MAAAAAAAMAAAAAAA

Melissa wanted a girl, and she wanted a Mama's girl. She got her wish. MAAAAAMAAAA, not MAMA, may be Bea's favorite word. It's sometimes followed by a quick Maaama? while turning to look back at me with squinted eyebrows and a little smile, which is her way of asking "where's Mom" and suspecting and hoping that Melissa is upstairs working in her office or somewhere else near by. If I reply "upstairs" and point up she squints her eyebrows and puckers her lips for a "ooouuuu" then bolts for the stairs at lightening speed with her left arm pumping as fast as it can go. She hasn't quite figured out how to run using both arms to gain speed. It's as cute as it can get, as if a 30" inch 25 pound little person with a bundle of energy can be anything but cute, even when crying. Okay, crying at 4 am is excluded from cute.

Melissa started her first week at a new job last week and Bea started her first week of toddlers at daycare last week. It was a big week for the girls. Both put in some extra energy and are extra tired. I'm in the middle of classes this semester and well Bullet is feeling the anxiety too.

Bea's favorite game with me right now consists of me chasing her, anywhere, but specifically from the kitchen to the family room/bathroom entry way and from the bathroom entry way/family room to the corner of the kitchen. She runs as fast as she can, which is pretty fast these days, with the left arm pumping as fast as it can go and lots of giggling, and even more giggling when I catch her. Repeat. Then repeat, over and over until Daddy is tired or she gets tired and wipes out.

She's picking up on words extremely fast and we need to be very careful with what we say, and eat in front of her. Her doctor asked me if she likes to eat a little of a variety of things. I replied that Bea likes a lot of everything. Lettuce and peaches are so-so, but she eats everything else faster then we can cut it and put it on her plate. More, MORE, MOOOORRRREEEEEE!!!!! with her hands signing (sign language) the word "more" very quickly is also common in our household. Foods with spices particularly mexican/tacos and my mongolian chicken from Leann Chinn last night are favorites. Also any diary product especially cheese. Mama's girl?

Other good news is Bea is blasting up the height and weight charts from around 30% at her 15 month physical to around 60% uncorrected and 70% corrected (for her due date). Her head is stuck at the 95% percentile though. It's really hard to get through the shirts and 2 year old hats are commonly too small.

We're having a blast and are sad summer and our pleasant walks are done for a while. We'll have to find some indoor ways to burn energy.

Matt