What's a Vagina?

The moment you realized that you have taught her everything she needed to know about Reputation and Respect. How to sit up straight, and how to tie her shoe laces. How to love herself, and how to listen. How to speak up, and how to dream. You have taught her...but not about what a vagina is.

You want to teach her how it is public. How it shapes, defines, and positions her in the world. How it symbolizes power even in the numbing haze of patriarchy. How it is matriarchal. How it is a poem. How "cuss cuss" is a fake name.

 "Be careful you don't trip the wrong way and hurt your vagina."

 "What's a vagina?"

You point in silence. And all you can say is...

but she breaks the silence,

 "It's my Private part."

Most Memorable Mommy Moments

At 13mths, i took my daughter to the doctor for a check-up because most of her new-born hair had fallen out and the new growth was slow. As we sat in the waiting area with other moms and babies, i tried my best to keep JJ entertained. She giggled and clapped and stood in the stroller to survey the room and the other babies. Finally, she settled down and focused on playing with her socks. Then, out of the blue, she looked the-lady-beside-me straight in the eyes and said, "A, apple; A, apple." Hey, I knew that i was back-up teacher at home, but i hadn't started the alphabet yet!

So the lady said, "Oh, my goodness, how old is she!"

"Thirteen months," i said, equally amazed, and all smiles.

"You must spend a lot of time teaching her at home," she said, curiously.

"Of course," i said, "but she usually initiates it and then i act as back-up."

"Wow," she said, still impressed. I smiled happily.

So i didn't lie about teaching JJ to say A, apple, but i got the pleasure of having her amaze someone else. I capitalized on that moment, and, did i teach her the rest of the alphabet? You bet! At 17mths she burst into my room one morning, sang the alphabet and blew me away.


***
At 15mths, a friend of mine came over to my place to do some paperwork. He has a daughter as well who is 4mths older than JJ. He said that he had been teaching his daughter from the time she was in her mother's womb. I thought, oh my; but i hesitantly told him that i didn't believe in that. I didn't read to JJ when she was in the womb and she's gonna be just fine, i told him (but a part of me wondered if he could be right. That starting from the womb was the best thing you could ever do for your child's education).

"Sunshine, now 19mths, is learning to say B A N A N A and i'm going to start teaching her to count soon!" he said, with all the pleasure of being a proud father, "plus, there are a few words we have been teaching her since she was born, and we are now waiting for the time when she will say them from memory."

"That's great!" i said, with all the sincere emotions of being a proud mother.

Then i thought to myself, JJ counts to 13 unassisted, and she already knows how to say B A N A N A and other things, so maybe she's going to be alright! (actually, she started counting to 5 before she turned 12mths!)


***
At 20mths JJ melted my heart with her spelling, albeit only two words, unassisted: C A T and D A D.


***
Now, at 22mths she is learning to read via phonics. Also, she speaks with verbs and in full sentences, but the little sucker cries for everything and cannot say when she wants to poo poo!

TodNotes

@ 21mths, still my "baby"?

• "Wow, beautiful dress!" --what JJ says when you dress her in anything.

• "Mommy, what you doing?" -- fave question to ask me.

• "Crackers and cheese / ice-cream-chocolate, P L E A S E"-- most frequent answer to what would you like to eat?

• "Mommy / Daddy, say 'goo-goo gaa-gaa,' say 'wow'" (or whatever word she wants to hear you say, for her amusement, of course).

• "JJ, come, Mickey Mouse!" --the only thing that will make her run to me in a haste saying, "okay!" when i need her for anything.

• "Umm, Barney and Friends, Bob the Builder..." --when asked what she wants to "do" on the computer (much wider than the TV selection).

• "Mickey Mouse!" -- her most frequent answer to what would you like to watch (on tv)?

• "Holy shit." -- a new phrase she picks-up from dad (dad now under the process of expelling that from his vocab).

• "Hi baby!" -- what she says to any kid, big or small, when seeing him / her for the first time.

• "It's mine!" -- what she says when she gets a hold of anything.

• "No." -- her answer to anything you ask her that she's not sure about (thank you, lord).

• "Fine, thank you" -- when asked how are you?

• "Quiet!" -- when someone tries to assist her in saying her ABCs / sing a song or anything else that she already knows how to say / do.

• Complete silence -- only when watching Jungle Book / Happy Feet, oh, and when sleeping.

I remember those days ----->

JJ's Health and Dev.

JJ was hospitalized from Friday morning until Saturday evening due to wheezing and breathing problems. It was her first time so asthma was not yet a diagnosis. She did extremely well despite her illness and cheered, "wee, wee, wee", when paramedics wheeled her out of the doctor's office (even while she was using all her muscles just to inhale and exhale). All the nurses and Pediatrician at the hospital were enthralled by her alleged ability to articulate, and everyone who had met her declared, seriously, that she was an advanced one year old. The Pediatrician told me that JJ is no regular 17mths old and suggested, among other things, that i start her in a Montessori school when she turns two. Oh, she counts to twenty and knows and says a whole lot (too much to make a list). She's very perceptive and responsive and i can't wait to meet her parents (we, the alleged parents, can't remember being "advanced" at such a young age).