Lil' Casanova makes his move...

I took Brooklyn swimming yesterday. She's learned a new move we call "the hammer." She holds her hands together, raises them above her head and very quickly slams her hands into the water and the water goes flying. Her face lights up as she awaits your reaction. She has become very talented at splashing not only me and her, but other kids as well, but most of them didn't seem to mind.

As we made it to the edge of the pool - where she loves to hold on and hang kicking her legs, talking, all the while trying to get a taste of the chlorine water - a little boy approaches us. Brooklyn being very fond of other kids, always wanting to get her hands on them reaches out for this little boy. He gets excited and reaches out for her too, but instead of touching her arm or hand, he grabs her face. Now, this isn't a mean grab, but a very delicate one - one that you only see in movies before a big kiss. My immediate reaction was to pull Brooklyn back a little. I don't want this boy making a move on my lil' girl! He looks at me and says "This is the most beautiful baby girl I have ever seen!" I say "Thank you" but I immediately begin looking around for his father, mother, someone that is watching him. I finally see a man that is watching the kids' interaction, nodding and smiling. Soon, the little boy's friend comes and sweeps him off to go dive for quarters on another end of the pool. The man comes over to me and says "I'm just his Grandad. I had no idea that he loved babies this much!" I'm thinking, great, what am I going to do if this 5 year-old boy tries to kiss her again!?!

Brooklyn and I head to the very shallow (1 foot) part of the pool where she can play with this red steering wheel that is low enough for her to be able to hold onto and stand up in the pool like a big girl. Before long, I feel a touch on my arm, and Lil' Casanova is back and this time he is calling himself "her boyfriend." He goes for her face again. She gets excited, starts squealing and moving her head toward his. She does this when she gets excited, and she loves to chew on your shoulder, face, neck whatever she can get in her mouth. But, I can see the look in his eyes, and he thinks she wants a kiss so he puckers up. I pull her back and say, "No kissing!" She then notices that he is wearing a pair of goggles on his head, and she reaches for him again, and it starts all over. Finally his friend comes to get him again, and Lil' Casanova tries to get his friend interested in the baby, but his friend just wants to go dive for quarters, so they take off. Finally, the lifeguards blow the whistle signalling time for adult swim, so we get out, get dried off and head to the locker room.

On the way home, I call Daddy and tell him the story. His response: "I don't want to hear that! She's too young to be having boyfriends and to start kissing." I couldn't agree more!

A special time

"What do you want for your birthday?"
"Clothes."
"When do you want to go shopping?"
"Monday works for me. How about you?"
"That should work, but in the afternoon. Or, I could just give you money to go out and get what you want yourself."
"I'd rather you go with me."
"Okay. Maybe we could grab a bite of dinner afterward."
"Sounds like a plan!"

This is an exchange that I have with my Grandma almost every year around my birthday. She is a big believer in taking people out and letting them choose what they would like for birthdays, Christmas and anniversaries. It does make sense, because then you aren't stuck digging for a receipt, having to stand in line to return the item and pick something new out. But, it's always been more than that to me. We've been going shopping for my birthday since I was three years old, and even though the dynamics have changed, I have always seen it as a special time to spend with my Grandma.

This used to be a whole day event - usually on a Saturday - including eating lunch in the midst of shopping, eating dinner afterward at TrailDust and ending the day by going home and showing Mom and Dad what I got. When I was a pre-teen and even a teen, we would hit Westminster Mall (which used to be super-cool!) look around the entire mall before decididng to go to stores such as 5-7-9, Express, Joslins Juniors, etc. I would load Grandma's arms up with so many clothes that it took over an hour to try everything on and decide what looked good and what didn't. There was always a "Maybe" pile, a "No" pile and a "Definitely Yes" pile. Grandma was always good at making sure to ask "Now are you sure that you are going to wear this?" or "Do you have something to wear this with?" I remember getting a couple shirts where I said, "Oh yeah sure I will wear this all the time with such and such" but I never did, I just had to have them.

