I put on a black and white dress this morning that had a deep v-neckline, so I thought I’d add a splash of color with a drop necklace that has sparkly red rhinestones throughout. The stones are alternatingly small beads and large beads on a thin gold rope.

When I went to wake Allie up after getting dressed, she said upon seeing my necklace, “Ooh! Putty.” She fingered the beads.
“Thank you! You like mama’s necklace?”
“Uh-huh. Balls?” She pointed to the beads.
“Yeah, there are balls on this necklace.”
“BABY balls!” she said, touching one of the small beads.
“Yeah, there are little balls, and big balls, right?”
“Yah.” She watched the beads reflect the morning sunlight coming through her bedroom window, and noted, “Light, light!”
“Shiny necklace? Are the balls shiny?”
“Light.”
“That’s right, light.”
Allie pointed to her own neck, and said, “Allie like neck-less.”
“Allie likes mama’s necklace?”
“Yah. Mama like neck-less?”
“Yes, mama likes this necklace.”
“Dada like neck-less?”
“I don’t know if dada likes mama’s necklace, dada hasn’t seen it, yet.”
“Allie like neck-less.”
“Thank you!”

It’s great now that she’s beyond the age of the automatic grab-and-pull and I can start accessorizing, again. There are days I wear a piece of jewelry solely for her amusement, like an owl necklace I’d bought just because I know she likes owls. She also likes playing with mardi gras plastic bead strands that the stepkidlet lets her wear around the house. Allie likes putting it over her head, and then sticking each arm through and letting the large string of beads fall to her feet. The other day I wore my favorite simple white gold hoop earrings and she touched one and said, “Eawing.” There are so many words I don’t even know she has, every day is an adventure.