Yesterday we had Bea's last NICU follow-up appointment. They had her do all sorts of puzzles, brain teasers, and physical activities. She had to put pegs in holes, identify colors, answer questions like, "The baby is hungry, what should you do?" She had to jump on one foot and walk backwards. On this standardized test, for each activity they make the child do harder and harder tasks until they get to the ones she can't do. So, the smarter the kid, the longer the test. We were there for almost two hours! Bea scored anywhere from 3-5 years old on every task. So, she was a smartypants.
They also told us that at this point she is really cleared of all the risks of being a premature baby. The doctor was just telling us we'd have to wait until she goes to school before we knew for sure if she had any learning disabilities... when the little showoff started rattling off the U.S. states in alphabetical order (they sing a song about the states in daycare). The doctor told us we didn't have anything to worry about. ha.
I know I've mentioned that Bea loves to sing songs before, but recently it has reached epic porportions. She knows so many lyrics it's mind boggling.
-As I said, she loves the state song. She has even started to name her stuffed animals things like "Arkansas" and "New Hampshire."
- She knows all the words to "Love Me Tender" by Elvis (again from school). Nothing like hearing your 2-year-old singing "Love me tender, love me true, all my dreams fulllllfillllllllllled...."
- We have songs for tidying up, going potty, washing your hands, etc.
- There are many iterations of "I'm a Little Teapot" and perennial favorite "Row, Row, Row Your Boat." We've moved on from the "Itsy-bitsy Spider" to the "GIANT, GIANT Spider!" (which she thinks is hillarious).
- She likes to sing "All Through the Night" ("Guardian angels God will send thee!")
- Matt's parents taught her "New York, New York" when we went to the U.S. Open
- Broadway tunes are also in the repretoire. I taught her "Oklahoma" after we got an advertisement for a local production of the musical in the mail... and she already knows "Surrey with the Fringe on Top," "Oh What a Beautiful Morning," "I Could Have Danced All Night" and most of the songs from Sound of Music
- Her favorite of favorites, however, is the Beatrice Song which we sing to her before she goes to bed each night. I wonder how long it'll be before she realizes it's Edelweiss with slightly different lyrics.
And she's even started making up some of her own songs. (Today in the car: "l loooooooooove Bullet, and Mommy, and my shoes have sand in them.") And she is really good with medleys... this is my favorite so far:
(singing state song)... Nebraaaaska, Nevada, New Hampshire, OOOOOOOOOOklahoma! Where the wind comes sweeping down the plain! O! K! L! A! M! N O P Q R S Teee a drink with jam and bread.....
In other news, Bea is also doing really well with potty training. (Sing along with this Beach Boys-themed hit: Let's go potty now, everybody's learning how, sit on the potty with meeeeeee!)
Along with potty training, she has discovered the Disney Princesses (they are on the pull-up diapers and her fancy new panties). She can now identify Snow White, Cinderella, Sleeping "Booty," Ariel the Mermaid, and Belle (from Beauty and the Beast). She picked out Snow White for a Halloween costume.
So, a couple weeks ago for a treat I thought I'd show her some clips from Oklahoma and some of the Disney movies on You Tube. Oklahoma didn't disappoint, we watched it several times. I also showed her Little Mermaid, but she got bored with the singing fish super quick. Then, I showed her Beauty and Beast. Belle is her favorite princess and I thought this would be a slamdunk. But after awhile she said, "can we watch Oklahoma again?"
If I could get Shirley Jones-themed panties, I think we'd have this potty training thing in the can (har, har, potty humor)!
I have to admit, though. It's not all rays of sunshine. Little Bea has certainly hit the terrible twos. She is all about the tantrum. And, she loves to turn into a wet noodle when she doesn't want to do something... she just collapses onto the floor and won't get up. You know that kid laying on the floor at Target? Yeah, me too. She's with me.
She's also in a really big Mommy-only stage. Only Mommy can buckle her high chair, only Mommy can tie her shoes, etc., etc. It's flattering and exhausting all at once. Poor Daddy and grandparents are not allowed to help without considerable fuss. Although this is not ideal, I have to admit I like it when she says, "Mommy, you're my best, best friend. I wuve you best." I be sure to keep this post and show her when she is a teenager.
More later,
-M
p.s. here are pictures from two different trips to the Babies 'R Us photo studio. Long story. Cute pics, though.
