"No! No! A thousand times no!"
It's not an exaggeration either.
Everyone talks about the Terrible Twos, when a child first begins to rebel. It's supposed to be about the worse time in an individual's life. (Be it worse for babe or parent, that is the question.)
But what about the Ominous Ones. Surely that year following first birthday is equally fateful. For, it is a time of adventurous exploration, comparable, at least, to Lewis and Clark or Admiral Byrd.
Less than a month ago, she teetered on legs uncertain of purpose. But within two weeks of step one, she was running. Of course, she fell down often. However, undaunted by cut eye or chipped tooth, she picked herself up in that awkward push-up position of babes and started pell-mell again. And again.
Obviously out to prove that running as fast as two chubby little legs could churn wasn't daring enough, she's added climbing to her list of skills. Like Mt. Everest, if it's there, she'll climb it - footstool, coffee table, the open door of the dishwasher. And such lowly items merely prove to be rungs for bigger ladders - chair, couch, kitchen cabinet.
When asked if baby is more active than her older brother was, Mother sighs and replies, "Yes, or I am older...or both."
Yet, Mother has set in running too, trying always to ward off those accidents just waiting to happen. Trying to look at it positively, Mother sees it as a possible way to lose weight.
"That is if I don't eat more out of nervousness," she adds.
Along with the in-house jogging, Mother has increased her running conversation with that pint -size whirlwind afoot down the halls.
Parrot-like, Speedy mimics "hot," "down," "hi" and "bye."
All of it - the running, climbing and talking- came home hard to Mother the other day when she realized her offspring no longer called her "Mama." Big Brother noticed it first.
Somewhere midst the rapid pace of the past month, Baby Sister came to associate a new word with her favorite person.
And now, she lovingly addresses Mom as - that's right - "No No."
1979
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