How times have changed! This year when we went shopping, Brooklyn was hanging in her stroller making the very cool new sound she just learned "DaDaDaDaDa," I knew exactly where I wanted to go and instead of loading Grandma's arms up with my selection to try on, I used the stroller. We spent less than a half-hour in the dressing room trying on the same amount of clothes that I always tried on. Grandma kept telling me that I didn't have to go so fast and to slow down. But, as any mom knows, trying on clothes with a baby that is almost ready to nurse, doesn't really work, especially if you take your time. And, I'm not a mom that will let my kiddo cry and cry while I'm selfishly trying on clothes. It worked. I picked out a selection of clothes that I liked, we made the three separate piles of yes, no and maybe and Brooklyn was satisfied playing with her keys and her baby cloth Bible. After all the shopping the three of us sat down and had a nice dinner, and then headed home to show Kevin what I picked out.

The dynamics and the amount of time we spend might have changed, but I wouldn't trade this time with my Grandma for the world. And, some might say that it's because she's buying me clothes that I want to spend time with her, but it's really not. I would spend time with my Grandma even if we were just hanging out at my house or hers.

On her way to Yale

"A told B and B told C, I'll beat you to the top of the coconut tree. Whee said D to E, F, G, I'll beat you to the top of the coconut tree. Chicka Chicka Boom Boom..."

As we lay on our bed, and I began to read one of Brooklyn's favorite books, Chicka Chicka Boom Boom, she begins to kick her legs, move her arms up and down and make a soft squealing noise. Within a few seconds, a smile lights up her face and melts my heart. Reading is a big part of her bedtime routine. After she is snug in her feety pajamas, the three of us lay down, or on occasion we sit up, and read several books. We always pick something new and fresh to start off with, and of course there are books like Chicka Chicka Boom Boom that we read more often because they're fun and she really enjoys them, but we always end with two stories: Wynken, Blynken and Nod and Baby's Bedtime. By the time the words "Wynken, Blynken and Nod one night sailed off in a wooden shoe. Sailed on a river of crystal light into a sea of dew..." roll off Daddy's tongue, she starts yawning and her once flalling arms and legs are still, but she's still excited to go on the nighttime journey to sleepyland with Wynken, Blynken and Nod.

Many reports and books about infant development say that long before your baby is ready to hold a book, they'll start learning about reading and language through their relationship with you. Talking and reading to your infant or toddler provides the building blocks they'll need to develop language and reading skills of their own. There has been many debates on when to start reading to your baby. Some have said to start when they are newborns because a baby will be picking up on the rhythm of language -- rather than the content -- as he hears you speak. Others have suggested starting at six months because a baby will be more interested in touching, looking at the bright pictures and will get more out of it.

In the long run, reading helps build your child's vocabulary, stimulate her imagination, and improve her communication skills. Studies have shown that language skills -- and even intelligence -- can depend on an infant's daily exposure to a large vocabulary. In one such study, babies who heard an average of 2,100 words an hour scored higher on standard tests when they reached age 3 than did children whose parents hadn't been as verbal.

We've been reading to Brooklyn since she was a few weeks old, and we talk to her all the time - starting the first second she was born. We hope that all we are doing is helping her develop into an itelligent woman who will achieve anything her heart desires. After all, I told her when we were at the Clinton Presidential Center in Little Rock during our vacation, that she can be the first female president if she wanted to be.

As if almost a concidence about a month ago, she received an invitation from Yale University (where US President have graduated from) inviting her to meet with an admissions counselor who was going to be in the neighborhood. On Monday, she got a viewbook from Yale providing her with an overview, history and admission information of the prestigious Ivy League university. My first reaction was "Do they realize she's only 6 months old?" My husband joked that they sent it to let us, her parents, because we need 18 years to save that amount of money - which is almost the same as what we paid for our home! Regardless, it was fun sitting on the family room floor going page by page reading and looking through the viewbook with Brooklyn. She seemed excited as she hit and talked to the pages. Who knows, maybe this is a sign that she'll be going to Yale in 18 years!