mute

Despite my attempts to refresh, reload, and resubmit, I'm having technical difficulties commenting on any blog. It's intensely frustrating to hold my tongue (hence this post), but it's also humbling to realize that in the grand scheme of things, the world is not any better or worse for a 66th comment here.

The baby is kicking furiously.

L only has a handful of words, mostly she uses "hi" and "down" (pointing to stairs). Though "mama" and "dada" are supposed to be among a child's early vocabulary, I'm more likely to hear a version of "door" or "milk" come out of her mouth than a reference to one of us. Sometimes I wonder if it's because we mostly give her what she wants that vocabulary hasn't come more readily. She has her own way of communicating and, for the most part, it works. Her latest strategy involves hitting to get our attention. It bothers me to no end. We say "no", even move her away from whatever we're doing, try to negatively reinforce the behavior by not giving her attention, but nothing is working so far.

I'll be patient. Some day the verification word will work, L will talk, and John will have a voice of his own. Until then, we'll resort to brute force.