A Doll for Olive

I'd had an inkling that Olive would be the recipient of a baby doll this Christmas. I know no one thought I'd ever throw in the towel and get her one, so my darling Nina, who saw how her little friend's eyes lit up when she saw a doll at their house, made it a point to get her a baby of her very own. Nina often speaks fondly of her Bitty Baby, American Girl's baby doll, so I had a feeling that this would be the gift. Since I was sick during the holiday when I would've seen the Khoreys, the gift had to wait until Tuesday when I first saw them again after their break. Nina excitedly corralled us into the living room, sat Olive on her lap and allowed her to tear through the wrapping paper. When she realized what was in the box she sweetly cooed, "Bae-by", in what Noah called a Tennessee accent. At the time she was just as pleased with the bear that accompanied it, but she's quickly become very attached to her little baby. Tonight when I put her to bed she requested that she have a book to read to Baby. I found a little board book about shapes. She struggled for a moment to get Baby into a sitting position so that her eyes would remain open (the opening and closing eyes are fascinating to her), and she giggled in satisfaction when I propped her up in an ideal spot. I hovered over them while my girl commenced reading, stunning me with the information and vocabulary I didn't know she had: "Circle, orange, heart, drum." Rob is the parent who does the bulk of the reading to her, and I love that this is something they can share. His time with her is clearly paying off. During a brief visit today to an out-of-town library while waiting to pick up olive oil for this weekend, she captured the attention of the librarian. The kindly woman offered her stickers and a Sesame Street booklet, and sensibly refrained from giving any lollipops. I almost felt guilty when I explained that she wasn't really familiar with Elmo and Big Bird, that she'd never seen the show, but Buggy quickly proved to her that she was, in fact, being educated at home when she began naming parts of a flower arrangement and some letters she recognized on a sign. How on earth did this baby of mine suddenly begin to know such things, displaying decidedly un-infantile behavior? It makes me thankful for the vestiges of her babyhood, the nursing and the diapering, which I'm all too happy to hang onto for as long as I can.

Pictures will be available sometime next week, hopefully. A new camera battery was ordered so I'll be back in the game (and my mother can enjoy my blog once again!).