maple's brain

That fucking song is still in my head from this morning.

Anyway I want to tell you how smart Maple is. I never really get into thinking about her intelligence level because I don't care a whole lot about it, but it struck me today that she is a year old and she knows a bunch of words already and she knows how and when to use them. Maybe all kids do that at this age, but it seems pretty miraculous. After all, just a year ago she couldn't do anything but suck and shit.

Her most used word is "no," which she employs liberally to let us know that NO, she doesn't want to eat that yogurt, or NO, she doesn't want the dog to change her diaper for the 8th time in an hour. She says "baba" when she wakes up in the morning, which I believe roughly translates to "get me my bottle you dumbasses." She also likes to scream "BAABAAAA" when she sees one of us making a bottle for her. And Maple absolutely loves to be picked up, which we know from her 43,548 "UPPPH"s per day. She also knows the difference between my nose and a book, which is not really a sign of intelligence, but I guess it depends on the book.

Along with her rapid increase in brain activity, Maple has come to an advanced realization about her power over her mama. When released from my tired arms, she commands to be picked "UP" once or twice, and then commences to cry so loudly and fiercely as to wake any napping dogs within about 40 miles. Today I had to pee, so I left her strapped into her high chair (the only insurance that she won't immerse herself in the dog water or stick her fingers into electrical circuits). She started wailing immediately as if I'd tried to shake her to death, and by the time I could wipe and flush, she was barely breathing, so thick were her sobs. We are hoping that she's teething, and not turning into an evil devil child. But these days she cries more than she laughs, at least when I'm around. And that's sad.