Happy Father's Day, part 2. And version 2

Yesterday we had our second Father's Day celebration for this year, along with Neil's second Father's Day as a dad with a kiddo on the outside.

We celebrated (with a fancy dinner of prime rib) 3 weeks ago, due to crazy scheduling issues. Mostly, my dad works Sundays at a golf course and isn't home in time for Maddy's dinner time. And what's the point of celebrating fathers day if my dad isn't there? But then rain intervened on the real Father's Day and we all got together again (corned beef this time). We hung out at baba and dido's and watched Hurricane Maddy tear the place apart. As she was playing with the wooden pysanky, baba was counting them with her. "One, two, three, four, five..." and Maddy, as she played, nonchalantly said "one, two, tree". We all stopped and stared at Maddy. We prompted her. And once more, "one, two, tree". A few of us (me included) had tears in our eyes as we listened to our little girl count. Does she understand the abstract concept behind counting? Hells no. But she was able to recite "one, two, tree". We even got it on video!

It's amazing us all, how quickly she's picking up language. It's not too surprising, since I guess both Neil and I were early-ish talkers. But it's still so much more... emotional... than I thought it would be. I never thought hearing Maddy count to three would move me to tears. I thought it would be fun to hear her count, but not this. I am just so completely proud of her, when she accomplishes something new. More than for anything I have ever done myself.

This morning I took Maddy to daycare and we walked into the toddler room. Maddy normally wanders around there, until we go together into the big kid room. This morning, my fearless girl walked out of the toddler room, into the next one. All I heard, as I watched her round the corner, was a huge "HAI" and people responding with a hi back. I followed her in, and she was already in the science area, playing with whatever she could find, pointing to the bins and naming "bear". She barely acknowledged my kiss and hug and goodbye. Too intent on the things in front of her, on whatever she could explore and learn. My little girl, no longer my baby.