Halloween may be over, but the overconsumption of processed sugars is still underway. Baby Harbat enjoyed trick-or-treating, which mostly consisted of walking around, riding on shoulders, and seeing everyone in the neighborhood. I felt a little bad going to doors since she was obviously not the ultimate recipient of the candy, but people liked her costume. And how couldn’t you?
On Sunday we went to the park and BH demanded swing time and, interestingly, alone time. I was hanging around with her near the slide when she gave me the hand and told me to, “Go play, Babbo!” So I sat on a bench while she sang songs and climbed on the stairs. I knew it would happen: I’ve become uncool dad who is “cramping her style” while she’s “trying to hang out with her friends.” Though in this case her style involved sitting on climbing blocks and the only other living things at the park were chattering mockingbirds and some trailing rosemary bushes. Fine. [picking at fingernails and kicking dirt] I’ll just do my own cool thing over here.
In the afternoon we went to the zoo with hours of build-up and promotion. When we got to the petting zoo area, she just sauntered over to the goats and sheep, gave them a quick pat, then looked at me. I was hoping for some more excitement, but she did get a few laughs chasing after a goat’s waving tail. Good thing she didn’t pull on it and get a treat.
Lately BH has been learning more vocabulary than I can keep track of. This morning she laughed at a playing card and said, “It’s spinning!” The flip side of this new lexicon is that she’s still not able to pronounce things well, and without obvious cues and context, I often have no idea what she’s saying. Like I’ve said before, it’s like having an excitable foreign exchange student in the house. I often laugh at what I presume is a joke, say “Oh really?” to what turns out to be a question, and sing along with re-purposed songs. To the tune of Frere Jacques, Amalia sang “Where is lemur?” at the zoo. I love that little pumpkin. Now if I can just teach her to eat from a spoon without turning it upside down on the long trip up to her mouth.
Writer, architect, father, husband.
Pumpkin! So cute! Glad she liked the fish, I thought it would be a hit! Sorry it got there so late…
Glad she got to go trick or treating! That must have been fun for you too! If I get home on time tonight maybe we could skype..
Write down all of the adorable things she says and does because you'll never remember them all–wish I'd written down more things. Just have a journal handy–you'll be glad you did. I'm so glad you both are getting so much enjoyment out of that lil' pumpkin!