Soundtrack

My world has a whole new soundtrack these days. There used to be a lot more silence. Now, practically everything is narrated. We cheer and clap excitedly much more frequently. There is a little chattering voice that, from dawn till dusk, is almost never hushed.

Giuliana has started talking. I mean, REALLY started talking. All the time. I am simply astounded by her vocabulary. Now, I admit, if you're not her mother, and even if you ARE her mother but the context is wrong, or you're not paying attention, it's not always a piece of cake to figure out what the heck she's talking about. But, wow! She simply delights in pointing out every word she knows...and she knows A. LOT.

It starts in the morning. I walk into her room to find her sitting in her crib flipping through one of her books. "Bear, mama, bear." This is my cue to repeat "bear" to assure her that I got it. Then, "buhhhnee, coookie, doy-ee, snow..." each with a pause for me to correctly pronounce the words for her/prove that I'm paying 100% attention.

We move to the changing table, "diap? mama?" I hand her a diaper to look at while I work on the other end. "Eh-mo, Zoe, Ahby!!" she shouts excitedly (she has Sesame Street characters on her diapers.) She gets bored with that. "Feet, sahks, shooooooes! hair, brush, mama? brush? MAMA!" I wasn't quick enough. We manuver down the stairs, hand in hand, while she shouts, DAAAADEEEEE?!?!" It's her new game, searching for Daddy. Is he at the bottom of the "staaahs?"

As we reach the bottom her attention quickly shifts, "mek, mama? Mek." I get her a sippy cup and say "milk" as I hand it to her. She scrambles up on the couch, which she insists on calling the "beanch" and pats it for me to come snuggle with her for a few minutes before it's time to leave to go to "Nanny n' Pa."

I rush through my work day. For the most part, the "baby talk" is lost in the shuffle. But her father works in the same building, and as we meet up for lunch we sometimes find ourselves lasping into her silly little words to evoke a smile in the other."I'm having a 'biggel' for lunch, how about you?" "Moh ________, pees!" (So polite is our girl. She almost always remembers to say please and "daykoo.")

The afternoon and evening is filled with chatter. We repeat our body parts. We discuss shapes, colors, cartoon characters. We play with "boks" and build towers. She plays "peee-KAboo!" There is "moh joos, pees" when she is in a good mood and "JOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOS!!!!" when she is not. Dinner is maybe "macky" (macaroni) or maybe "ceweul" if Mommy is feeling lazy. Dessert is almost always a "ha-cool" (popsicle.) We sing the ABC's a few hundred times. Perhaps the Itsy Bitsy Spider is thrown in for good measure; it's so much fun to yell "wah-sh!" while wildly waving your hands in the air. She points out random letters she sees in a magazine laying on the table, counts her little "peepoh" and generally names every household item she sees. The girl is practically a walking dictionary.

It's adorable. It's incredible. I'm so proud. And more than a little exhausted. And sometimes, more than a little ready for bedtime. Because along with the constant chatter has come a constant need for nothing less than absolutely 100% of your attention. All the time. And she knows if your faking it. Yesterday, she pulled the earbuds out of Daddy's ears because, though he was listening to her as she sat on his chest and babbled away about her coloring book, he wasn't really...LISTENING, you know? This was the moment that he looked at me, wearily, and said, "you know, I think she needs a sibling."

I tried to have a quick conversation with my mom on Friday as I picked up Giuliana at the end of the day. It was nearly impossible with my little angel yelling "mama? Mama. Mama! MAMA!!" in my face and forcibly turning my head with her chubby little hands so I was looking at her. Then she giggled and kissed me. Cute. But. More than a little nudgy.

Weekends. They have become exhausting. In a good way. But also in a slightly crazy, I may pull my hair out any minute if I can't sit down and do something I want to do not draw another damn circle sort of way. If you know what I mean. I love the girl. With all my heart. But she's getting a little intense these days. John and I manuvered our overloaded cart through the crowded aisles of Target on Saturday with an excited toddler shouting at us in the front seat. Taking our eyes off of her momentarily to say, look at something on the shelf, or, you know, not run over the 85 year old lady, insighted shrieks and protests. At one point we were each pushing the cart with one hand as she had a firm grasp on each of our other hands. Very sweet. But a little over the top, yes? And, umm, awkward in a mechanical sort of way. And, of course, all the while, there was a constant narration of every item she recognized in the store. "Chip, mama! OOO! Mek! See, mama? See, ball!" And on and on and on.

But, I gotta admit. She's asleep right now. A quiet little angel. And I miss her a little bit. But the silence? It's also a little bit golden.