Yes, We Did!

Nat and I drove to the polls and voted for Barack Obama today after waiting in line for about an hour and a half. Nat was a champ in the long, boring line. She was patient and friendly and tantrum-free. She nibbled fruit and rice cakes and we finally had our turn and she got a sticker and then we headed back to the car and I started buckling her in and she said "what are we doing?" and I said "we're leaving" and she said "but I want to vote for Barack Obama!" and I told her that's what we just did, in the booth, with the funny curtain, right before we got the sticker, and she let out a wail like someone stole her balloon and exclaimed "no! I want to vote for Barack Obama!" I repeated that we had just done that and she insisted "I want to do it again!"

Poor thing. After all that waiting the actual voting was really anticlimactic. I guess she was expecting something really exciting. I told her that if Obama wins, we'll have a big party. It was little consolation.

By the way, Selina got to vote today too, with baby sitter, C. who kept her all day so Nat and I could wait in that long line by ourselves. Apparently, Selina did great in her own 45 minute wait. I don't think they would have done as well together. They're going through a stage (I tell myself) of getting each other in trouble nonstop. Not fighting with each other, just ganging up on me.

I am debating whether we should go to Grant Park for the big returns party. I want the girls to be there, but I also fear crazy neo-nazis with automatic weapons. I know security will be insanely tight, but still... I'm debating. What do you think?

*****
Smart Nat Story

Last week, we were planning an afternoon trip to the aquarium and Nat was very excited about it and was telling me what we'd see there. She was talking and signing at the same time, which she often does to add emphasis to what she's telling me. She signed "fish" and "shark" and "turtle" and "snake" and then she said we'd see all these things at the aquarium and held up the sign for the letter "K."

I gave her a puzzled look and she looked at her hand, gave her own puzzled look, switched the sign to "Q" and announced "there, 'quarium!"

When we don't know a sign, we spell or sign the first letter in the word. So she was thinking about the first letter in the word aquarium, except she doesn't hear the "A" when I say "the aquarium." I can't believe she got the tiny difference between a "k" sound and a "q" sound! I was pretty stunned and had to write it here to put it on record for her so she can brag to her own children about what a little genius she was, back in the day.

Smart Selina Update

Meanwhile, quiet little Selina is slowly accumulating words and signs. She has about 30 words in her vocabulary and about 15 signs (all overlapping with English words). This at a week shy of 17 months! I don't remember, but I actually think Selina has a handful larger vocabulary than Nat had at this age. We think of her as quiet, but maybe it's just that Nat is loud. Selina is also a climber. Nat still halts dead in her tracks at a relatively low baby gate, but Selina has already started trying to climb over them.

Ah the Two of Them Together...

They stay up at night talking and giggling and reading books. Nat climbs into the crib in the morning and brings bunches of toys with her and they goof around in there until somebody cries (Selina) because somebody overdid it (Nat). Overall, they are very tight sisters. Today, when we got in the car without Selina, Nat kept looking over at Selina's seat and saying "there's no Selina" and "where's Selina?" And all Nat has to do is say "come on, Sister!" and Selina will about-face and follow Nat anywhere. Last week they got into a big potted tree and managed to cover Selina with dirt, right after I had bathed her and washed her hair. It took three more washes to get the sticky mud out. (This was one of those things I had to keep telling myself would be a funny story someday, as long as it didn't tragically end with me killing someone.)

They say when you have three kids, you're outnumbered, but some days, these two feel like a dozen!

Comments

[silph]

i don't comment much, but i just want to leave a quick one to say: that i love reading posts about Selina and Nat! especially the ones about their everyday learning (homeschool-ish posts and the like), and about their play, .. and off course their little-genius moments :-)

[Leah]

hey
thanks for the sign language advice. I want to bring my son to the grant park shindig as well. My catch is no strollers are allowed and it will be cold. are you worried about that too or mostly security?
leah

[Allie]

They sound so sweet together!

[ShariU]

Early voting rocks. Although I've gone twice since early October and both times there have been huge lines. Last week the line was over 2 hours long and unlike you, I didn't want to brave that long a wait with my 5 year old, so I applied for an absentee ballot and it came yesterday! Makes me wonder what the lines will be like on election day. It's awesome to see everyone so excited about this election. I have 2 college age kids who are both voting for the first time and even though we're not all voting for the same guy it's fun when they're both home for weekends; we've been having some very exciting political discussions! Our family is pretty conservative, but our son is a student at ultra liberal university and he's voting for the "other guy". It's been a great experience for the hubby and I to see our son develop his own political opinions and to be able to have free and open (and lively) discussion and also to hear our daughter defend her opinions, which are more in line with ours.

[Nicole]

I wish we had early voting!

[Sally]

Just be careful w/kids in the voting booth. Last year I went to vote in the Philadelphia Mayoral election, and La Segunda pushed the BIG GREEN VOTE button before I finished. I had only voted for the top 2 people on the ballot! She was 2.5 yrs old at the time.

[Amy]

My husband and I went to vote yesterday in Skokie and took our 4 year old along to be a part of it all. It took over 2 hours and she was a real trooper. I had no idea it was going to take that long to vote early! She was very proud of her I voted! sticker and kept talking about "her boy Obama" which was wonderful. I keep debating about Grant Park too, but I am just not sure about the cold and the crowds. I love the stories about your girls!

[Amy]

I just realized that my daughter's boy reference sounds racist out of context. She calls all men boys and all women girls right now. I should have clarified that in my post. We are working with her on it but she is also working on correct pronouns so it may take a while.

[Sara]

Hooray for early voting!

Is there actually a difference between a k sound and a q sound? Honestly, I don't think so. Do you mean the u that follows the q? Nat is brilliant either way, or course.

[Lula]

Hey! We're in NC right now, but will be back Friday - let's talk about the Grant Park thing. If bringing the kids isn't gonna happen, maybe we can do our own shindig.

[pe_in_pa]

I am so psyched for Tuesday. (Though not for the lines. PA does not have early voting, so Tuesday will probably be a mess. What's worse, our voting area, our post office, *and* daughter's school bus stop are all within the same small parking lot. The bus stop is seriously screwed.)

I'll take daughter in to vote with me as soon as she gets home from morning kindergarden, and I'm fortunate that at the age of six, she's old enough to both remember this (given how hyped it is in her mind), and really 'get' some of what's going on. She, specifically, will be the one pressing the button for 'Obama'. Not me. That's the memory I especially want her to carry. She knows, and understands, that I'm 'giving' her my vote, so that as a minority, she can always say that *she* voted for the first (hopefully) non-white president.

Seriously, seriously stoked here.

[paige]

Shannon,

Do you already have tickets for Grant ParK? Albert rsvp'ed for one early last week and still hasn't received it. Just an fyi before you make big plans--there may not be any tickets available.