Dani stuff

I often feel guilty about the disproportionate amount of Jack to Dani posts on here. I try to keep it even but with Jack blabbering constantly and saying a million things a day that crack us up, it sometimes gets lopsided. Whatsmore, I usually don't have much time these days to write long blogs and quick stories about funny things Jack has said don't take much time at all. Therefore, the disproportionate posts do NOT indicate a disproportionate amount of love, but rather the lack of time I have!

But now this post belongs to Dani. I think the second baby grows up so much faster than the first. With the first, you are constantly worried about milestones. Is he/she meeting them at the right times? When does he/she meet them so I can meticulously document its occurrence to the second in the baby book? Is he/she normal? The hypersensitivity is kind of cute and fun but also the source of anxiety. I find myself much more at ease this time around. Maybe it's because I have just learned to relax more. Maybe it's because I am so busy all the time. Maybe it's because I have seen the normal development now and know that Dani is doing just fine. Or maybe because Dani has not given me any doubt at all that she is developing just fine.

For example, I was scared about autism with Jack. I am not at all with Dani. One might think it is because Jack is a boy (and autism rates are so much higher with boys) but really it's because Dani is the most social baby ever! Making her smile is the easiest thing on the planet. She always has a goofy, huge grin on her face. And these grins aren't just for us. Now, Dani definitely loves us, but she also loves the cleaning lady, the doctor, the checkout girl at the grocery store and pretty much anyone else that looks at her and acknowledges her presence. She really has never met a stranger. We joke that we are really going to have to work on "Stranger Danger" because a stranger wouldn't even need candy to lure Dani. More than anything, she loves other babies. Not only does she smile at other babies but she SCREAMS and flails her arms and legs violently in excitement.

The other thing that she loves about as much as she loves people is moving. This is the most mobile child I have ever seen. She wants to see and touch everything and mostly she just wants to put whatever is in her hand in her mouth. She makes a move for electric cords. Just today, she was crawling around the kitchen and then she looked at me, her eyes lit up and she smiled and then made a bee line for the computer cord. She's extremely impulsive and doesn't really think about anything before she does it. In fact, she will often find herself stuck under a chair, crying for us to come get her after she has bonked her head on the bottom of it. The head bonking is another uniquely funny thing about Dani. If she merely grazes her head, she gets an immediate pout face and starts to bawl her eyes out. She acts as though she is dying for about 5 seconds and then just stops and is fine. It's gotten to the point where I actually laugh as she is crying.

We have also nicknamed her "Godzilla" or "Danisaur" as she pretty much tries to destroy all in her path. Or destroy anything that tries to get in the way of her getting what she wants. In a room full of toys, the one she wants most is whatever Jack is playing with. And she does not like to be told "no". Actually, she doesn't really mind, as she just doesn't listen to it. She wants to walk really bad and pulls up on everything. I know she will walk before Jack did. She's fearless.

She loves her brother more than anything and thinks he is just so cool. My heart melts every time I bring him down from his nap and she's already awake and downstairs. They look for each other and as soon as they see each other they smile as if they are about to burst, especially Dani. She wants to just be around him all the time. She's a big people person and basically just wants to be around anyone (crying when left completely alone) but she thinks her brother is pretty special. I hope they always like each other. We have said many times that we are sure that, more than once, Dani will call Jack in the middle of the night to come pick her up from a party she isn't supposed to be at.

She loves to talk and is pretty good at imitation already. She can copy "ba-ba", "na-na", "ma-ma" and "da-da" though hasn't found any meanings for any words yet. Yesterday, however, when Paul said goodbye to me as I left for class, Dani repeated him and said, "Ba!" It's a start. She makes the weirdest noises in general. Adorable gurgles and first attempts at words, not-so-adorable screeches (in both delight and anger).

She's also getting better at reading (her favorite is "Peek a Who") and can now sit through 2 small books without crying or trying to eat one of them. She's a fabulous eater and has yet to meet a food she doesn't like. She's also a cute little snuggler on the rare occasions that it happens. She actually likes affection a lot but then while she's in your arms she suddenly sees something on the floor she has to have and you have to be on guard, ready for when she tries to literally jump out of your arms. Once she's done playing with whatever she wanted, she crawls back to you and wants a hug. She LOVES clapping (with help, though she is starting to figure it out) and laughs hysterically when you clap her hands together.

I certainly hope that this post has not sounded negative, because it isn't. If I could best describe our daugher in a few words, it would be "Adorable stinker". She's beautiful, she makes us laugh, she's such a happy girl (but will certainly let you know it when she is not), she's sweet, and she will give us gray hair. But overall, we are beyond lucky.