my baby

i love sunny's teachers this year, truly i do. they love on the kids and do lots of great experiential learning with them. sunny comes home singing songs and talking about what they did in class that day. but yesterday when i took sailor in with me to pick up sunny, stephanie (the more no-nonsense of the two, and mother to three teenage boys) corrected him when he called sailor a baby. "hi baby!" he squealed with delight, and she responded, "that's not a baby! that's sailor, a big girl!"
and while she was pretty much teasing, it irritated me a little. because while sunny knows sailor's name (heck, he knows my name, too :), "baby" is his name for her. specifically, "my baby." i think it's because we told him so much before she was born that we were getting a baby just for him, in some vague hope that it would ease the transition (hah, fat chance). but somehow it lodged in his brain, so every morning when i go in to get him up i hear, "you have baby with you? where my baby?"
he says repeatedly these days, "my baby is cute." he comments on what she's wearing and how i've done her hair. "baby have hearts on her pants today. baby likes that." and notices when she interacts with him: "baby smiling at me! baby likes me!"
best are the love statements. i always tell him that sailor loves him, so it's truly ingrained. "baby loves me," he'll say when she smiles at him. "i love baby." of course then he tries to tackle her in an overly affectionate hug/take down, but still.
and recently they'll occasionally take baths together in my big tub, where the main activity seems to be splashing each other in the face while laughing hysterically.
i love the sweetness of their interaction. of course, i still spend most of my time keeping sailor from getting into sunny's things, and keeping sunny from either a)injuring her in some way or b)grabbing things violently out of her hands.... but overall, we've come a super long way from 10 months ago, when sailor was an evil intruder. now he misses her when she's gone, and wants to be the first to rush in to get her up from her naps. "hello baby!" he yells. "hello little girl!" (which is what i say to her when i go in).
so he can call her "baby" as much as he wants. heck, he can be 22 and call her baby in public for all i care. i just want them to love and rely on each other. playing in the bath is a bonus. :)