O'Neil Family: May 2009

Nakiah is well on her way to becoming an official 2 year old and I don't know where the time has gone! While I do not miss the sleepless nights and the constant puking of my precious newborn, I do wish that I could slow down time. It seem that at this rate, she's going to be grown before I know it. I guess I just have to keep that in my mind and remember to enjoy every second of every day with her....even the seconds that seem to be consumed in screaming and crying.

She continues to amaze me every single day! She is putting words together quite well these days and has surprised me on more than one occasion with the words and phrases she picks up. We're really going to have to start watching what we say around her!

Her vocabulary is really starting to explode. I swear she has a few new words every day! A few of my favorites, and ones that I will definately miss as she grows up: op-i-toe : helicoptor ot-ti-don : octogon pit-tee : pretty peeen : please poe-pee : pokey wob-ee : wobbly ta-toe : tractor tue-me : excuse me (the best part is that she knows when to use it!) Its really cute to listen to her call her daddy "Toe-wee", especially when she is calling him from another room. At first, Corey wasn't thrilled with the idea of his baby girl calling him by his name, but its so cute, even he loves it now.

She is such a sponge! A couple of days ago I made a comment to my mom about Nakiah knowing that all she has to do to get what she wants from Auma is say please. Since that day, every time Nakiah wants something, she asks Auma really sweet and makes sure to say please. Especially if mommy has already said no.....so far, Nakiah is batting 100!

Nakiah is becoming very inquisitive. She wants to know what everyone is doing at all times and will ask me "(insert name) doo-ning?" I have to explain to her what this person is doing at this time, if she isn't satisfied she'll tell me "oh, no" and if the particular situation is acceptable to her, she tries to repeat to me what is going on.

Each night as we are getting ready for bed Nakiah has to ask me where everyone is. She usually starts with Auma and works her way through Auda, Boog, Dani and Daddy. Once we've established everyone's where abouts she will again tell me "oh, no". I ask her if she wants everyone to be here with her and she tells me "yeah!"

Not that its a new thing, or that I didn't expect it, but my daughter is becoming more and more independent and stubborn every single day! She absolutely knows what she wants and she will do whatever she can to make sure you know too. When we leave the house, she picks out her shoes, her jacket and her sun glasses. We've already begun with the power struggles and I can only imagine what lurks around the corner. I always said I wanted my children to be strong, independent individuals....I just didn't think it would come about so quickly!

While she is stubborn, hot headed and already developing pretty strong opinions about certain things, Nakiah is still very sweet, loving and affectionate. She loves to cuddle with Mommy when its bed time and she loves to be smothered with Mommy loves (or at least she lets Mommy think that). She very much loves to be the center of attention when she's around people she knows and wants everyone to be involved in her fun time, but when it comes to strangers, she gets really quiet and bashful. She usually says bye to strangers once she's in the car. :-)

Any time Nakiah hears something she gasps, puts her hand to her ear and says "noy" (noise)? If there are several people around she has to make sure that each person has heard the noise too. Most of the time, if its something in the air or a motorcycle, to her its an "op-i-toe" and she'll search the sky for it.

Nakiah doesn't like to be ignored in any way, or feel like she is being ignored. If we're in the house and she feels like she isn't getting the attention that she needs, she will deliberately start doing things she knows she isn't supposed to do. She'll climb onto furniture she isn't allowed to be on, she'll open drawers she isn't allowed to be in and throw the contents all over the place, she'll take her toys out of her playroom and scatter them throughout the house, she'll even take the toilet paper roll and unravel the paper from the roll. Its hard to discipline her for these things because I know she just wants attention, so we're working on how to express ourselves. It's currently a work in progress. I am, however, happy to say, I've been the victim of this only a few times and its usually when I'm busy trying to get Nakiah's dinner ready. I've come to realize that she just wants to be involved with everything thats going on, and I'm very thankful she enjoys my company as much as I enjoy hers!

Nakiah has an obsession with the moon. Almost every time we're outside she has to find the moon and show me....and everyone else thats with us, including the dog. She is fascinated by it and must think that everyone else is too. The best part is that every time she sees it, its like she is seeing it for the very first time! There is always a gasp when she sees it and an "oh, wow" once her delight has been confirmed.

While Nakiah loves to be outside, she isn't a big fan of sunlight in her eyes. She has pretty sensitive eyes like her mommy and they start watering as soon as the sun comes out. She's really good at wearing her sunglasses and hat when she's outside and when we forget, or aren't prepared, she lets us know. If the sun gets to her before we put her glasses on she tells us "eye, eye, eye". I'll put her glasses on her and tell her "all better" and she'll repeat to me "aw betto".

Nakiah has become quite a tour guide on drives these days. Whenever we're in the car, no matter where we are going, she asks for the "hoetzies" (horsies). Every grassy field, to her, is a horse/cow field and she wants to know where the animals are. I have to tell her that she needs to call them so we can find them. She'll start calling for the horsies and the "moo-moos" to come out. Once she sees them she immediately asks for more. As the drive continues, she points out all the animals we see and every single "tac-toe" (tractor). Everything from riding lawn mowers to large pieces of construction equipment classifies as a tractor right now and she doesn't want Mommy to miss a single one!

Nakiah has really started becoming more and more attached to Mommy. I'm not quite sure if its just the age, or if she senses that something is changing with me being pregnant, or if its something totally different, but she's definitely becoming more attached to me. If she wakes up in the morning before I leave for work, she doesn't like me getting ready. She wants me to hold her and play with her and watch her show with her. I try to convince her to sit/play with Daddy, but it usually doesn't work that well. I've had to be creative with ways to distract her so that I can leave for work....and then I drive to work feeling guilty for not being able to be with my baby all day. She's even started being more needy when I come home for lunch during the day. It is sometimes a chore to make time to eat lunch in between playing with Nakiah. I'm certainly not complaining, I love more than anything spending time with my baby, I just hate the sad look on her face and the tears when I have to leave.

Nakiah honestly makes every day so much more! My days are more fun, more entertaining, more full, more refreshing, more fulfilling, more rewarding, more exhausting, more enjoyable, more exciting, more creative, just more! There are days when I'm so exhausted, I don't want to get out of the chair. But when I see my daughter smile or hear her laugh or watch her stomp her feet in excitement, it makes everything worth it! Even the roughest day (or night) with her is more than a million times better than every day before her! She is more than I could ever have asked for and nothing less than a true blessing from God! She is my reason and I could not love her any more than I already do!

I hope she always knows that her Mommy loves her more than any Mommy has ever loved a child!! Every child should know that about their Mommy!