Writing on the Wall

I've been baffled by so many things in the last little while.

Just seeing how much my little girl has grown and learned in her short 2 and half years years. Seriously. She is quirky, she is witty and she's such a comedienne. She's learned how to put together a jigsaw puzzle. This little foam one that she received as a gift quite a while ago. She's tried and tried to put it together properly but it wasn't until this past week that I noticed her doing it. Matching the colours and shapes and designs exactly the way they should go. The other night, she puts the whole thing together except one piece. Which she then turns to her Daddy and says, "Daddy?"
She holds out the singe puzzle piece. Daddy says, "You can do it. Where does it go?"
She holds the piece over the only open hole and smiles, "Dis?"
Daddy says, "Yes."
She proceeds to turn the piece upside down, "Or dis?"
"No," says Daddy.
"Dis or dis?" And she turns the piece back and forth then starts to giggle.
Daddy shakes his head and sits back on the couch.
I can't stop laughing.

Then just today, I brought out paints for her to try. This is the first time I've ever let her play with them. It was exciting and new. She watched so intently as I showed her how to wet the brush and dip it in the paint. Then she did it. And was so excited over this new activity. Although she thought it was funny to go through the entire book and only colour the eyes of the caterpillars and butterflies.

At some point in the last few days it's occurred to me that in the matter of less than a year, those little one word phrases she uses now that only we understand, will turn into full sentences. She will begin to ask why? Hopefully this will be a replacement for the oh so common NO she uses quite adamantly now. But soon, we will be having full conversations with her. That we will both understand.

But no, I am not just baffled over the little person's development. I am baffled that I just got over a cold a week or so ago, and suddenly I am sick again. WTF? Really? I'm usually lucky if I get two colds a year. One before Christmas, one after Christmas. But this time, it's been two and in the matter of a month. I blame the rapidly changing temperatures, but who knows?

I'm also baffled that I have been writing like crazy. Three stories on the go and a novel. One of the stories is pretty much done. I just need to let it sit and stew for a little while before I look at it one more time then send it off. Another is in the editing phase and the third is still incomplete. And the novel, well, that's a whole different matter. I attribute this to the growing writing connections, the writing groups I have become more involved in, and the great support I have in other writer friends. It also helps that I have a short story being published in the fall and another one was short-listed for a contest, which didn't win, but it was short-listed. Giving me that overwhelming feeling that maybe, just maybe, my writing doesn't totally suck and this is not for nothing.

And so there it is. I am baffled. Amazed. Stunned.

Life is good.