"See you Monday!"

By MAGGIE WANG

Sedona is so communicative now that it's practically a laugh a minute because who knows what she'll say. Even the way that she so maturely says, "Yeah" and "Yes" these days had A-Ma Ding laughing like crazy the other day. Sedona has been putting her Gnow-Gnow stuffed animal to bed for weeks now -- with a blanket to cover -- and the other day killed us by asking for the Boppy pillow to put around her waist, lifting up her shirt and beginning to breast-feed Gnow-Gnow. And when Sedona realizes she is making us laugh, she will keep bringing out the same funny lines over and over. A few of our favorites:

"See you Monday!" (Delivered with fully proud ignorance as to what the days of the week really are.)
"I see it! I see it!" (Most often about the moon, even if it's nowhere in sight.)
"Tummy time!" (She always has a suggestion for what Maven needs, and usually it's more tummy time.)
"Linda did it." (Blaming Nanny Linda for stuff.)

Sedona is totally going through a clingy yet controlling phase, though. She loves to tell us what to do, and here are some of those examples:

"No (with a back-and-forth wave of the hand for emphasis)!"

"Sit there!"

"Hold you." (Translation: "Hold me.")

"Don't cry, Maven. Don't cry." (More often it's "Sedona hold," meaning Sedona wants to hold Maven.)

"Self." (Translation: "Lemme do it myself.")

"More."
"Sedona's turn!"

"One more. ... TWO! TWO!" (It dawns on her in that moment that two more would be way better than one.)

"Walk." (A pleasant change of pace from "Hold you," this means she wants to walk herself.)

"Done." (Translation: Dinner is over!)
"Bounce house."

She is also testing our limits, so we've been working on finding the right balance of giving her what she wants to be happy without letting her dominate.

Before bed tonight, Sedona and I had a little chat about how we love her and want to do things with and for her, but she needs to be open to other people helping her and not cry about it. It was a sweet talk. She kissed me and went to bed.

She did her usual babble upon being put to bed -- talking aloud about all the things she does or thinks from the day just lived - and fell asleep only to wake up shortly after ... yelling, "I love you, Mommy! I love you, Mommy!"

I'm not sure why she woke up, but it broke my heart (I was scared she had a nightmare) and also warmed my heart to hear those words unsolicited.

Sedona is an absolute doll. We love her (and Maven) more than we could ever had imagined.

Today is the nine-year anniversary of when Kevin and I began dating. We watched our wedding video tonight to remind us of what we are all about. It's always interesting to go back in time through what Kevin calls "the best movie ever," but it was strange to think that our babies didn't exist.