Smarts

Have I mentioned before how brilliant my daughter is? Because she's brilliant. She literally blows my mind several times a day. And it's the kind of stuff that people without kids just don't get, and people with older kids probably forget is cool. But for all you out there who are as madly in love with my little girl as I am, or have little ones around who keep blowing your mind with their toddler genius, here is a glimpse into Dr. E, PhD, MD, MBA, BBQ - The Early Years...

1. This morning, she looked at her crib sheet and declared: "Polka dots!" I didn't know she knew about polka dots. She does.

2. She can tell the difference between an airplane and a helicopter by the sound they make.

3. She's onto 2 and 3 word sentences these days. And now that she's discovered the word "and", it's going to go exponentially from here. Last night for dinner she was enjoying "Sour cream AND tomatoes AND chicken AND sour cream AND tomatoes AND corn AND sour cream..."

4. She says "excuse me" when she wants you to move...although it sounds more like "Foo-Fee!"

5. I can ask her "Qu'est-ce que c'est?" and she'll answer, in French if she knows the French word, or English if she doesn't.

6. She makes up her own songs by combining lines from various songs we sing. And she can carry a tune!

7. This isn't so much smartness, but it's up there on the cute factor. Now that she's saying a lot of multi-syllable words, I've noticed a trend. There's often a full stop after the first syllable(s), a pause heavy with concentration, followed by emphasis on the last syllable, which adds an element of excitement to statements that may otherwise seem mundane. Example: Rac.COONS! Te.le.PHONE! Toi.LET! Polk.DOTS!

It's just amazing to me how babies learn so much so quickly. I keep thinking that if I just landed in some foreign country - and I mean completely foreign, not France or Italy or Spain, but somewhere like Uzbekistan - and someone just started talking to me, how long would it take me to figure out what the heck he's saying. I'm pretty sure I'd never figure out "polka dots". Sometimes I feel like I'm just not challenging her enough. I mean, how much more could she learn if I wasn't so darn lazy??? It's probably best not to go down that road. I can't afford therapy.