Tickle, tickle

I'm sorting laundry in the kitchen and I hear the nerdlet's high pitch giggling in the living room. I walk over and lean over the couch to look at what she is doing. She yells, "Tickle, tickle" and wiggles her fingers over the bear cubs back and legs, then starts the hysterical giggling again. The bear cub is smiling really big at her for the attention. It's so incredibly cute.

The two of them have been in such a good mood the last few days playing in the living room together. I keep reading that toddlers are side by side players and don't really know how to play with others at this age, but I have no evidence of that in either of my girls. They seem to not just enjoy each other's company but also to enjoy interacting with each other.

The bear cub is not yet crawling but she is so close. The milestone range for crawling ends at 10 months and I think this may be our first milestone missed. I know that missing milestones are going to happen, even if she had 46 chromosomes, but I was so hoping that the first one would not happen until the walking one. I know more than one ten and eleven month old without Ds that are not yet crawling, but I have to admit, I'm not taking it as well as I thought I would. I've been saying that I'd be happy if she crawled by a year and I'm finding that I lied to myself. We still have a few weeks and it is possible that she will crawl by then, but I'll be a tad surprised if she does. I can tell all the therapy is helping with muscle development, but nothing seems to be helping her put the moves together. She is really, really motivated to crawl after the nerdlet, but she can't seem to get over the wanting to fly there and not get up on her knees.

Sisterly love

The nerdlet has never shown any jealousy of the bear cub. I did practically everything suggested to reduce jealousy, but I don't believe that that is what it is. I shoved a doll under my shirt when I was pregnant and had the nerdlet feel it. I would then take the baby out and let her feel her sister move inside of me. She thought that was really funny, but I'm not sure she got it. I showed her every baby we saw and would tell her that we were going to give her a sister and let her feel the baby again. I bought her a new doll that we presented to her when the bear cub was born. I made sure that I was not holding the bear cub, but instead the nerdlet when they met. We had the bear cub's bed and other stuff up and would tell her that her sister was going to sleep here and swing here and such. The nerdlet was 16 months when the bear cub was born so it was hard to tell how much she was getting of it. This is the picture of them first meeting and it tells it's own story.


Anyway, over the last week or so, the nerdlet has gone from loving tolerance to caring and concern over her sister. Yesterday, when she came down from her nap, she looked around and didn't see her. She asked where she was and as soon as I told her she ran over to the playpen to check on her. Today, she picked up her ladybug umbrella and my umbrella and then asked where her sister's umbrella was. She sounded so disappointed that the bear cub didn't have her own umbrella. I'm just so happy with how much she loves and cares for her sister that I had to share.

Phone Irritation

Am I the only one that sees the cell phone as an electronic leash? I love the convenience of being able to call someone as I think of it, but I hate that everyone else expects others to be available every time they call. I hate that so many people use it while driving. I especially hate that everyone that does phone and drive thinks that they are so much better than the rest of the population at doing so that they shouldn't need to avoid doing so.

And to all those currently out there on the phone, can't you see the rain? Maybe if you weren't on the phone, you might notice that you forgot to put your lights on and that is why everyone else is acting like they can't see you.

Nothing is so important to put your lives and the lives of others at risk that can't wait until you stop. If it is more important than driving, stop to talk.