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Niece Snapshot
Sep. 3rd, 2010 07:36 pmMy sister is moving away, so I’m going to be seeing a lot less of my niece. By the time I see her next, it’s quite possible she’ll have all different traits. The traits I remember from Wednesday’s visit may be nothing but an embarrassment to her by then.
* She smiles and says “hi” to and waves at strangers.
* She smiles and giggles ecstatically at other toddlers.
* She gets ecstatically happy over lots of things – running free, fountains, strangers waving back.
* She loves to make you laugh and will do just about anything to make you laugh including the ecstatic giggling, making choking noises, fake sneezing, bashing her head on the table, and poking herself in the eye. You have to be very, very careful what you laugh at.
* She likes taking things out of containers and then putting them back. So, she will obviously make a great busboy one day (and/or a comedian).
* She is good at changing directions while walking and even faking you out, probably because she herself doesn’t know until the last second which direction her next step will take her. She no longer needs to steer with her arms, though.
* She likes to hand things to you and then ask for them back. She definitely has the first signs of sharing.
* She likes playing on the cow sculptures by Amy’s Ice Cream.
* She likes stairs even more. She tries to use the hand rail like a real grownup, but when the rail towers over her head, she’ll just put her hands on the stairs themselves, after flinging away any offensive materials such as cigarette butts.
* She likes fountains even more. She could stare at them all day.
* Escalators are also a magnet to her. And once she gets off an escalator, she wants to turn around and get back on.
* She can make that motorboat noise with her lips. I am jealous. Surely it’s not too late for me to learn.
* She can stick both feet on her face--and make the motorboat noise at the same time. Wish I had a video of that, or at least a picture.
* She often uses her fingers like chopsticks to pick things up rather than grabbing them like you would a gearshift. She often has her pinky finger up in the air.
* She loves running around while holding something, preferably a book, most preferably a book with a picture of a dog on it.
* When her hands are free, she likes to run with her arms behind her like they are a superhero cape.
* When she sees a doll or stuffed animal with a face, she kisses it on the mouth.
* When learning to kiss, she first learned to hold her head and face still, then learned to keep her lips together, now knows how to make a smacking noise, and doesn’t yet pucker.
* She doesn’t know what to do with her outside arm while nursing--it’s fun to watch it flailing around.
* She knows how to point at something she wants and shake her head no at things she doesn’t want or is done with. She will sometimes cry if she doesn’t get what she wants. She’s okay with getting picked up and carried away from the escalator, but not okay with losing the straw she is using to fling water all over the restaurant.
* I can sometimes get her to give up something she doesn’t want to give up by getting her to say “bye-bye” to it, which is like a game to her.
* She loves to pull the glasses off your face (but we’re not supposed to let her), and she will now try to put them on her face rather than throw them on the floor.
* She celebrates some of her victories with applause. For example, she likes to carefully place her hat on the end of the armrest of her car seat and then clap. She also would like to learn to snap, but hasn’t quite managed it yet.
* She is thin for her age but still has big, puffy cheeks. Just like her Aunt Debbie. Except she doesn’t have jowls. And in the dark with just a little bad fluorescent lighting, her hair is the same color as the sun-bleached tips of my hair--brownish, reddish, blondish.
* Her toes like to pop out of the front of her sandals and then she walks funny until she realizes the problem, then she’ll stop and indicate that she would like you to fix the problem.
* She is surprisingly well behaved and quiet and happy.
* She's pretty cute. (You knew that would come up somehow.)
* She smiles and says “hi” to and waves at strangers.
* She smiles and giggles ecstatically at other toddlers.
* She gets ecstatically happy over lots of things – running free, fountains, strangers waving back.
* She loves to make you laugh and will do just about anything to make you laugh including the ecstatic giggling, making choking noises, fake sneezing, bashing her head on the table, and poking herself in the eye. You have to be very, very careful what you laugh at.
* She likes taking things out of containers and then putting them back. So, she will obviously make a great busboy one day (and/or a comedian).
* She is good at changing directions while walking and even faking you out, probably because she herself doesn’t know until the last second which direction her next step will take her. She no longer needs to steer with her arms, though.
* She likes to hand things to you and then ask for them back. She definitely has the first signs of sharing.
* She likes playing on the cow sculptures by Amy’s Ice Cream.
* She likes stairs even more. She tries to use the hand rail like a real grownup, but when the rail towers over her head, she’ll just put her hands on the stairs themselves, after flinging away any offensive materials such as cigarette butts.
* She likes fountains even more. She could stare at them all day.
* Escalators are also a magnet to her. And once she gets off an escalator, she wants to turn around and get back on.
* She can make that motorboat noise with her lips. I am jealous. Surely it’s not too late for me to learn.
* She can stick both feet on her face--and make the motorboat noise at the same time. Wish I had a video of that, or at least a picture.
* She often uses her fingers like chopsticks to pick things up rather than grabbing them like you would a gearshift. She often has her pinky finger up in the air.
* She loves running around while holding something, preferably a book, most preferably a book with a picture of a dog on it.
* When her hands are free, she likes to run with her arms behind her like they are a superhero cape.
* When she sees a doll or stuffed animal with a face, she kisses it on the mouth.
* When learning to kiss, she first learned to hold her head and face still, then learned to keep her lips together, now knows how to make a smacking noise, and doesn’t yet pucker.
* She doesn’t know what to do with her outside arm while nursing--it’s fun to watch it flailing around.
* She knows how to point at something she wants and shake her head no at things she doesn’t want or is done with. She will sometimes cry if she doesn’t get what she wants. She’s okay with getting picked up and carried away from the escalator, but not okay with losing the straw she is using to fling water all over the restaurant.
* I can sometimes get her to give up something she doesn’t want to give up by getting her to say “bye-bye” to it, which is like a game to her.
* She loves to pull the glasses off your face (but we’re not supposed to let her), and she will now try to put them on her face rather than throw them on the floor.
* She celebrates some of her victories with applause. For example, she likes to carefully place her hat on the end of the armrest of her car seat and then clap. She also would like to learn to snap, but hasn’t quite managed it yet.
* She is thin for her age but still has big, puffy cheeks. Just like her Aunt Debbie. Except she doesn’t have jowls. And in the dark with just a little bad fluorescent lighting, her hair is the same color as the sun-bleached tips of my hair--brownish, reddish, blondish.
* Her toes like to pop out of the front of her sandals and then she walks funny until she realizes the problem, then she’ll stop and indicate that she would like you to fix the problem.
* She is surprisingly well behaved and quiet and happy.
* She's pretty cute. (You knew that would come up somehow.)