…and now I have this kid. This tiny little Scout Finch lookin’ kid with whom I can play footsies under a blanket as we lounge at opposite ends of the couch for half an hour before dinner. Me reading the new Mothering and she watching a 70s episode of Sesame Street, saying the next letter seven or eight times while listening to an alphabet song.

This kid who responds with a list when asked “what’s in the sky?”

“Moon… buhds… ay-payne… stahs… wain… sun…

The kid who points to my “H” necklace and says “H… Hazies.”

This kid who tells me to “back up!” when I’m in her way. Who casually names the animals and people who live at Grandma’s house while she pees on the potty. Who lifted up her shirt and “nursed” Andy today. Who stares at a bunch of photos of she & her people clipped to a string on the wall and ticks of a list of everyone in them: Ca-ca… Cana… G’ma & Pa-Pa… Dada… Pais… Walties… Mama… Cinty & Mah-yo… Mo…

This kid who applauds wildly and exclaims “yays!” at the end of her own songs, of anything Mikey plays on guitar and banjo, and at the end of an assortment of recorded songs, most consistently Bad Moon Rising.

Most of her songs are about dogs and Andy. She looks for her daddy first thing every morning, pats his back gently (because he’s always asleep on his stomach), mutters “Dada” and cuddles against him for a few more minutes of rest. She bursts into tears if she sees another person crying. She talks about Luca and Aunt “Miney” about seven thousand times a day. She wants to know the name of every person and animal and thing in the world. She tries to keep every single grain of sand in the sandbox. She pages through at least fifty books a day – on her own, aside from what we read to her – in their entirety. She is starting to talk about things she did a few days ago or a week ago. I think that so far we disagree less than most parent-toddler teams. I feel like our ratio of hangout time : simply taking care of her time is getting more even every single day.

Her intellectual growth over the past month or six weeks has been the fastest and most alarming thing yet about having an always-getting-bigger offspring in my care. And also the most entertaining, fun & fascinating. I am so excited to watch the rest of her life more than ever.

May God bless and keep you always,
May your wishes all come true,
May you always do for others
And let others do for you.
May you build a ladder to the stars
And climb on every rung,
May you stay forever young,
Forever young, forever young,
May you stay forever young.

-Bob Dylan