New photos here, under the February album. OK, so there's only six photos now, but there may be more later. :-)

A quick shout-out to a dear friend of mine, who is probably either in labor right now or is going to be soon. My thoughts are with her, and my concerns. I keep checking her and her husband's blogs regularly, hoping for an update, but not exactly like they're going to log-on and give a play-by-play from the delivery room. I'm really wishing right now that she didn't live in South Carolina, so far away.

Closer to home, however, are my concerns about Veronica. She is sick with the flu. I now see why they call it "projectile vomiting." I didn't know you could get that sort of distance with puke. Five feet from a kid who's not even two. Poor lil' Veronica. She's a trooper but it's awful to see her feeling so miserable. Add on a fever and a cough, and she's in pretty sad shape.

The good side of this, if there could be one, is the fact that Jason took her to the doctor. The doctor said "she has a flu bug", nothing wrong, her weight is still fine, etc. They then discussed her verbal development. Jason was just checking that she's where she should be. The doctor said she's exactly where she should be in verbal development - if she were turning three. Apparently, this is pretty unusual:

1. Prepositions.

The constant "Mommy at work? Mommy in bath? Go to Debbie?" etc. is apparently really advanced for her age. Most kids don't start using them for at least a few more months. She's been saying these things since around Christmas.

2. Long sentences.

The average two-year-old can string together two words or so. Veronica can say "Where kitty go?", the aforementioned sentences and, the latest, "Put that over there." Good lord. Her other inquiry, when stated she's going to Debbie's, is "Courtney an' Spice?" Courtney is her best friend there, a little girl two months younger than her, and Spice is Debbie's minature poodle mix that she's had for about a year now. Veronica just loves them both. Which leads me to...

3. Talking about things that aren't there.

A few evenings ago, I was changing Veronica's diaper when she informed me, out of the blue, that "Courtney has a hat." I never get to see Courtney - Jason drops Veronica off in the mornings, and Courtney's mom picks her up early in the evenings - so I had to talk with Jason and Debbie to confirm that Courtney indeed has a pink hat that she wears every day. A couple days later, I was driving Veronica home and asked what she and Courtney did that day. She told me "Courtney home", which was true as her mommy had already picked her up, and then proceeded to say something about Courtney and a car. I don't know if she was saying that Courtney played with a toy car, or that Courtney left in a car, but it didn't matter. She hadn't seen the kid in a good half-hour and was therefore describing something that happened in the past.

I don't know if this says anything either, but she and Courtney really are friends. I didn't know kids could do that so young. The two of them get into races at Debbie's house, and Veronica talks about her all the time, even when they're not together. There's other kids at Debbie's, but Courtney is definitely her favorite. I think it's adorable and one of the sweetest things I've ever seen.

I read up on her verbal development and whatnot in my "What to Expect: The Toddler Years" book, and it pretty much confirmed what the doctor said. If I go by the book, it looks like she's still a little behind on certain walking skills, such as jumping and walking up stairs. But that's not a surprise, given her previous problems in walking. She walks, runs, and climbs just fine now, so I'm not really concerned. I'm just happy that my little girl seems to be pretty smart - and the fact that this illness should soon pass. I usually think my kid's OK, but it's nice to have a professional opinion on it once in a while, just to set the mommy brain at ease. And every parent thinks their kid is smart, so it's nice to know too that hey, she very well may be! :-)

Happy Valentine's Day!

Let's face it, Valentine's Day, anymore, boils down to a loot list - how sweet is my sweetie, well let's see what all he bought me and in what sort of elaborate fashion did we celebrate. So let me break it down into the emotion:

Jason was on his way out of the grocery store last night when he decided to double-check the date on a newspaper to make sure he didn't miss Valentine's Day. As he'd originally thought it was this Tuesday or Wednesday, it's a good thing he did. I went out to my car this morning to find a heart-shaped box of candy and a lovely card, grabbed after he'd loaded up the groceries and went back inside the store.

Jason got a card from me, a card from Veronica, and a box of candy with a balloon bouquet delivered to his new workplace. The card and candy were purchased one day on a lunch outing - my co-workers and I had just ordered at a Chinese restaurant, and I then ran down to the Hallmark store two doors down. My hot n' sour soup had just arrived when I got back. The candy was then given to my co-worker Sarah, whose husband owns and operates a flower shop; she said she could attach the box of Anthony Thomas all-dark chocolates - Jason's favorite - to a balloon bouquet. This was the first time since we've been married that I could have something delivered to his workplace; I wanted him to see how nice it feels to have that happen, as he's done it for me before. It was all paid for in cash, so no tell-tale entries on our banking statement when Jason went online to do bills. The card from Veronica involved two of her favorite things, bears and cars - I'm sure she would've chosen it herself if she were old enough - and was signed by her when Jason was out of the house.

Veronica got a new book and DVD, both of Dora the Explorer. Jason hates Dora. I find the show to be mildly tolerable at best. But Veronica loves it with a passion. She dances to the songs. She imitates Swiper the Fox - few things are cuter than her echoing his phrase "Oh, man!" - and waves bye when the show is over. Veronica loves Dora, and we love Veronica. We watched four episodes in a row this evening from that DVD, and Veronica loved it - that's all that matters. :-)

And yesterday we went to the 97.1 Reading Festival at the local Aladdin Shrine Center. Veronica was too little for any of the activities. It was crowded and it was dull. But there were people in costume there, and one of them was SpongeBob - her favorite next to Dora. She got to meet this SpongeBob, and grinned from ear to ear, saying "Bum-bob? Bum-bob Pants?" She shook his hand - I didn't even know she knew how to do that! - and grinned and said bye-bye when it was time to leave. She was so happy.

So yeah, this was kind of a loot list, but it wasn't full of mindless gifts meant to impress others. They were all filled with love and care for one another, only meant to warm the hearts of the recipients. I told Veronica "Valentine's Day is the day to make sure you tell the ones you love just how much you love them." That's what these gifts were all about. And while I'd like to be able to do these things for my loved ones every day, I'm thinking hugs, kisses, and spoken "I love yous" will have to do for the next 365 days. And that's all right by me, too.

Here's something I've been meaning to comment on for a while now and haven't had the chance. It's something I never expected and never heard of before:

Veronica cries when she hears sad songs.

I'm not talking a full-scale bawling, which may indicate a tantrum, physical discomfort, or displeasure about something in general. No, she doesn't make a sound. Her eyes just well up with tears that eventually spill down her cheeks while she remains silent. At first I didn't quite believe it, as my parents were the first to witness this. They had taken her to church some months back, without Jason or me present, and reported that Veronica had cried over a particularly sad hymn. But I saw it myself, again at church, onChristmas Eve, and then Jason and I both saw the same thing happen on two occasions last week.

At first I was quite puzzled. She's far too young to be displaying such deep empathy; she hands toys to her playmates at the babysitter's house when they cry, but that's as far as it goes, and that's normal for her age. But then I realized that she's not crying over the lyrics. While I don't know what hymn she heard that first time, it was probably about the suffering of Christ or the suffering of the world, and how could she relate to either? The last time I saw her well up with tears over music, it was "Hallelujah" being played in the movie "Shrek"; I doubt she has any idea what a broken, tortured heart would go through. And it lyrically made no sense whatsoever for the other two songs, which were"Hotel California" and, inexplicably, "Joy to the World."

So I then realized that it's the music itself, and when you think aboutit, it makes perfect sense. Lullabies to sing babies to sleep. Peppy nursery rhymes to make them laugh and dance and clap. Why wouldn't a sad song, therefore, evoke feelings of melancholy, even in such a young child? It all goes back to the saying of "music soothes the savage breast", or the popular misquotation "music soothes the savage beast." Either one can ring true, and to think that youth would preclude that would just be foolish. Still, one of those things you never consider, or would even believe, until you see it for yourself.

I've recently updated my photo page here, if anyone wants to check it out. The November and December albums are new. In the meantime, Veronica is at the babysitter's for the night, and Jason and I have just returned from a Super Bowl party where our team was defeated but we had a great time anyway. (And frankly, we're rather pleased that the Eagles did as well as they did.)

