I know you do but what am I?

This was the reply from my friend when I had texted to her "sux" in reply when she texted me that she couldn't join us on our trip to the local farm park. Since I happened to be by a rooster at the time, I sent that picture back in response to her question, and said she should be glad I wasn't by the pigs or cows.

Obviously my friend and I can slip into pre-teen behavior at the drop of a hat. I've been thinking a lot about development lately, as I wonder whether Hannah needs speech therapy to get going, and also as I watch both she and her sister changing nearly by the day. I had asked Claire to ride the pony at the farm for me, to show Hannah that pony ride was in fact a good thing, and Claire answered that she would, because she had "big sister powers." She changed her mind though, and would not ride to inspire Hannah because she found the pony's pen too stinky. Big sister powers indeed. Claire is so verbally skilled that she picks up things said near her just one time, including song lyrics. Lately you'll hear her singing "shyness is nice, and shyness can stop you, from doing all the things in life you'd like to" after my recent Smiths festival. When she wore a shirt and sandals with rhinestones we played Rhinestone Cowboy a few times, and now you'll hear her tonelessly singing "I'm gonna be where the lights are shining on me!" So tonight, when Jason was running through a series of things on Pandora, I told him not to mention the name Cherry Poppin' Daddies under pain of death, but I was perfectly comfortable dancing naked to the Violent Femmes' Blister in the Sun this morning, go figure.

Hannah's physical development just sent her flying by leaps and bounds with her new found mobility and she walks around the house just to walk, and climbs into the Flintstone style cars at the day care in the big room and howls if made to leave. She only accidentally said "pig" when she saw a balloon over the meat counter at the store and will not under any circumstances repeat this word. She loves to have me read to her and makes me name any picture or image she points to. Shorter board books, or those she has memorized are her forte, and although she'll choose "Little Fur Family" it is too long for her and she loses interest when the fur child gets to the fish and she wants to skip to the parents holding the fur child's paw and singing to him in bed. In bigger news, her "ooh ooh" sound made every time she shes a monkey of any sort will now come out as "ooh ooh, aah, aah" so I presume she is making headway with speech. Her "un-uh" to tell me no can be delivered with wide ranging inflection. And every now and then, just every once in a while, she will forget that it pisses her off and she'll turn the page of a board book with her right hand just because I usually make her do it. Baby steps for righty!

I am thinking we are in for a period of adjustment coming up as Claire goes to summer camp and will have outings four days a week, including two days of swimming lessons, and with truncated naps most days. Hannah will need to adjust her feelings about a pony and a helmet for hippotherapy. As a child I saw summer as almost a period of stagnation, not development. My memories are mostly post reading so I remember summers by what books I devoured but it seems to me now that by having routines change so dramatically we will be in a period of rapid growth, as Claire goes out every day, and Hannah's wee class prepares to join the "teddy bears" which will require her to be able to walk in the wood chip playground. I say, prepare for Armageddon, I am tired already.