Home again, home again, jiggety jig

We got home yesterday, after something like 6,000 miles of driving in two and a half weeks. It's great to be home, even if this will only be home for another week (or less). The best part--not driving. Cross-country trips are fun, but they're a lot more fun with adults rather than 1 3/4-year-olds.

Sylvia did pretty well, all things considered. By the end she entertained herself in the car (which is a miracle that has graciously extended into the rest of life!) and was a little nicer to her parents (kind of). She uh, did tell us she was done at least a dozen times a day. The first day was the best--she signed and spoke done!, then go! with an improvised sign indicating steering a car. We definitely got the picture. The cool thing about the timing of this trip is that it apparently coincided with a verbal explosion for my daughter--something I'm glad to have watched. I think she picked up at least a word a day--some of them (as you might expect, given her parents) a bit on the weird side. We purchased a little magnetic drawing board ($2 at Michael's) and worked on letters with her. She's now proficient at identifying A, B, M, O, T, and delta.

Yes, my husband is attempting to teach her Greek letters along with Roman. He uses them daily, so obviously they'll be of great use to her as well (I truly hope that's actually the case). We joke about raising our child to be nerdy, warping her into the kind of girl who will eschew makeup and clothes in favor of books and math; we may not have to work very hard (though only time will tell--she's still got a lot of growing up to do, and she does love her clothes!)

I loved my daughter as a baby, but she's so much fun now that she's a little older--more independent, more inquisitive, more charming. There must be some set of genes that imbues children with the instinct for charm. I don't know where else my child would get the mannerisms that melt the hearts of so many adults she encounters. She's a great kid, and I'm lucky to be her mom.