Monday, January 5, 2009

Like the Coo of a Dove

And the Grinch grabbed the tree, and he started to shove,
when he heard a small sound like the coo of a dove.
He turned around fast, and he saw a small Who!
Little Cindy-Lou Who, who was not more than two.

Joy has been making the sweetest little sounds lately. Lots of little dove-coos, single syllables on falling intonations:

Awww!
Oooo.
Gohhhh.
Gooooo!
Mmmmmm.


She'll say them to herself in her crib, or at meals, or to whatever toy she's carrying around -- dolls with yarn-hair or her new My Little Pony with its lovely stimmy mane. She's also been very snuggly, and the coos are simply divine when they accompany hugs and cuddles.

GrandmaJoy and GrandpaJ (he went for the conservative alias, though really he's quite a progressive guy!) have been beneficiaries of our little Who-daughter's cooing and cuddling. They've been struck by the many changes in Joy since their last visit half a year ago. That visit was fraught with seizures and fusses and Joy outrunning them down the hall at church. This time around, Joy has been cheerful and less distractible and has done a much better job of honoring boundaries. We can even leave the bathroom doors open to air out, unthinkable half a year ago!

Alas, the grandparents are leaving this morning, and we need to get back to the regular routine. Back to daycare, and school, and work, and early rising. We'll probably get all Grinchly and shove the tree back in its box sometime in the next couple of days, all shorn of its decorations. We hope that little Cindy-Lou Who will not be disillusioned. If she starts singing Wa-hoo-dor-ay, we'll be sure to let you know.

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I was mulling this post during the day yesterday, and was surprised at church in the evening after I'd dropped Joy off in the nursery, when one of my friends caught me in the hall and brought up the Grinch. "You know little Cindy Lou Who?" she said. I nodded, my head full of Joy. Well, she was thinking of one of my daughters, all right. But she made the comparison to Rose! I guess the sisters have more in common than I realize sometimes.

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Update: This morning Joy's special-educator from the school district worked with Joy and heard the coo-ing. Without having read the blog, she quoted the line "like the coo of a dove" and compared Joy to Cindy-Lou Who too! I think it's becoming unanimous.

8 comments:

jess said...

oh the coos and the hugs combined .. heaven on earth!

Anonymous said...

ditto jess

out-of-character-BRatK

mama edge said...

Coo- Coo- Could I come by sometime and hear Joy coo? I'll bring bananas (still snorting about that one).

Anonymous said...

I know about those coos. But you make them sound so sweet and dove-y. Thanks. I'm going to appreciate my girl's coos a little more now.

Anonymous said...

And the hugs and cuddles also went on when we all finally were together after Christmas! I was the lucky recipient of some of those snuggles from Joy. I loved it!!
BRatK, are you okay??? I barely had to write two lines to outdo you this time!! Very out-of-character!! LOL!
-AuntieS/ARatK

Anonymous said...

bn bzy. prktissing codid lngwage.

thx fr yur consrn.

I.will.never.get.texting.

Love to all the JoyFamily.
BRatK

Anonymous said...

BRatK,
I sometimes wonder if there is some connection between the language of texting and some of kids' issues, autism or otherwise. Maybe some simply think more in text-speak rather than language as we know it???? I sure do not do well with it either! It took me awhile to figure out what you were saying! LOL!Maybe these word verification codes are actually text-speak?????
AuntieS/ARatK

Anonymous said...

Now that's scary. What REALLY happens when I type emagrag into the word verification box?

Just this week I read someone else's comment to a blogger - thanks for removing the word verification! (Just in case JoyMama was not aware that is possible.)

Myself - I'm logging into google 4 or 5 times a day - multi-step process. I should probably get over it and stay logged-in. But now ARatK has me creeped-out about secret text-speak!

Back to Joy. Ahem. (HER blog.) Her Mama does such a good job of describing her, I'm certain I can hear her and feel her hugs. Thanks, JoyMama! Barbara