Today is Alethea’s twenty-one month birthday. Happy birthday, Baby Girl!
This month was one of big transition for Alethea because this month, she became a big sister, and of course, she is very good at it. She loves to rock Lydia when the later is sitting in her car seat carrier and if Lydia ever cries, Alethea will look over at me and say, “Nuk!” with an expression that says, “Can’t you see this kid needs a nuk?” (Too bad Lydia doesn’t really like nuks all that much, but that seems to be irrelevant in Alethea’s world.) A few times Alethea has even offered her precious Dee to comfort a screaming Lydia and although Lydia doesn’t notice, I think it is the most heart-warming sight in the world.
Besides working on being an excellent big sister, Alethea has made progress in other areas too. Her vocabulary continues to expand and she’s been using a lot more two word phrases. Just today when she was on the phone with Peter she actually told him “Bye, Dad!” at the end of their conversation. She is getting used to us understanding what she is communicating and will get frustrated when we can’t make out what she is saying. The other night when we were pulling into the garage Alethea said, “More brooom!” Since Peter is better at translating what she’s saying, I asked him, “Do you know what she wants more of?” It took us a minute, but eventually we realized she was asking for more ‘Vrooom!’. Apparently the car ride was over too soon for her taste.
Alethea does love car rides, and going places and having people over. She frequently asks to eat dinner in the dining room and I think it’s because she knows that we have company over when we eat in there. My poor social butterfly has been awfully cooped up with all of the sub-zero temps lately.
Speaking of sub-zero temps, Alethea is also honing her problem solving skills. Not infrequently she will ask to go outside and swing and when I tell her it is too cold, she will reply, “Coat. Hat. Mittens.” Then I have to say, “I know you’d be fine, but it’s too cold for Mommy!”
Being constantly cooped up and having her little sister arrive hasn’t made this the easiest month ever, but I’m so proud of how Alethea has embraced the situation and what a loving big sister she is becoming!
