Siobhan is a fiercely independent baby. If she does not want to be held, she will squirm until she is put down, she is not afraid to stand in front of a room full of people, shake her booty and happily entertain herself.
This weekend was a busy one. We had a lacrosse tournament, a family lunch, a summer pool party and a family dinner to attend.
While at the lacrosse tournament, Siobhan climbed around the seats, ate chocolate buttons when the mood struck and banged loudly on the glass, yelling (I assume she was telling her brother to get his butt in gear). She chatted with the people in the stands, sipped some milk and wandered from the stands to the lobby looking for adventure. I followed her, of course, but I let her do her own thing.
She did not ask to be picked up, except when she fell and hurt herself. As a matter of fact, she pushed her sisters away when they attempted to try and hold her.
At lunch, she tried to colour like the big kids, threw crayons, crackers, food and my keys on the restaurant floor. She pointed and said “this” when she wanted something to eat and shook her head “no” when offered something she didn’t want. If there was something particularly good, she put her hands together and asked for more.
At the pool party, she ate fruit… lots and lots of fruit. She chatted with the kids, wandered around the yard, found some smarties, went swimming with Eleanor (she had a life jacket on) and played in the toy house. Once in a while, she came to see if Tom and I were still there.
At the family dinner, she had her own little buffet as my sister put her hors d’oeuvres on the coffee table right where she could reach them. We watched as she took pieces of cheese and crackers from the plates. When the music took her fancy, she shook her booty in the living room. She pet the dog, fed him cheese, told him to get out of her way and walked endlessly from kitchen to back deck to kitchen again. She was delighted when the giant bowl of berries made an appearance and she was allowed to take a few for herself.
She is 14-months old, and she amazes me every day.
Tom and I were discussing the other day how it’s different this time around because we have more time to just sit and enjoy her. You would think with 4 kids that wouldn’t be true, but that is why it’s possible. We now know how resilient they really are, and we don’t fret over little things and sit wondering if she will be okay. Instead, we assume she will be okay and focus on enjoying what she is doing.
These are just my observations from one weekend.
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