WHAT SLOANE SAID......IN JANUARY

We brought home a blue balloon the other day from a birthday party and Sloane was in love. It had helium in it so it hung in the air and she wanted it tied to her arm and then her foot, and then she wanted it tied to the appendages of her stuffed animals. The next morning, when the helium had left the balloon and we came across it laying on the floor, she looked puzzled and asked, "the balloon isn't sticking up in the air?" And I tried my best to explain what helium was, unsuccessfully. When we got back home that night she picked up the balloon and commenced a most glorious came of throwing the balloon up and then hitting it  up so it wouldn't touch the ground. She did this for about 15 minutes while I cooked dinner, never once losing steam, getting sweaty in the process and with the attitude of utter joy. The whole time, she kept saying, "Mommy, look!!" I responded as often as I could, expressing excitement to match hers, but I was preoccupied, and after the 30th, 'mom, look!' I started losing steam and had to tell her that I needed to finish cooking her dinner.  

Later in bed that night, I thought about this. About the way she squealed, "mommy look!!" with such delight and conviction each time, convinced that what she was calling my attention to would blow my mind, because in her mind she was doing something so exciting and awesome that it just had to be shared.  It's moment like these where I marvel at the difference between her world and mine; with our two perspectives, moments like these are both small and huge at the same time. It's a privilege though, isn't it? That I get to be invited into her moments of magic, so that I can willingly (and sometimes unwillingly), experience it for myself, and mostly importantly, at least for now, that she finds me an absolute imperative purveyor of her world.

I've been jotting down moments with Sloane that I don't want to forget, and I'm glad that I do, because even reading over these now, it feels like long time ago even though these all happened in the month of January.  I'll share some here because they are gems. 

Jan 2

The way she imitates what I do is always funny. Today she gave me food to eat ("food time!" she announced), told me I  had to eat it all, asked if it was delicious as I pretended to eat pretend food, and told me that I would get an apple if I finished it all.

Jan 4

"Mom I have to tell you something!"

I come up to her and she holds my head with both of her tiny hands and whispers into my ear, "ummmm..."

It's the best feeling, having her whisper into my ear.

Jan 5

"Sloane I love you so much!!"

"Thank you mommy!....I love you so much too!"

Jan 6 

Sloane: "Where is ba sheep's polka dot blanket?"

Me: "I'm not sure."

Sloane: "Maybe it's downstairs! On the bench. We'll see."

Jan 8

We had so many conversations today.

Some of the compelling conversation topics: how someone pushed her at daycare and a teacher helped her up, how it was someone's birthday and she ate a cupcake, about planes, about Korean words, about where people are driving to in their cars, about the moon. 

Jan 14

'Did you have any dreams ?' I asked her.

'Yes!' She said enthusiastically.

"What were they about?" (I don't know if she actually understands the concept of dreams)

"Kitty cats!"

And then after a moment, she surprised me by asking,

"Mom, did you have dreams last night?" 

"Yes, I did!" 

"What your dreams?@

"I dreamed about music."

She thinks about it. "No, mom you dreamed about dogs."

Jan 16

Often, she designates herself as a particular baby animal and me as the mama animal. Then we act accordingly. Frequent appearances are puppy and kitty, lion, reindeer, near and zebra. I asked her what noises zebras make and she said they go, "eeeeeeeeeee!" 

Jan 20

There are a few words that she says incorrectly .....and I love it because it is just so cute. Instead of 'knock knock' she says 'tonk tonk!' And instead of 'pretend' she says, 'titend'.

Jan 21

She loves a good dance party and will often announce that she wants to dance. She asks for music, and then she will pull out this large white styrofoam board, lay it down and then proceed to dance on it. Wholeheartedly. She is getting more and more creative and discovering dance moves as she goes: twirls, gallops, leg lifts...

Jan 23

Me: " I'm just a little bit tired .."

Sloane: "mommy, you're not big tired, you're just a little tired ?"

Jan 25

I love that she wants to cuddle with me, and her sleepy hugs when she wakes up, is some of my favorites.

Jan 28

She finds analogies between the appearances of things that are so funny. She has a yellow duck towel, and recently when she is wrapped up in it, she's been calling it her banana coat. She has also been calling the crescent moon, 'banana moon' and the full moon, 'apple moon'. 

Jan 29

She read me a book by having me sit in front of her, and her turning the book towards me so I could see the pictures. As she went through each page, making up things as she went, I responded with "mmhmms" to let her know I was paying attention. After a few pages, with a sterness she must have gotten from somewhere, she said, "No 'mmmhmmm', mama, please be quiet because I'm reading you a book!"