The Beginning of Conversations

I am loving how each day I get a little more from Mesai. The other day I had my first 'conversation' with her. I even tried to explain to her that we had had one. *grin* She was in the bath and Gadisae was finished and it was a quiet, focussed moment, so I thought I would try some direct questions.

I said, "Mesai, was ----- your friend?" And she said, "No." I was surprised. I only asked this because my friend's boy was talking about the individual children in the transition house. So I picked one whose name I knew. So then I said, "Who were your friends?" And to this she immediately replied, "Fikru, Yaros," and then two names that I couldn't remember due to spelling. I asked her another question and then received a scrunched up nose and, "I don't know."

Aha! She said a *phrase*!!

Our first conversation.

Then tonight, she was in the bathtub *again* LOL! And I showed her my fingers and counted off tonight, Thursday, and Friday, and then showed Saturday. I told her that on the fourth finger it was her birthday. "You will be five years old. It is your birthday."

She looked at me in the amazingly cute way of hers: she scrunches up her nose, looks at me like I have three heads, shook her head and said, "Nooooo."

"So how old are you going to be?" I figure she might enlighten me as to her 'real age' (as I have heard rumours that she used to speak of a certain age).

In her typical straightman humour she replied, "Zero." Oh! So she did understand and she wants to be funny. HAHA! I LOVE it!

"So, Gadisae will be four, and you will be zero. She will be older than you! HAHA!! You are FUNNY!" I love poking at her. She is such fun to josh with.

"No, ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY!" Ha ha! So she will be 120 years old on Saturday. Funny girl! So then I gave her a hard time about having to bring her cane to the birthday.

Each moment, of each day, these last few days, I am seeing her bursting out of her shell. As we were laughing about her being a little old lady, she climbed out of the tub. And instead of her usual fashion: out onto the towel - instead, she climbed out of the tub, up onto my legs, where I was sitting on a stool in front of the tub. She then stood there, naked as a jay bird laughing and dancing on my legs holding onto my hands! Crazy girl!

Finally I got her down and wrapped her in a towel. I turned around to wash Gadisae and then next thing I hear is, "I am BIG!"

I turn my head and there she is standing on the bathroom counter!!! FREAK OUT!! LOL! I could just see her taking a header, having no idea how risky that was!

Oh, but I am loving her free spirit that is emerging. She is a happy girl!