Madison used to cry
Feb 2, 2005 Parenting
She cried all the time. All day, most of the night. The first three months of her life were a vale of tears. I used to walk her around the backyard and if I stopped, she would scream. She wanted motion and height and new vistas.
Man, that was so hard.
My mom swore that once Madison got moving, she would get happy. And my mom was right.
It’s no wonder that Madison did everything her little body could to get moving — she was so bored. Now that she can run and walk and reach up on tippy-toe to pull things down onto her head, she’s the most cheerful baby you’ve ever seen. She is a laugh-out-loud baby, which is such a treat. Noah wasn’t exactly dour but he was serious. Madison chuckles for no reason whatsoever and now she’s started dancing everywhere.
I know she’s “just a baby” (they’re all “just babies”) but it’s like we got the baby we custom ordered. I felt like this about Noah, too. He was exactly the baby boy I dreamed of having and now she seems like the bright-eyed, saucy little girl I always wanted. She’s strong-willed (if she wouldn’t lose her balance, she would stomp her foot at me a lot), she’s loud (and screeches if she’s not getting her way), and so damn smart.
Yesterday she was rolling around on the bed while Brett played darts. He’s hung a magnetized dartboard on one wall by our bed and he stands on the other side and plays darts while she chatters to him. They do this every night while I make dinner. Anyway I came in and wrestled with her a bit and then I got up to finish dinner and Brett picked her up to go with him out into the living room.
“Ats!” she said. “Ats! Ats!”
It sounded like how she says “Hugs,” which is “Hots!” I asked her if she wanted hugs. She said, “Ats!” I said, “Darts?” And she answered, “Dats! Dats! DARTS!”
So she and Brett played some more darts.
Ten months old, this kid.
Possibly related posts
I heard from the editor!
Feb 1, 2005 Writing
Hooray hooray!
My article may change focus. Or else there’s a second article here, too. I’m talking to her next week so I’ll know more then.