the sixth thing I love about L

luciana has taken to singing quietly to herself. she'll be playing with her toys or sitting in her carseat and quietly she'll start to sing--recognizable melodies and lyrics and adorable hand gestures and all. her current favorites are the itsy bitsy spider, the wheels on the bus, and something involving ducks that quack (I don't know that one, it must be a daycare song). there is very little cuter than a toddler who is playing with her trains, only to have to stop to do a little ducky dance before she and thomas can continue on their journey.

sometimes she loves it when you sing along, and will clap excitedly when you are done and say yea!

other times she gets quiet when you join her and claps politely when you are done, but she'll wait until you stop and go away to start singing again herself.

the fifth thing I love about L

toddlers are weird. (I know, I know--that's the understatement of the millennium.) sometimes toddlers are shy and clingy and other times they can't get enough of people. luciana is often fairly reserved. it is almost as though she has figured out that since she is so stinking adorable she can get away with being a little rude to people. people will come up to her when we are out to rave about how beautiful she is. about half the time she'll completely ignore them. the other half the time she'll give them a big silly smile.

I was a little worried when my grandparents came to visit that she would be reserved with them--I knew that it would hurt their feelings and my mom's feelings as well. luckily, she seemed to sense that these were special people and part of the family. (she had met them before a couple of times, but she hadn't seen them since august.) she warmed right up to them and they quickly became part of the games and the rounds of hugs and cuddles.

the fourth thing I love about L

I love that luciana believes that all of the furniture needs to be rearranged and dammit she is the girl to rearrange it! it doesn't matter that she is just a toddler, she can move it all--the dining room chairs, the rocking chair, the ottomans... sometimes she decides that the living room ottomans belong in her bedroom and sometimes they belong in the fireplace. sometimes the dining room needs to be chairless and sometimes she figures I might want to sit in a rocking chair when I eat dinner. and the pillows? well, all of the pillows belong in big piles in the middle of room. perfect for a toddler to throw herself onto in exhaustion after a tough day of moving furniture.

and the furniture arranging doesn't end at bedtime. she likes to move her crib--while she is in it! I put her in the crib at night and she rolls over and promptly sits up to make silly faces at me as I turn on the noise machine and close the door. after spending a few minutes telling blabla all about her day and rolling around in the crib I can hear the scraping of the crib as she pushes it away from the wall.

I have seen her eying the sofas as though she thinks they would work better someplace else.

the third thing I love about L

luciana's hair is getting longer and longer and, like mine, it doesn't always cooperate. it is wavy when it is humid and has lots of silly little cowlicks. I try to wrangle it into pigtails every morning, but sometimes they fall out. and sometimes, I just don't have the patience or strength for pigtails. luciana does not like getting her hair done. she REALLY doesn't like getting her hair done. kicking, wiggling, and lots of whining.

when the hair comes out of the pigtails, it falls right in her eyes. and when her hair is in her eyes, she brushes it out of her face with her hand while making a slightly exasperated expression. exactly the same way I do.

the 2nd thing I love about L

I love that every night after I put her in the crib, luciana rolls over, reaches for blabla, pushes herself up, and starts making silly faces at me while I grab the bottle, turn on the noise machine and close the door. I love that the last time I see her at night she is silly and playful and lovable. I love that she wants to play, but that she understands it is bedtime and she can't get out of the crib.

the 1st thing about L

every time I take her in for a check up the doctor always wants to know if luciana knows her name. the doctor usually phrases it as "does she come when you call her name" or "does she look at you when you call her name?" no, she doesn't come and she doesn't look at you, but she does know her name. if you call her name she will deliberately ignore you--you'll think that she isn't paying attention or that she doesn't know her name, but slowly a big, goofy grin will cover her face and she can't help but giggle. she know you want her, but she wants to play hard to get.