Dear Jasmina

Marie-Hélène had her one year shots on Monday… three pokes. But the needles weren’t what upset her most. It was when the doctors listened to her heart, her lungs, her tummy, that she was most incensed. She officially weighs 15.6 lbs, only 5 pounds heavier than Geneviève, who is what, 2 months? Jasmina, I don’t know what it is to give birth to a baby with an appetite, and the patience to eat. There’s a usual routine of questions the doctor asks… and normally, one will throw you off. This time, it was “How many words do you think Marie-Hélène knows?” Uhhhh… “Ballpark figure!” In my ballpark, the number 50 popped up, so I said 50! “Wow!” The student doctor under our regular pediatrician remarked. I stayed quiet. When our pediatrician appeared, the student doctor whent over the file and came to the part where Marie-Hélène supposedly recognizes 50 words. “50 words! Wow. That’s really, really good!” he remarked. Christian and I were both quiet. Marie-Hélène was already nervous to see two people with stethoscopes.

After we’d left the hospital, Christian asked me: “They were really impressed with how many words she knows! Do you think she knows that many?” I’d thought of that… “Sure!” I answered. “If you add up all the little categories of her day, 10 here, 10 there… it would probably make 50!” I suppose that’s my faith in that nebulous expression that states “Kids know more than we think they do!” But, do you want to know her favorite word? The word she learned right after Mama and Papa? It’s “auf, auf” for dog. She’ll spot dogs faster than I do, when we’re riding together on the bike. She’ll also refer to the big white teddybear as “auf, auf.” I swear, she says it with a German accent.