Penelope Gail Vicaro

I really should do a better job of writing. And that is not a "resolution." I'll write a bit today about Penelope.

There is nothing more wonderful than the way her little body feels all curled up against me when I pick her up to comfort her in the night. Her little head resting on my shoulder (after she's instructed me to move my hair out of the way), her hand holding onto the blanked she has asked me to put across her back, this morning she was humming Twinkle Twinkle Little Star right along with me while I swayed back and forth. 

Penelope has so many words these days, most of which are basically instructions. 

• Thirsty. "Sir-see"
• Juice. "Jooos"
• Milk. "Buck"
• Nummy. (Pacifier)
• Blanket. "Banket"
• Hungry. "Hungy"
• Up Please. "Uppy"
• Down Please. "Dow Pea"
• Mama. 
• Dada.
• Micah.
• Outside. "Side"
• Walk.
• Diaper.
• Potty.
• Tissue. (which she asks for every time she sneezes)
• Cracker. "Cacker"
• Phone. "Foam"
• Open. "Opum"
• Help Please. "Hup Pea"
• Harper.
• Doggy. "Daugh-yee"
• Chica!
• Ow. "Ow-wee"
• Night night.
• Choo-Choo. (a demand for the Chugga Chugga Choo Choo book)
• Llama. "Yah Mah" (a demand for Llama Llama Red Pajama)
• Boom Boom. (a demand for Chicka Chicka Boom Boom)

A recent addition to the list is "why," although I'm not sure she even knows what it means. She says it frequently at the exact right time, maybe even just to keep us talking which I certainly remember Micah seeming to do as well.

Monday Morning when she woke up, she was calling for Mama for a while. When she realized I wasn't coming as quickly as she wanted, she started calling for basically anyone who could save her. Mama! Mama! Micah! Dada! She just cycled through those commands again and again.

Penelope loves to be held. I was so worried that my second baby wouldn't want as much physical contact as my first, but Penelope loves it just as much as I do. She wants to be carried constantly and generally speaking, it is wonderful. If someone else sits on my lap (or on the sitter's lap), Penelope shrieks and runs over to push them away and steal the lap. 

Currently, she likes toys phones phones, keys, musical instruments, and of course electronics. A few days ago she was trying to swipe a screwdriver I was using, so I pulled the toy electric screw drivers out along with the plastic toy plane that can be taken apart and reassembled. She figured it out fairly quickly and spent at least 30 minutes alone on the carpet unscrewing and then screwing in the three screws on the top of the toy. I enjoyed just sitting quietly together while she worked on it.