Summer Collage

Despite my kvetching about her zest and enthusiasm for all she does, Jarrah does seem so grown up to me these days.

I was just reviewing my posts from last August, and reports were much the same: trips to the beach, the FCC Summer Picnic, preparing to start school. And then there was my visit to the pediatrician to discuss Jarrah's language delay...HA! Now she never stops talking.

And those reports were about a baby. Sure, an active baby, a dexterous baby, but a baby nonetheless. This weekend we went to the FCC Summer Picnic, and Jarrah marched in the parade once again, but this time she held the "Chongqing" sign with the other girls from her province, and exulted about the thrill of the "prade." Seeing the grin on her face as she marched along gave me a little lump in my throat. This summer, Jarrah knows the names of her other friends from China, and they are "bess frenz."

The biggest difference I notice between last summer and this one is that Jarrah and I understand each other now. Not just in the sense that she understands English and can speak to me and hear what I'm saying, but in the sense of becoming a human being, which is something that apparently happens even to toddlers. ;) While I wouldn't describe her as reasonable or empathetic yet, there's a way in which she is beginning to understand consequences, and feelings, and the order of days. She wants our attention, but she wants to give affection, too. Just in the last month, she's begun spontaneously hugging and kissing me for more than a millisecond at a time. That's something I hadn't previously experienced at all, since I met her as a squirmy, busy toddler. Just this week we were dancing in the living room to Free to Be, You and Me, and we had a spontaneous Hug-In that lasted for a good ten minutes. It was a very odd feeling, and a very nice one. I am not used to snuggling with my child and I hope there's going to be a lot more of it.

Occasionally I despair of her ever using the potty on a regular basis, or losing her craving for a certain suckable object. Then I remind myself that I also despaired of her ever speaking, and even (for a brief time) of her walking. I was getting concerned about her inability to pedal a tricycle, and then last week I watched her wheel by me at Play Town like she'd been doing it all her life. So I guess the moral of the story is, she will learn to swim and do everything else whether I worry about it or not, so I might as well not.