Boo, Moo, Wa

[dmarley]

As tingler has rightly pointed out, I haven't given a Boo update in many many days. Well, I'll just have to fix that. :)

She had a doctor's appointment today, or, more accurately, I had an appointment with her doctor to make sure I was doing The Right Things. According to their records, she has grown from 29 1/2" to 31", which is great! Even taking into account that their previous measurement was, I felt, less than accurate, that's still at least a half-inch of growth, which is good. Unfortunately, she still hasn't gained weight. She looks much better, with more chub and less ribs, but my pediatrician seemed to think that a visit to the dietician would be good. While other parents worry about coaxing bits of fruit and vegetables past the tight-closed lips of other toddlers, I hide the fruit and veggies until I've made my best stab at temping her with Cheetos, fries, and Spaghettios. :)

She's starting to talk more lately, and has learned a number of useful words and phrases. "Mommy, help" for instance. She's started using her own name, which, as I said to tingler, is a bit of a relief since I was worried she might think her name is "Boo." She does, however, call milk "moo," which is completely the fault of her parents. A frequent battle cry is "Moo wa!" when she's thirsty.

Note to vaklam: Ever since she spent the day with Brendan, she's been repeating more and more words at random. I guess she figured all the cool kids were doing it. :)

On the entertainment front, one of my best purchases of late has been the book/CD set Philadelphia Chickens by Sandra Boynton, et al. Melissa got me onto Sandra Boynton's books, which are terrific, and this led me to Philadelphia Chickens. The songs are, as the author says, a bit more "nuanced" than typical kiddie music fare, and *I* can listen to it over and over, which is a big plus. I think my favorite song is the romantic ballad "Faraway Cookies," which features the chorus:

Oh, chocolate chip cookies
So high on the shelf
Hiding inside of the jar
I'm not tall enough to reach you myself
So near, and yet, so very far

Boo's favorite is a song called "Snuggle Puppy." I suppose it's one of those rites of passage of motherhood when one catches oneself singing "fuzzy little snuggle puppy, I love you" in a public place.

I'm also becoming resigned to the fact that I have given birth to a girl. I should have known when one of her first words was "Shoes!" Typically, we change shoes two or three times a day, and we've been known to "dress" for breakfast. She's also getting more clever with her clothes, and even snaps are proving ineffectual to a determined post-nap effort to get naked and throw her diaper out of the crib.

And, of course, she doesn't make a fuss about it. Oh, no. When she's on a mission, she's focused and quiet. On one memorable occasion, I was reading in the living room while she was playing (quietly) on the other side of the couch. Next thing I know, she appears next to me, sans pants, sans diaper, carrying a diaper wipe carefully laid out on the lid of a water pitcher. Investigation revealed that she had attemped to change her own diaper, laying out a clean diaper and a changing pad, using wipes to clean herself, and even disposing of her used diaper in the trash. If she'd managed to get the clean diaper on, I probably would never have noticed.

In short, things in Boo-world are good. She's a happy, smiling girl, and I figure if she's got that, most of the other stuff will work out okay. :)