Not the Mama

WARNING! This posting has been taken over by the RDPapa! (Who isn’t actually an RD like the Mama so this post will not cover any nutrition.) Due to K attending a dietitian conference, Matilda and I were lucky enough to get a 2nd daddy-daughter Saturday in-a-row. Of course they are always fun, but this one had some worthwhile moments that needed the planet’s attention immediately, and there’s no point to me posting it on Silent-K since nobody goes there looking for Matilda postings (just videos about people and their child-monkeys).

M and I had a class at the zoo today. It was about noses and she got to pet a bunny. I didn’t get pix of that moment but it is only a footnote. The amazing part of the day came when Matilda was holding a plastic orange that was given to explain how orangutans use their sense of smell to find fruit. Matilda walked over to the orangutan glass sniffing the authentic-looking orange when suddenly the crazy-cute baby orangutan hustled over directly to M. He stood there, only inches away, requesting some of her good looking citrus. Matilda was obviously excited and my heart just melted.
We actually did get to enjoy the moment before there was flurry of camera flashes - and other kids squeezing in - and the little guy sauntered back to his mommy.

So face-to-face ape contact really would have been enough fun for me to consider the day a success, but while admiring her zoo name tag Matilda did what felt like would never happen: SHE SAID HER NAME! After doing 5 minutes of cartwheels I did manage to grab this video before we pulled out of the parking lot:




I’m not sure why it’s such a big deal to us. I think I started to believe we cursed her with a name she wouldn’t be able to say until she was 5. Or maybe it’s just cause it’s so dang cute to hear.

The little gal said a ton of other things for the first time today that make her parents crack-up or give a big sappy “Awww…” but I can save those for RDMama.

I’d like to go on record saying how much I am loving this stage of Matilda’s life. Since the label is “terrible 2’s” I think I was expecting more work for the same amount of fun. But truly, I am in the most in awe of our daughter that I’ve been in probably since she was just a few months old. The changes are basically immeasurable and the “fun-o-meter” just climbs upward. Showing her the world is euphorically rewarding now. Matilda understands enough to appreciate a lot of things but still can be wowed by the simplistic concepts. It’s like playing tour guide to the best tourist ever.

Cheers! – T

PS – Note the above video was posted on Flickr’s newly released video option. See ya' YouTube!