Alba Bobalba

A year and a half has aleady gone by since Alba joined us. As you probably figured out already, Alba is a very determined little person with strong emotions flowing all over the place most of the time. When she's angry, she's furious and when she's happy, she's elated. Although her unhappy self (which frequently involves throwing oneself on the ground  isn't always fun, we really enjoy the excitement and joy she brings to our family.

Perhaps a bit contradictory, she's still quite shy around strangers and it takes a long time for her to warm up to people. She is also nicknamed "friend of order" because she finds it down right unaccaptable when things are messy. She always puts her shoes away and often Inara's after watching (disaprovingly) how she sort of throws them up on the shelf haphazardly and is generally very interested in putting things away and cleaning up. She frequently monitors things like wiping the table clean and is happy to point out missed spots. If she sees that something is done in one way, that's the way it should be. If she's seen you dice potatoes, potatoes are to always be diced when cooked. End of story. 

Alba doesn't speak much, but understands a lot of complexity. Her vocabulary right now consists of: Mamma, pappa, Inara, look, there, not, teddy, apple, sit, bye, gone, doggie (said enthusiastically about any animal) and various animal sounds. Her limited speech makes for some intense guessing games where we try to figure out what she wants while she looks at us like we're idiots before loosing it in a fit of rage. 

Alba loves Inara and says her name a lot ("Inawa"). They play quite a bit together and there are a lot of hugs and kisses going around most of the time. If they're tired and cranky, there is more fighting, but rarely anything serious. Alba has a policy of doing what people want if you ask her nicely (who is raising who?), but if you yell or are rude in general she won't budge even an inch. Inara has learned this and it's really cute to watch. 

Alba loves dolls and stuffed toys, which is a huge difference from Inara who only recently showed a remote interest in stuffed toys. She will snuggle almost anything and her favorite comfort is to sit on your lap and pick at the skin and nails on your hands. She runs around a lot and loves to climb everything. Other favorite activities are pussles and books.She likes music and dancing and knows the hand-movements to several kid's songs.

She's doing well at daycare and everything looked good at her 1,5-year check-up. She's a litle short and a little light for her age, but nothing to worry about.

ALBA: