Father needs time to slow down

There was once a time I was too impatient.

It was because, at the time, my 13-month-old daughter had not yet fully grasped the concept of walking.

Now, a couple days older than 18 months, I need time to slow down.

Baby Schanz is seemingly a new person each day. She’s developing her personality more and more. She loves to dance along with Ms. Rachel. She loves to be outside, go on walks and to climb. She is apprehensive at times when at the top of a slide, but enjoys going down them.

Most enjoyable of all, so far, is that her vocabulary is expanding at a rapid pace.

Early on, we tried our best to teach her sign language to help her communicate her needs. She would mix up “more” with “hungry,” although we were still able to decipher what she was trying to tell us and give her food before she got hangry — and God forbid we have a hangry baby!

Now that she’s finding her voice, though, she’s able to communicate her needs better.

She can ask for milk and water, and tell us she’s hungry. She can say “mama” and “dada,” knows our dog Moose’s name and loves to say “hi” to anyone who will listen.

Just the other day when we were in the garage getting ready to go to the car, she yelled “hi” to our neighbor who was out for her morning walk. The neighbor smiled and waved back before turning up her driveway to end her stroll.

She says “kiki” when our cats walk by and knows they “meow.” She can “moo,” tell us to “stop” and say “bye” even if we’re not going anywhere.

She already knows her major body parts: head, nose, eyes, ears, tummy, hands and feet. She loves her tummy so much that at times she’ll randomly lift her shirt and slap her belly.

It’s the cutest thing in the world.

When I ask her if I can change her diaper, no matter where she is in the house, she’ll walk over to her dresser — it has her changing table on top — and raise her arms to be picked up.

Just the other day, when I was in the backyard mowing the lawn, she stood at the top of her slide and yelled to get my attention. I had to take a break to comply with her orders, and she threw a mini tantrum when I had to resume my lawncare duties.

She knows the concept of brushing her teeth — she’s only awaiting her second molars now — but still hasn’t figured out how to do it effectively. And her stubbornness, which I have NO IDEA where she might get that from, won’t allow either of her parents to show her how to do it correctly. At this time, she just brushes her tongue and sucks on the toothbrush. 

She’ll learn how to do it in due time. Hopefully, though, not anytime soon.

Baby Schanz continues to amaze us each day with how rapidly she’s changing. I cannot believe I once wanted her to grasp new skills quicker than the speed at which she was learning them.

I’m far from that mindset now. I cannot fathom the fact that she’s already a year and a half old. It seems like just the other day we were prepping to bring her home to the hospital.

People sure as heck weren’t joking when they said time flies when you have children.

I wish I could slow down time just a little bit. She’s growing up too fast.