P.S., the hopeful SLP in me wants to take a moment to transcribe the way she says those words in IPA... I'm a geek... hippo /æpo/, zebra /ɛsibi/, ostrich /ɑtɪk/, Herbie /ʌdi/, star /tɑ/, circle /sʌkəl/, green /gin/, yedow /jɛdo/, purple /pʌpəl/, blue /bwu/. Thanks for indulging me.
She also is using sentences. I hadn't put it together before, be she says "isha" (/ɪʃə/) before a lot of words. At first I thought she was just saying an extra set of sounds, but I'm pretty sure she's saying, "It's a". Oh! And her new favorite word is "stuck" (/tʌk/). We've watched the Winnie the Pooh movie a lot recently (well, not a LOT, but I try to put on something other than just Elmo when we do let her watch TV, so about 30% of the time, it's Winnie the Pooh). And in the story, Pooh gets stuck in the opening of Rabbit's house and they say "stuck" a lot. Evie has definitely grasped this concept. She also hears it at daycare, apparently, because her afternoon teacher Kaylee will respond when one of the kids wants to open the door, "Oh no! It won't open! We're stuck!" So Evie now uses stuck often to refer to her socks being stuck to her feet or to something that she can't maneuver out of whatever container it's in.
She's come up with a couple of new games this week. When we're in the car, she will sit in the backseat and make an animal noise and I'm supposed to guess what animal she's being. If I guess right, she'll move on to the next one. I'm amazed that she can already do stuff like that. Another game she developed this weekend was throwing things. Not in a bad way.
Disclaimer: My entire family is wonderful and I could certainly write entire entries about how fantastic they are and how much I cherish my relationships with them and their relationships with Evie. But this one's going to focus on grandmothers.
Seth, Evie, and I went to Memphis this weekend. We try to go at least once a month and our last time there was Christmas, so it was already a planned visit, but the added bonus was that it was Grandma Jeanne's birthday on Sunday and we were very glad to be there for it. Grandma and I have always had a very strong connection - I loved playing with her when I was little girl and as I grew up and became more interested in topics of conversation than in playing, I loved to ask Grandma her opinions about things, her memories of her family and the city growing up, her take on life and faith. She's always been a big support for me and I love getting to see her as often as I do now, even if it's not as often as I'd like.
Someone at church on Sunday saw me hugging Grandma and getting a little teary and that person said, "Grandma's are special people." And that is certainly true - I had a special place in my heart for Memmaw, and another for Grandma. And I love that Evie and Granna (my mom) have had that special bond from the beginning. When I told Granna that Seth and I were ready to start a family and that we were having trouble because of a medical syndrome that I have, Granna prayed for us. I told Granna when we were seeking medical help and I remember Granna telling me she was praying and crossing her fingers - and 9 months later, we had Evie. Granna had a dream even before we had told her Evie was coming that we had had a little girl. There's some connection there between Granna and Evie that feels, to me, somehow deeper than this world. Maybe that's just me being sentimental and wishful, and I don't typically buy into supernatural connections of any kind, but something about the way that Granna and Evie have communicated since Evie was born supports my theory that their connection began before Evie was born.
From a very young age - even just a few weeks old - possibly even in the hospital and the days immediately after - Granna seemed to be able to connect with and calm Evie better than anyone. Sure, there are times we are all together when Evie wants her Mama, but on the whole, she'd be just as happy (and sometimes happier) with Granna as with me. This weekend was no exception. Evie went immediately from my arms to Granna's when we got to the house, and there were several times this weekend where when I couldn't persuade Evie to do something like have her diaper changed or cooperate in some other way, Evie was willing to do it with Granna.
I've heard some moms say they hate it when their kids prefer someone else instead of them. Not me. The relationship Evie and Granna have in no way makes me feel jealous or overlooked. It makes me ecstatic. I love my mom so much - she's magic, as my cousin Olivia put it. There's nothing my mom can't do, and she seems to always know what to say. She's compassionate, self-sacrificing, loyal, supportive, welcoming, considerate, loving... I could go on. It's not surprising to me that Evie can tell how much Granna loves her and what a wonderful person she is. I want Evie to have that close relationship with Granna, like I have with Grandma. Because, it's true: Grandmas are special people.
Four generations: Grandma Jeanne, Grannadaddy, Mama, and Evie
Eating yo-yo with Granna
Now I am the teary one... very sweet, and I am very grateful to have the connection with Evie-- and you!
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