The Connection is made

Samantha and Riley have their own unique way of communicating with people and expressing themselves (what parent wouldn't say that about their kids?) Anyway, for the longest time Samantha has been making visual connections as a sort of way of identifying who she's talking about. For instance, with my sister Cathy it's a pat on the head because my sister was bald for some time from chemotherapy and Sam use to always pat her head when she showed up. For Auntie Debbie it's a happy squeal and dance. As some of you know Andrea has an area of deeper pigmentation on one cheek which has lovingly been called a mole. So yes, Samantha started calling her Auntie Mo (her version of mole) while pointing to what she thinks is the matching spot on her own cheek.

Why do I tell you this? Because today we have a new connection. We have been telling her for a while now that Auntie Liz has a baby in her tummy. When asked if she wanted to play with the baby, she said, "No." Anyway, it's been a topic of conversation for a while now. Apparently it has gotten through to Sam. Today as it was getting later in the afternoon, Sam started looking out the windows obsessively. I thought maybe she was just looking at the cars, but when I asked her she said, "Auntie Mo, Baby Auntie." So apparently Liz is now Baby Auntie. She said it a number of times, and was very emphatic about it. Sadly, I had to tell her they were not coming today, but that she would see them again soon.