It's a Girl!

Despite the fact that Solvi, through Oliver, has been programmed to, and in fact does, like trucks and dinosaurs, turns out she is, after all, a girl. This fact has been becoming more self evident in her growing obsession with shoes. Throughout the day she frequently changes her own shoes and dons everybody else’s in the family, all the while exclaiming, “shoes, shoes,” until they are strewn all around the house. But the shoe fetish was not the real clincher. No, the real tip off was babies.

About a month ago while we were unpacking, Solvi found Oliver’s old eponymous baby doll, Olivia. Having never shown much interest in his namesake, Oliver generously passed Olivia on to a more receptive, responsive owner, which Solvi certainly is. Olivia is now regularly carried, fed and tucked into bed. She receives frequent hugs, which Solvi always serves up with either an “Ahhhhh,” or a “Huggy, huggy.” Olivia’s “boo, boos” are soothed and her body is dried after bath. She is in short very happy with her new mom.

Solvi’s love of babies does not end at plastic dolls though. REAL babies are likewise met with much enthusiasm. And incidentally the term “baby” applies to all people under the age of 18. The other day she adopted an 13 month old at the library. “Come baby,” she would say while beaconing with her hand.

Pictures off babies are also popular. And Solvi is quick to note how baby is feeling. A crying baby evokes, “saad baby.” While smiling babes get, “Happy Baby.” This last is my favorite because it comes out, “Hah pee bee bee.” With each, Solvi makes correspondingly appropriate sad or happy faces.

What is also obvious from all this is that Solvi’s communication skills have continued to advance. One of my recent favorites occurred after Olie bopped her on the head. Running to me with appropriately dismayed, scrunched up face she moaned, “Oh, Mama, sad baby!”

Hands down Solvi’s most used phrase is, “I want.... [fill in the blank].” This actually comes out “I wahhh.....” “I wahh baby. I waah a go. I whaa snacK. I wahhh booK. I wahhh waalK. And no, the capital “K” is not a typo. Recently after my last post, Solvi started adding emphatic “K”s to any word ending in this letter: “duc-K, roc-K, for-K, soc-K,” etc.

Solvi has also mastered feeding herself with a fork or spoon as well as dabbing her mouth with a napkin when she’s finished. In fact she’s quite the Miss Manners. The other night while out to dinner she noticed that Chad, once finished with his meal, had laid his fork across his plate. A quick study, Solvi did the same.

And for the final bit of bragging, Solvi has started recognizing her colors (!)... and on the dancing front, Solvi continues to make her Mama proud (and, by his own admission, is already putting Daddy’s dancing skills to shame.)

[Tune in in the next fews days for more Olie antics too...]