Like Stray Cats in a Street Fight

Zarrin, although she didn’t speak a word until she was two, has always been a phenomenal communicator.  Even as a newborn it was easy to decipher if her cry was because she was hungry, tired, wet, etc. She had very specific, coherent noises and would use them effectively. It was wonderful. We were spoiled. And ignorant. Because then Mina came along… and she’s just loud.

Just. So. Damn. Loud. I never have any #%$@-ing clue what she wants.  I remember the first time we really listened to Mina Bean’s cry in the recovery room after delivery, and how I exclaimed “Oh my gosh. That is NOT cute!” as Nick and I laughed ourselves to tears through the abrasive 500 dB screams. And that scream? It never stopped (thanks, colic).  

We’re 5 months into this thing and I still can’t even tell if she’s crying or just yelling. Zary will ask me multiple times a day, “Mama, is that baby crying?” and y’know what, Zar? I have no idea. Couldn’t even guess. Maybe she’s crying? Maybe she just wants attention? Oh wait. Nope, she’s just happy because she sees a balloon across the room. That’s right.  Her scream sounds exactly the same whether she’s happy or furious. It’s awful.

Mina uses her pipes for lots of purposes. She likes to scream at Winston, our Roomba, and gets great joy out of chasing him around [read: when I drag her around after him pretending to make her run]. When she sees Zary go by and big sister doesn’t stop to give her a kiss, her scream demands that Z come back for a smooch. And today I heard her signature scream used as a battle cry when she lunged out of my lap and deftly snagged a potato chip right out of Z’s hand at lunch.

Luckily for Mina, her cuteness in all other aspects makes up for her nails-on-a-chalkboard shriek. Her laugh is startling deep and raspy like a drunk little gremlin and it’s the most adorable noise in the world. She smiles with her whole body, right down to pulling in her shoulders and clasping her hands together gleefully.  Her hair never lays flat and the floof finds a different way to curl on top of her head every day. She’s every definition of so STINKING cute. But her cry. My word it is horrid.

I’m writing this as Bean is currently screaming herself to sleep. It sounds like there are stray cats fighting in the bedroom upstairs. I’d like to pretend she’s happy screaming, because it would honestly sound the same, but circumstantially I have to reason that she’s demanding Nick come back for more snugs.  

But as much as we don’t understand Mina Belle, she sure has figured out how to listen to us.  She knows Zary’s name, her own name, and today I learned that she even knows the word “poop”. Three times (during three different scream fests), I asked her if she had a poop in her diaper. Instantly she stopped yelling and smiled and giggled. Every single time, she had filled her pants. Of all the words she could learn. Not Mama. Not Daddy. She picked “poop”.

Mina’s as loud as they come, but she sure does keep the humor in our lives these days.  And even if we don’t understand her, at least she’s starting to understand us. For now, I’ll take what I can get. And what I can get is a 250 pack of earplugs on Amazon with next day delivery. Add to cart.