New Words On Halloween

These last few months, I've been eagerly waiting for the time when Little Butterfly could express herself more fully, or string together a few words so that I could better understand her thoughts. I could feel her frustration. She gets as tongue-tied as me when I'm the only one in the room who doesn't speak my husband's mother tongue. Then suddenly, as we admired a Halloween balloon resembling Frankenstein through a window, the blinds closed. Little Butterfly's eyes grew as wide as saucers.

"Pooky. All gone. Wats!" she said, looking a bit surprised at herself. My heart soared! I tried my best to act casual, wondering if too much excitement might put her off.

"Yes, that spooky balloon is gone. Someone must have closed the blinds. That is disappointing. Rats!"

She didn't stop there.

"Bow. Off. Hot!" she said, tugging on the handkerchief we tied for her Halloween costume. What a thrill! A week ago she tugged on the same handkerchief and cried, and now she told us why. The next few days, we reveled in Little Butterfly's new milestone, while she strung together words like she's been doing it for years. On Sunday, we took a family trip to our favorite nature preserve through the redwoods. My husband asked our daughter if she'd like to be picked up, something she usually joyfully agrees to.

"No Baba! Neena walk." she said, crossing her arms tightly so that they couldn't be grabbed.

My husband and I exchanged glances. Oh little girl, we are so proud of you. But don't grow up too quickly, we both seemed to want to say.  We smiled at her and walked forward to a new path we hadn't tried before, Little Butterfly running ahead of us.