The Things You Learn

Kira is almost 9 months now.  Sometimes, it is surprising to see how much of her personality is already evident (inasmuch as I can tell sans crystal ball).  So far, there are two big things that I know about my daughter: she loves people and animals, and she has a quiet, stubborn will.

Her love of people and animals is immediately obvious.  I posted a while back about how she seems to make people happy, and part of that is her infectious smile.  She smiles at people constantly.  And nothing makes her face light up quite like an animal--any kind, really.  She adores our cats and our dog.  She has tried to garble out "Hi, George" (our cat's name) and "good cat."  She loves the zoo and will stare, smile, and laugh at pictures of giraffes and penguins.  A future biologist or animal activist?  Time will tell.

What really catches me by surprise are her moments of quiet rebellion.  So far, Kira isn't one to throw fits or cry, though she does cry some when she is upset.  Instead, she has a way of doing what she wants without fuss.  An example:  Three months ago, Kira first held her bottle herself.  She did it once but refused to do so again.  If you tried to put her hands on the bottle, she would jerk them away and look at you like "That's your job."  She wanted her hands free for more interesting things, like grabbing necklaces or smacking herself in the head to stay awake because she didn't like how soothing drinking milk could be.  Then a couple of days ago, she started sort of holding her own bottle.  She put one hand on the bottom like she could barely manage.  I thought the odd shape of the Tommee Tippee bottles might just be harder for her.

Today, I caught my little willful faker.  She started out with her normal 'hand on the bottom of the bottle' hold and balanced it there.  Then when she was done, she pulled the bottle out with both hands.  She proceeded to turn it around, shake it, smile and chatter at it.  She held that bottle like a pro, and even brought it to her mouth easily a few more times.  I'm pretty sure she's had the ability for a while now considering how well she has held her toys; she just didn't want to do it.  No tears, anger, or fuss.  Just a quiet refusal to do something that she didn't want to do.  I guess she finally got tired of not having control of her milk.

I think I'm going to have to keep a close eye on her in coming years.  I can imagine her quietly going to her room when I tell her to clean it and proceeding to play for a few hours, and I don't even want to contemplate the implications for the teen years. 

I foresee a lot of double-checking in my future.  :)