I have more to go on about, but it's late and I'm zonked. Hopefully tomorrow or the next day will see another update.

It's been a while, so let me summarize the Veronica updates.

The Good:

She loves pointing out where Mommy, Daddy, and kitty are. So tonight Jason asked "Where's Veronica? Show me Veronica." So she ran over to the oven and pointed at her reflection on the door. Then she started making faces and dancing before it. It was funny and wonderfully clever.

She recently slept on a futon chair at our friends Brandon and Amanda's house. This means she can sleep, at least for a short time, on a "big-girl bed." This is promising. I'm wanting to get her a toddler bed in addition to her crib and eventually get her switched over. Given her fascination with the potty, it will be great for when she finally understands what it's for.

The Bad:

Her latest phrase to be used more often than I'd like: "Mommy! Come here!" No reason, just wants me there. I know someday she'll want to pretend she has no mom and hatched from an egg or something, so I should be savoring every summons from her. But it does get a little old when I've just sat down or started a project and hear it for the umpteenth time in an hour.

And she is willful and easily frustrated. Either this is inherited or something in her upbringing thus far is woefully similar to mine, as I was apparently this strong-willed and strong-tempered as a toddler too.

The Inexplicable:

She's an art fanatic, to the point where I actually looked up OCD online to see how young you could diagnose it. Apparently the following behavior is normal for a toddler, at least according to BabyCenter.com. It's kind of hard to explain, but here goes:

At any given point, she will ask for a crayon. When she does this, she already has in mind which coloring book she wants (Dora, Spongebob, Winnie the Pooh, etc.) or plain paper, and where she wants to color (high chair, writing desk, floor). (Plain paper means "plain paper" too, sometimes if it has any print on it, she will just throw it away.) She asks for "big crayon", as the standard Crayolas don't cut it for her (unless she's at a restaurant, using the complimentary crayons there.) And she doesn't want just ANY crayon. I'll get out one and name it - "How about blue?" - and she'll regard it for a moment, say "no, no boo" and hand it back. This will go on until she finds a hue she is happy with. This could be another blue crayon, btw, of a different size or brand and a slightly different coloration. And I'm not talking blue-green or anything either. I'm talking standard blue.

She will then draw with said selection. If the paper is blank, she will scribble for a moment, flip over the paper, draw some curly-ques, and then toss the paper onto the floor. It is finished. No more can be done to this paper. If it's a coloring book, she names as many things as she can identify ("Dora. Backpack. Pooh? Bum-bob. Bum-bob friend, Pat." You get the idea.) Then she colors over each body part she can identify and names them ("eye, ear, nose, feet…") Sometimes she asks me to draw a kitty cat and points to where said cat should be placed. I draw a little cartoon cat in the indicated spot, and then she repeats the process ("eye, ears, nose….", same order every time.) I have drawn so many of these little cats that I can almost do it with my eyes closed (I know, I tried). Then she decides she is finished with this particular crayon or coloring book, and we start the process all over again.

This can go on for the better part of an hour.

You have to watch her too, because anything can be a canvas. The floor, the walls, her high chair tray, her desk, the cabinets, the refrigerator, her own face, even a white shirt she was wearing once - if you turn your back, and she has set her mind to it, she will try to draw on it. She looks so studious when she draws, too. And if you withhold crayons for her for any reason, or take them away, watch out; the world has not seen the likes of a Veronica tantrum when her art supplies are taken away. At least when a crayon is broken, she usually walks over to the trash can to dispose of it herself.

It's just so odd to me because she's so single-minded when she does this. She has other toys, other interests, but this is the prevailing one. I like the fact she has such an interest, but it's a bit disconcerting to see someone so young be so enthralled and driven by one thing. She's not even two yet! Do all kids go through a phase like this, at least at this age? The websites only said repetition was normal. This is something a little more, so I'm not worried so much as scratching my head and saying "huh" a lot.

Right now she's refusing to go to sleep and getting into battles with Pita over occupation of the baby Barcalounger. I need to get going and try to wrestle her into bed. She's a hoot but she's also a bit exhausting, so don't be surprised if the next post takes this long.