Tuesday, August 09, 2005

Sick Chick

My baby chick is sick. Lauren seems to have caught what's been going around. Poor thing - she's had a fever off and on for a few days, and last night the congestion set in. She hasn't been getting (needing?) very much sleep, either. Her disposition has been fine - no other signs that she's not feeling well other than, well, the fever. But she's been refusing to sleep in her crib, preferring, of course, to sleep between Mr. Chick and I. Therefore *I'm* not getting the best of sleep. Vicious circle. And oh boy, with the congestion comes the snoring, and my wee little girlie can put even her big, bad Daddy to shame in that department! Seriously - she saws some logs. But you can't nudge her to get her to roll over and quit the racket - that doesn't work on a 21 month old. Just grown-up men. She forced me onto the couch last night, what with all her kicking me in the head and snoring so loudly the curtains shook. But then she goes and falls asleep on my chest this morning for a rare morning nap and all is forgiven. You can't be grumpy when an angel is using you for her most-precious pillow.

Lauren turned 21 months old yesterday. We are a mere 3 months away from her 2nd birthday! She's getting so big - gone is my baby. She's trying so hard to use words we can understand! She's getting a bigger vocabulary everyday. She tries to say everything, but usually only manages the first sound of the word ("ha" is both hand and hat, for example). But the tone and emphasis differ, making it somewhat easier to decipher what she's trying to say. Context goes a long way at this stage of the game. So many kids are speaking in full sentances by now, but both of my kids seem to take longer to speak. But holy jabberjaws, Batman, once they get rolling there's no stopping them! Lauren has recently learned to say "no" clearly - oh joy, especially when she's saying no to a new clean diaper. She can also say "nose" - a subtle, yet important, distinction. She busted out a "sorry" the other day, much to my surprise. That's a good word to know. I hear "up!" a million +1 times a day. I find it interesting that she doesn't have a word - or even a consistent sound - for her most-favorite thing in the world: her brother. She can't make heads or tails out of "Nicholas" yet. Not even "nick". She strung her first 2-word sentance a week or so ago when she said "bye bye duck". That counts, right? Another new one for her is "pretty" (only it sounds more like "preh" when she says it). I comb her hair into some sort of ponytail everyday to keep it out of her eyes. She's very good about letting me do this, but tends to want to pull the clip out occasionally. Whenever I comb her hair I tell her she looks pretty, so she's says it, too. Then, when I catch her trying to pull her ponytail out I tell her, "no! don't ruin your pretty hair" and she stops, strokes her hair and says "preh" with a big smile on her face. I'm grooming vanity, it seems.

Lauren has always been very physical and will attempt to do anything her brother does. What he does and where he goes, so must she. As a result, she's been able to climb stuff that will stop my heart sometimes. Vertical rungs? No problem. Chain ladder at the park up to death-defying heights? Why not? Tall-ass slide that dates back to my childhood, that they probably banned for safety reasons? Let me scamper right up, Mom! Go for a ride on the merry-go-round with much older kids pushing it so fast that her body is but a blur? You betcha! She's fearless. Thankfully she's got a good sense of her physicality and depth perception - she rarely falls or gets hurt. And speaking of physicality, she's recently started telling us when she's filled her diaper. "poo poo!" with the all-important. accompanying pointing at her butt. It's not potty-training yet, but it's a start. She doesn't seem to feel the need to tell me of this urge before she fills her diaper, but is cognizant enough to share the news afterwards. She always has been, and continues to be, a very calm, happy, charming little girl. She has the most gorgeous, sparkling blue eyes and an adorable scattering of baby freckles across her nose. She gets the freckles from me - I'm covered. I douse her in sunscreen all the time, but she got them anyway - skin damage! They really are cute, despite the ominous cause, but I know she'll hate them someday. I picture her getting all Jan Brady about them - cursing their existance on her face and trying desperately to get rid of them by any means necessary. Lemon juice didn't work for Jan, but by the time Lauren reaches puberty I'm sure they'll be some sort of magic cream that will take care of those pesky freckles. So we'll have to enjoy them while we can, before she rids herself of them forever.

I love you, my little (sick) chick - happy 21 months!


Impish Lauren wearing my hat.

Comments:
LOVE the pictures!
 
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