She's such a character!

I know, everyone says that about their toddlers. The silly faces, the belly laughs, the game playing and the funny attempts at controlling the rest of us - they're not unique to Madame Curly. That said... she is such a character. Kind of like a cartoon character. Or a Muppet. (She does sort of have a Fozzie Bear hair thing going on, along with that round-belly/little shoulder look characteristic of both toddlers and Kermit the Frog). You'll have to take my word that Mira is both funnier and more challenging at 1-1/2 than the other three kids combined.

What's that in your pants?

No, we haven't haven't been treated to an encore performance of the Poopscapade, thankfully! (Of course we keep her securely zipped, snapped and buttoned up in an effort to deny diaper access - everything short of the duct tape).

Apparently Mira has designated the back of her pants as some sort of holding cell for items on their way to the garbage - although I've also discovered toys, barrettes and utensils in her pants at times. It's always obvious when she has something stored in her pants because she walks with both hands behind her back, her little Buddha tummy thrust further out than normal. And of course, there's a telltale lump on the rump. I'm chalking up this latest habit to strange toddler behavior, rather than an early sign of kleptomania. (And if she is going to be a kleptomaniac, she's going to need to be a lot less obvious).

Speaking in tongues

Way back in late May, I mentioned (OK, bragged) in a blog post that Mira had uttered her first word: dog ("daa"). Not only was my interpretation of her first word incorrect (turns out she was saying "that," not "dog") but my optimism about her early vocabulary was a little, ah, premature. Seven months later, she has mastered a mere handful of words. Of course, it's the most important words she has acquired: mom, mine and uh-oh. (Surprisingly, Ethan-stop-it! hasn't become one of her core phrases. Yet). Meanwhile, my cousin's daughter is reciting the Gettysburg Address or some such nonsense at 15 months. Oh, well. Mira's vowel and consonant sounds will come, right?

Actually... [Kids, cover your ears for this next bit]

She is working hard on a couple sounds these days. "I" and "sh" are very popular, generally in combination. The result? An unmistakeable "I sh*t." I'm not kidding. These "words," which I know logically are simply babble, are loudly proclaimed about 20 times a day. Thing is, when you're dealing with a person who wears a diaper (and has a history of expressing interest in her diaper's contents), it's hard not to feel like she's telling you something: I sh*t!

It's not just me. I overheard Randy grumbling a response to her little phrase the other day: "I sh*t!" "You did? {sigh} Come here, let me check your diaper."