Mali is a self-starter. She has to be, if she wants to get anything done in a timely manner. Last night she materializes at my side, wearing a witch hat that I could have sworn was on top of the globe on top of the TV cabinet:
Originally uploaded by Squid Rosenberg.
When she lobs a stench bomb, she now comes up and tells us, "I'm stinky! Diaper change, please."
After yesterday's morning round of taking her siblings to their schools, she looked at me and announced, "I want to go to school!"
If she wants something, she will come up, say, "Mali's turn!" and take it. Or maybe not even inform us of her designs beforehand--last night she stole an udon noodle with Moomin without so much as a how do you do. (Apologies, friend.)
But she does know how to be polite spontaneously. Today Leelo's friend Alyx handed her a toy she'd dropped, and Mali said as casually and naturally as can be, "Thanks, Alyx."
If she wants more sustenance during the night, she has no qualms about pouncing on me and insisting, "Mommy! Wake up!"
She now knows her colors--the primary and secondary six, anyhow. I'm not sure where she learned this--perhaps from her good friends the Teletubbies? Not from mommy or daddy unless she is truly extraordinary at picking up environmental cues.
Speaking of primary colors and creatures with televisions in their bellies--God forbid I drop Mali in front of the tube to commune with Po, Dispy, and Co. while I have a moment to myself. What was once a guaranteed five-minute reprieve is often derailed as little as sixty seconds later, when I hear the "pad pad pad pad pad" that means she is coming for me--and then she appears at the bathroom door, declaring, "I found you! Mommy's going p** p**!"
She will not allow us to ply her with books she's read too many times, for instance the books that we read with Leelo every night. She was content to sit through Goodnight Moon and Time for Bed with us for the first ten nights or so, but now she's done with all that repetition, and spends Leelo's bedtime story time paging through all our big Richard Scarry books instead. When she's bored she will page through any book, picture or not.
She still doesn't need much sleep. Today she was up at 6:30, didn't nap until 3:00, and probably won't go down until after 10:00.
She is charming and chatty and endlessly amusing. Sage says she is like a living doll, what with all the language.
Mali drives me nuts, but almost every item listed above is, to me, evidence that a certification of neurotypicality is likely indeed. For her and for that I am grateful.
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