Each morning this week Liberty has been crawling into bed with us and delivering the most killer lines.
Monday: “Mommy go coffee shop all day ‘gain?” This after I spent most of the weekend out of the house working on my comprehensive exam essay. I asked if she preferred going to the Cub Hub (which she loves) after school or coming home and reading library books with me. She unequivocally preferred coming home after school. For the first time ever! So we did.
Tuesday: “Isaiah have soccer prastis?” This was her response when I told her Brooklyn and Isaiah would be coming over after school. She remembered that Isaiah used to have soccer practice on Tuesdays and then hang out here afterward while his Mom was in class.
Wednesday: “Blythe say lay on cot, ‘Iberty. Mi-mi say lay on cot, ‘Iberty. Grace say lay on cot, ‘Iberty.” This random proto-narrative suggests naptime at school is challenging for everyone. Apparently no one pats backs in the toddler room either.
Of course what these squiggles can’t capture are the halting gaps as she tries to form the words, almost as though she’s short on breath. Or the way the pitch of her voice careens upward at the end of a question. I’ve been around lots of two-year-olds in my life time, but I didn’t remember the sheer effort it requires to make mouth muscles cooperate enough to express these newly complicated thoughts.
Recently Liberty has decided that she’s not all that interested in being a big girl. When we snuggle, we’ll often have a dialogue that goes something like this:
Liberty: I baby.
Me: No, you’re a big girl.
L: No, I not bi’ girl. I baby. Change m’ diaper?
Incidentally, this has coincided with regression in the toilet training department as well, although that’s been improving the last few days.
I think the obsession with all things baby has to do with too many onerous tasks (like dressing herself, holding still at the dinner table, etc.) associated with being a big girl. So I usually remind her that babies can’t eat chocolate chips or “nups.” They can’t color or paint. They can’t run in the grass or go down the slide.
I think I need to focus more on the pleasures of growing up rather than just the responsibilities.
hahaha. Little kids are adorable sometimes.
I wanted to leave you my email for when you get that syllabus done… Maybe it’s somewhere on your blog, but what sort of grad program are you in? Women’s Studies? Media Studies? Religion?
tncarley at gmail dot com
Will do! Although since summer is a long way off, feel free to bug me if I forget.
My primary area is rhetoric (a sub-field of English) and my secondary area is women’s & gender studies. One of the things I love about rhetoric is how interdisciplinary it is–because persuasion/rhetoric is everywhere! Do you blog?
No blog yet, though I have been pestered to start one…I keep saying “after I finish x,y,z…” tjpigj
Very cool.
I’m in grad school for religion (part of my rebelling against growing up a fundy homeschooler is to study it…hahaha.), and am doing work on women’s and gender studies as well. 
Whoa.. Idk where the tjpigj come from. lol.
I totally understand about blogging–I was still able to keep it up more or less during grad school, but having a child was the tipping point for me. Now I’m lucky if I do it more than twice a year! (That’s why I’m so in awe of Libby Anne.)
May I ask where you’re going to school? One of these days some of us ex-homeschool/fundies need to propose a panel at an NWSA http://www.nwsa.org/ conference. Wouldn’t that be a hoot?!
Right now my excuse is finishing up Ph.D program apps; then it will be final papers. lol. Right now I’m at Claremont Graduate University in California for my MA, but we’ll see where I end up next year… Where are you?
Ha! We totally should.
It’d be a lot of fun, and I’m sure we could put together a fantastic panel.