Veronica is getting more conversational.

I was putting her to bed last night, and she wanted me to stay. So with the lights out and the goodnight music playing.

As is usual we talked about her day.

“Who did you play with at school today?”

No answer. She never answers this question.

“Did you play with Haley?’

“Haley’s not here today.”

“Did you play with London?”

“London’s with Mia”

…or something to that effect. We talked some more about the different kids at school. I think my daughter is pretty popular at this point. The other kids seem happy to see her and willing to give her hugs when she leaves.

I try to encourage her to hug someone when she leaves. She is a good hugger.

Then she remembers “Tomorrow is F”

They are supposed to bring a little toy to share, that begins with a letter of the alphabet. Tomorrow was the letter f. We had already decided on a little frog puppet.

“Frog starts with F. What else starts with f?”

This is an old favorite game.

“Fish!”

“Yes, fish starts with F.

“Fox.”

Then we have to think for a while.

“Friend starts with F. You have lots of friends.”

We were quiet. She snaked her hand out to hold mine. I thread my hand between the bars of her crib. She is too old for a crib, but  she loves her crib and it seems a big change that is not necessary yet to change to a bed.

“Fingers!” I saw. “Fingers starts with F. Mommy had fingers. And Veronica has little fingers”

She is happy to think about fingers. I think about fingers.

“What else has fingers?” I ask. “Does Lucy Dog  have fingers?’

“No, she has paws.”

“That’s right! she has paws.” Now we can talk about other animals in her repertoire

“Does zebra have fingers?”

“No, she has paws.”

“Oh, no. Zebra does not have paws. Zebras have different kinds of feet. They have hooves.”

I am going to have to find a way to illustrate the concept of hooves. But for now, she is sleepy.  And she lets me leave.

Good night