Monaloca

At 17 months, our baby girl is finally talking! By talking I mean real words and phrases, consistently. She’s been chatty for months, and real words have come and gone, but at last they’re here to stay. Favorites include bird/birdie (for the bird pics in our kitchen and her room), up, mo (more), chee (cheese) bye bye, tho tho (thor thor), car, boo (blueberries), do’or (doctor, for her Doctor Chocolate stuffed dog), and maijie (Maisy Mouse), plus several body parts (like hands). She can also point out a half dozen body parts including nose, eyes, and opu (belly).

She’s also made a friend at daycare, or rather, he’s made friends with her. Since she can’t express her feelings yet it’s hard to tell, but we know from teachers that Jameson constantly calls for “Nani,” always wants to sit by her, touch her hair, and give her hugs. And that sometimes – but not always – she’s actually happy to have the attention.

As the third child she’s constantly wanting to keep up. When Mina and Kai did somersaults in the family room, Nalani threw her head down and tried one herself – several times. (Joey freaked out and thought she was going to break her neck.) Last week I took all three kids to the dentist. After watching her big bro and sis sit on the chair, Nalani decided to climb in herself when they were finished and picking out stickers. She even let the hygienist brush her six and two-half teeth and squirt water in her mouth.

For Melina’s part, she’s started swim lessons again with Emma, but is still warming up to the new class. The teacher let go of her for a few seconds during the first class, and it took her by surprise. (“Mama, I sank.”) We talk about how swim lessons are so she learns not to sink, but it’ll take some time and some work – for her to learn and also for her to find the words to express exactly what’s making her nervous and how we might make it easier. In the meantime, I’m proud of my big girl for getting in the pool (almost) each week.

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Nalani loves to follow the big kids around and join in wherever she can. She and buddy Maya (Emma’s li’l sis, just three weeks older) can hold their own at just about any playground we head to for play group, and have both become masters of the big kid slide at one favorite park.

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Nalani loves to dance. She has four moves: flapping her arms around, stomping her feet, attempting a twirl (only when copying sis), and bopping up and down on her knees like she’s doing here. So far she only does one move per dance, but I’m sure the combo act is coming soon.

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Today we took the girls to the Monterey Bay Aquarium – a first for Nalani. We invited Lily and her family to join us, because as Joey said, “They like fish.” (More to the point, Tracee and James dive.) But they enjoy the big tank and jelly fish as much as we do, and in fact were with us on our last visit two years ago.

Nalani loved the one million gallon fish tank above all else. At one point she lounged on her back right at its edge, and stared up at the school of sardines racing by. All three girls loved the touch tide pools and Melina and Lily had a blast in the splash tank. Next time I’ll be sure to spend more time watching the uber cool jelly fish, and we’ll also find a better spot for lunch!

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This past weekend Melina got to witness her first full-fledged wedding. She’s been to a few wedding parties in summers past, but Rosa and Frank invited the whole family to the full affair at Rosa’s family’s farm – complete with picture-perfect sloping vineyards and a newly-created terrace that doubled as a dance floor – in Sonoma County.

On the way up we managed to stop by one vineyard, Taft Street, which we discovered has its origins a mile down the road in a Rockridge garage, on Taft Street of course. (Double bonus: We liked the wine so much we joined the club and walked out with half a case. And the tasting room was both kid- and pet-friendly.) At the wedding itself I had a great time catching up with my BigTent friends and we all enjoyed lounging on a grass-covered hillside, eating strawberries (Nalani), and drinking wine (me), beer (Joey), and Martinelli’s apple cider out of a highball glass (Melina).

At age four, our “big” girl was full of questions and wonder. On the drive up she asked, “Will the marrying girl wear a long, beautiful white dress?” Of course. (I’d seen photos, so I was certain.) “Will she have the marrying thing on her head?” Maybe. It’s called a veil. “Will her nails be painted?” Probably. And sure enough, Rosa showed them off – fingers and toes – to Melina after the ceremony. My favorite question, in four-year-old deadpan, was “Will the marrying girl have boogers in her nose?” Well, everyone does, so yeah. Joey added that she’ll probably blow her nose before she walks down the aisle.

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