, babbled a minute, and brought the phone back to me.  And so began her newly expanded imaginary play.

Since then Babykins has offered her food and pacifier to her baby doll, has allowed most of her stuffed animals a turn on her phone, and has even started having her doll lean against the wall in the elevator, just like she sees the grown-ups do.

These imaginary games don't hold her attention very long right now, but I can hardly wait until the day Babykins invites me to a tea party with all of her stuffed toys.

Dai Car!!

It's happened.

Babykins no longer cries when we drop her off at daycare.  Instead, the last time I dropped her off, Babykins wriggled out of my arms, ran over to the other kids, and only grudgingly stopped playing long enough to give me a hug goodbye.  In fact, the other day when I went to pick her up, she actually cried because she didn't want to stop playing with the toys!

This new development has given Hubbykins and me a huge sense of relief.

Despite knowing how much Babykins now loves daycare, though, we were still surprised last week when we asked Babykins if she wanted to go to daycare and she responded by nodding, picking up her shoes, walking to the door, and loudly shouting, "Dai car!!"

Our 15-month-old has 10 words in her command, and daycare is one of them.

Babykins has been making good use of this word.  This week as Hubbykins walked Babykins to daycare, she saw the top of the building from two blocks away.  She proceeded to spend the rest of the trip pointing at the building and repeatedly yelling, "Dai car, dai car!!"

It's been amazing to see this transformation, and one of my favorite times now comes around 7 when we tell Babykins it's time for daycare and a huge smile lights up her little face.

Thank you, Wobbler Room teachers, for giving Babykins such a wonderful place to play and grow.

I'm the Baby!

Lately Babykins has been all about the animals.  Not only does she just about jump out of her stroller with excitement when we pass a puppy, but she starts calling, "Woo, woo!" - Babykins speak for Woof, woof!  Along with puppy noises, Babykins has started saying, "Baa!"  She knows it's the sound that sheep make, but she's also convinced that goats and horses should say, "Baa," too.

With all of the excitement about animals, one of our new favorite games is naming animals in books so that Babykins can find and point to them.  Her favorite animal to find is the rooster.  She'll pick up the book, flip quickly through the pages, and frantically point to the rooster while calling, "Ca, ca!"  Short, of course, for Cockadoodledoo!

So last week we were looking at a page that had a fish, a puppy, and a baby.

"Babykins, where's the puppy?"  I asked.

Babykins pointed to the puppy and yelled, "Woo, woo!"

"Can you find the fishie?" I asked.

She pointed to the fish.

I finished up with, "Babykins, can you point to the baby?"

At which point Babykins looked up at me, gave a big smile, and proudly patted her own belly!