Bye Bye Bye
Abbie finally waved bye-bye last night. As I finished reading to her before putting her to sleep for the night, our dog wandered into her room and stared at us. This is an unusual behavior for her; she must have been attention deprived, or maybe I just inadvertently said, “treat.” Regardless, I’m glad she decided to enter her room because it gave us a chance to practice bye-bye.
“There’s Chloe,” I exclaimed with a level of excitement generally reserved for those precious moment when your team is on the good end of a pivotal sports moment.* “She’s saying good night to you,” which is of course ridiculous because the dog doesn’t say good night to anyone until she’s had a chance to lay on our bed for a solid hour cleaning her paws, but Abbie doesn’t know that. “Can you say good night to her?” I added in a desperate attempt to encourage speech. One day she will say “good night” and we will celebrate with joyous exultation and possibly a cookie, but not until morning because the last thing I want to do is stimulate her before bedtime. “Wave bye-bye,” I continued, this time swinging my arm up and down about 12-inches in an exaggeratedly simple waving motion. “Can you wave bye-bye?” I said, hoping to promote her adoption of a vitally important life skill. She watched me wave for a couple cycles with the same vacant expression I see every time I ask her to wave bye-bye, or every time I ask her to drop that dog food, or every time I tell her to drop that dog food. Then she grabbed my arm in the same way that she grabs it when she wants me to point at something for her. Thinking that little hamster inside her head was starting to turn its wheel, I said “no, I want you to wave,” the same type of phrase I use to make her point when she grabs my arm. Then she made magic; she performed an action that told us that that tiny baby we brought into the world a little over a year ago is fast becoming a girl capable of acting independently; she tooted. Then she waved. She didn’t use good form, it was more like she was playing pat-a-cake on the knee she sat on, but there was a definite intentional up and down arm motion repeated, and that’s close enough for parenting.
For us, this is an important milestone on par with first steps or first hair cut.** The fact that she couldn’t wave bye-bye has upset Ellie for a long time, especially since most babies learn to wave bye-bye long before now. For her, going to work would be so much easier if Abbie could wave bye-bye. It would leave a giant lasting smile on her face that would make her co-workers ask, “What are you smiling about?” When she says, “my kid just waved bye-bye to me,” a co-worker might reply “my kid just glued a hunk of plywood to his brother’s forehead,” and she could continue throughout day content with the knowledge of what an angel Abbie is, completely unaware that she’s probably whining with boredom at home right now. Her inability to wave never bothered me to the same level, although I am tiring of explaining to the cashiers at the grocery store that “she doesn’t do ‘bye-bye’” when they wave as we leave.
As she waved, I started thinking of situations I could create the next day to test and show off her newfound waving talent. I then uttered some joyous exultations, but not too joyous. I don’t want to over stimulate her right before bedtime.
* At least, that’s what I’ve heard. I am a Cubs fan after all. And a Drake basketball fan. Sigh.
** Memo to self: She needs her first hair cut.
“There’s Chloe,” I exclaimed with a level of excitement generally reserved for those precious moment when your team is on the good end of a pivotal sports moment.* “She’s saying good night to you,” which is of course ridiculous because the dog doesn’t say good night to anyone until she’s had a chance to lay on our bed for a solid hour cleaning her paws, but Abbie doesn’t know that. “Can you say good night to her?” I added in a desperate attempt to encourage speech. One day she will say “good night” and we will celebrate with joyous exultation and possibly a cookie, but not until morning because the last thing I want to do is stimulate her before bedtime. “Wave bye-bye,” I continued, this time swinging my arm up and down about 12-inches in an exaggeratedly simple waving motion. “Can you wave bye-bye?” I said, hoping to promote her adoption of a vitally important life skill. She watched me wave for a couple cycles with the same vacant expression I see every time I ask her to wave bye-bye, or every time I ask her to drop that dog food, or every time I tell her to drop that dog food. Then she grabbed my arm in the same way that she grabs it when she wants me to point at something for her. Thinking that little hamster inside her head was starting to turn its wheel, I said “no, I want you to wave,” the same type of phrase I use to make her point when she grabs my arm. Then she made magic; she performed an action that told us that that tiny baby we brought into the world a little over a year ago is fast becoming a girl capable of acting independently; she tooted. Then she waved. She didn’t use good form, it was more like she was playing pat-a-cake on the knee she sat on, but there was a definite intentional up and down arm motion repeated, and that’s close enough for parenting.
For us, this is an important milestone on par with first steps or first hair cut.** The fact that she couldn’t wave bye-bye has upset Ellie for a long time, especially since most babies learn to wave bye-bye long before now. For her, going to work would be so much easier if Abbie could wave bye-bye. It would leave a giant lasting smile on her face that would make her co-workers ask, “What are you smiling about?” When she says, “my kid just waved bye-bye to me,” a co-worker might reply “my kid just glued a hunk of plywood to his brother’s forehead,” and she could continue throughout day content with the knowledge of what an angel Abbie is, completely unaware that she’s probably whining with boredom at home right now. Her inability to wave never bothered me to the same level, although I am tiring of explaining to the cashiers at the grocery store that “she doesn’t do ‘bye-bye’” when they wave as we leave.
As she waved, I started thinking of situations I could create the next day to test and show off her newfound waving talent. I then uttered some joyous exultations, but not too joyous. I don’t want to over stimulate her right before bedtime.
* At least, that’s what I’ve heard. I am a Cubs fan after all. And a Drake basketball fan. Sigh.
** Memo to self: She needs her first hair cut.
posted by Matt at
9:40 PM
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