Mom's side . . .

first, Adam's right. Brigid is brilliant, and knows who he is, and I am also of the opinion that her first word was Da-da. (Adam thinks she was saying it before yesterday, yesterday was just the clearest incident.) So, here's what I saw:

Brigid might have said her first real word yesterday. All day long, while I was over and Dad and Mom’s, doing laundry, I pointed at the Sarah and Pippin and insisted, “Doggie! Doggie!” Brigid began responding late in the day with a “Daag, daag, daag”. And then, when Adam came home, she looked up at him and said, “Da-da!” – a similar, but not quite the same sound.

The best part? We got her greeting on tape. Mom was videoing Brigid when Adam walked in the door and Brie looked up and spoke to him.

So, when does a first word count as a first word? My dad, who is studying education and the brain for his second doctorate, said something about words beginning to make sense to Brie. So, it can be learning before use becomes consistent. And Adam had been working with her on the “Da-da!” thing for quite awhile. Coincidence that she uses it as soon as she sees him when he comes home from work? Maybe. Probably not. In the scientific spirit of repeatable experiments, I can’t wait to see if this continues.


In other news . . .


We got to go to a concert on Friday night. We saw the Chieftains, an Irish band that’s been around for forty-plus years. And I can see why; they are excellent. They play together well, and their solo performances were breath-taking. Literally. One of them was playing on a whistle, and I was ready to get up out of my seat and go on my knees to beg him to PLEASE TAKE A BREATH SO I CAN BREATHE TOO he was going so fast and furious. We went with my folks and with Josh and Josh and Laurel. The tickets were a stocking stuffer from my parents, just ‘cause my mom couldn’t think of any way to fit a concert hall into our stockings on Christmas morning.

Brie was left with her other grandma, and happily, that’s getting easier and easier for her. They’re getting to know one another better, so Adam and I don’t come back to a crying baby anymore. As Mom points out, stranger anxiety is only for strangers, and the oftener Brie sees her, the less stranger anxiety has anything to do with it.

On Sunday night, VA girls got together at my house, in our depleted numbers, but the really cool thing was that Lindsay, our absent member, had sent us a card care of Becca, marked sternly, “not to be read till Sunday night”, so we had something of her company even though she’s miles away up north, taming the savage high-schooler.

I baked my first from-scratch cake, and I think I might not bake any other cake recipe ever, because the one I chose, called a mahogany cake, has a base of cocoa and instant coffee boiled into a thick, fudgey goo that makes for a dark-chocolate moist marvel of a cake that suits me just fine. Sift some powdered sugar over it and it’s ready to go, so there’s no icing to mess with. Chocolate and coffee go so well together.

Other weekend events included a karate test, wherein my brother-in-law Josh got his long-awaited brown belt, and a birthday part for Adam’s mom at the Pod. It was fun to see everyone again, including Poppy who we hadn’t seen for a very long time. And it was fun as always to watch Brigid and Elisa interact. I’m afraid that my daughter is an extrovert and Elisa might be a bit of an introvert. Elisa has beatific smiles for the adults (who are GENTLE), but Brigid’s eager-puppy nature seems overwhelming. And, Brie couldn’t calm down because BABIES ARE SO EXCITING MOMMY CAN I TOUCH HER CAN I KISS HER CAN I TALK TO HER WOW SHE’S SO COOL MOMMY MOMMY I LIKE HER MOMMY CAN I HIT HER MOMMY WHY’S SHE CRYING MOMMY? THAT MAKES ME SAD I’LL GET UPSET TOO EXCEPT SHE’S SO PRETTY AND I WANT TO HUG HER AND KISS HER . . . If I may presume to narrate Brie’s friendly thoughts. Elisa seemed to want to be friends with Brie from a distance, which, with someone whose caresses are more like right hooks, makes sense. I think I have an intelligent niece. And a sweetheart of a daughter. Brie’s smiles at me and at others light up the world. I like both of them just as they are. The great thing is that Jenn seems to have the same philosphy of "let's not change them, let's just let them figure out how they're going to relate." (how mature!) So I don't have to feel bad about Brie's over-eagerness, and can just rejoice in her cheerful, friendly heart. I really appreciate that. And Brigid is going to grow up to be a kind, joyful person, I can tell from how she interacts with her world now.