"Hi, Baby!"

Last week, I walked into Aiyana's nursery and she sat right up, pulling her binky out of her mouth and said to me, "Hi, Baby!" I laughed so hard at how she perfectly mimicked what I say to her almost every morning. Every day, she says it to me at random times, laughing with me. She now often says rather mournfully, "Byyye, Baby . . . " when I pick her up to go nap. She says it to Dan sometimes, too. She cracks me up and I just love her.

 Morning hair!

 

Her favorite word is still, "No!" even though she doesn't know what she's saying no to most of the time. However, when she really does mean "no", she throws quite the tantrum, stamping feet and high-pitched voice and all, which ends in a short-lived bawl-session. Full of flavor, this one.

Other favorite moments involve when she calls me "Mommy", clear and toddler-like. Lately, when I'm singing her to sleep, she pulls her binky out of her mouth and  says over and over again, "Mommy? Mommy? Mommy! Mom! Mommy?" and I know she's trying to be funny because of the way her lips are smiling at me as she says it, waiting for a reaction from me -- and she giggles, wrinkling her nose with laughter in her eyes when I stop singing to say, "What, Baby?" And back in the mouth her binky goes, until I start to sing again. (At some point, maybe I'll realize she's just tired of me singing and is trying to send me a message, not play a game with me!)

Aiyana loves to play outside, especially since it's not scorching hot anymore. When we go into the garage, she clambers towards the stroller, trying to get in so we can go to the park. She throws quite a heart-broken fit when I put her in the car and try to explain we're not playing outside yet. I really need to clean up our backyard. We have a small patch of cover cement and some rocks surrounding it that she likes to walk around in; but even she won't tread into the jungle that is our patch of grass beside the cement! Who knows what's in there . . .  (spiders, namely) so I'm fine that she's not that adventurous yet. Sometime this month I want to take a weed-eater to it and flatten it out. It has such potential! (I'll also add my funny conversation with Dan about the weed-eater, involving how I momentarily forgot what it was called and referred to it as, "You know! The lawn-mower on a stick!" As the proud son of a contractor, he was beyond appalled at my word choice.)

"Aiya, smile for Daddy!" and I get this.

 

That's enough Aiya-moments for today. Good night!