This spring and summer, I have been observing my 18-month old daughter and finding out who she is. I have come to accept the fact that she doesn't play with dolls or girly stuff much, she is a very unique child and I love her for all her quirks. She doesn't play with kids her own age, she will stand in the corner and watch them play. She doesn't say much around people but when she is in her room with her monkey, she has a full vocabulary (thank god for baby monitors). What she does say around us is mostly babble still but usually followed by a "bad dog" "bad dad" or something like that and including room for the usual F-bomb. Yes my child uses the F-bomb and says "Shit" in context. We try to sensor her from what we think is excessive but most of the time, she comes with us everywhere we go. We went to a friend's farm for a birthday/father's day BBQ, when most of the kids were going to bed, my daughter was just getting started. She is a party animal and danced to popular, country, folk and rock music until close to 2am when I pulled the plug and decided it was time to go home. My girl doesn't like to wear shoes, eat indoors and loves animals of all kinds (including magpies which are considered pests here, she would rather share her lunch with them). She is a kind spirit that would run free as she tries to do every opportunity she gets when we leave the front door open. She has figured out how to communicate what she wants without words because she doesn't like to talk. She will repeat words like a parrot when she feels like it otherwise we get "DON'T". She doesn't use the word "No" as we try not to use no with her, she is gentle when she wants to be and worries if someone gets hurt or is crying but doesn't break out in hysterics over someone else. She throws herself to the ground and arches her back when things aren't going her way, her version of a tantrum which ends up with all of us laughing most of the time. What I Love most of all about my daughter is the fact that when I tuck her into bed every night, she looks at me and says "Je t'aime!" It makes every moment of letting the little things slide and letting her discover who she wants to be without trying to shape her in any way all that more better. On a closing note, she now rubs and kisses my belly and calls it "Baby" but I am not entirely convinced she knows what is going on.
