- She loves to go "ow-side" and is always begging to go out. Many days she is content just to sit (she can say "I sit"-- although often it comes out like another four-letter-word that I can't repeat-- and I always try to clarify when other people are around that she is saying "sit") on the porch steps. She always points out the trucks ("dut"), and when she sees a car, she usually calls it "pee-po" (people). Other days, she wants to ride in her "seat" (stroller) around the neighborhood (I think we are looking for "fruffs"-- dogs-- because she says it the whole trip, although we rarely see one.)
- She has discovered the world of bugs. At first they were all called "bees" but now she has learned what an "ant" is and enjoys trying to pick them up off the floor. She's a little afraid of most other bugs, but just gets a little clingy until it goes away.
- We are trying to teach her some polite words-- "please" always comes out "peas" (and I'm not sure if she understands why we make her say it yet, but it is very cute when she does); she can say something that sounds like "yes, sir" and also "thank you."
- My favorite things she says are "yay!" (which she says when we arrive anywhere, even if she doesn't even know where we are) and "ew" (and socks are always "ew", even when they're clean!).
- She's starting to pick up phrases, as well. She can say, "I don't know" when asked where something is, and she can say "I want cookie (or mo' or juice or whatever)."
- Other favorite "Leah words": coffee is "foffee" (and she always tries to convince me she is drinking coffee from her cup)... all fruits are now "app-o"s (apples)... "cheese" (whenever she sees the camera)... "book" sounds like "butt"...
- She is starting to grasp the concept of letters, and the fact that letters make words. When she "reads" her books, she will point to the letters and say, "E... I... E... I..." (because apparently those are the letters she knows). Ocassionally, she will recognize some letters if we ask her-- like in the bathtub, while playing with her foam letters, I can put up 5 or 6 letters and ask her "Where's the E?" and 9 times out of 10 she can get it right. Of course, we haven't tried lower case letters, yet, and there are certain ones she's better at then others-- she almost always gets E, Y, O, A, and C.
- She really loves her books and they are almost like a security blanket for her-- she carries a certain set of thin paperback "princess" books back & forth to the car with her every time. She has to have some to look at in the car. Her current favorite bedtime reads are "Mickey Mouse and the Kitten Sitters," "The Fuzzy Duckling," a Winnie-the-Pooh book, an Elmo book, and also the "Story of Jesus" Golden Book (she can say "Jesus" and also recognize his mother as "Mary").
- She tends to get certain ideas "stuck" in her head. Like: one time she got in the bath and the water was too hot for her liking; now, every time we tell her it's time for a bath, she starts saying "hot" because she's convinced it's going to be hot. The same goes for her car seat-- every time she gets in, even on cooler days, she's convinced the seat will be "hot." She also tells me her sheets are "ew" every time she lays down because one time there was sand on them and I brushed it off for her. So I have to pretend to brush them off every time now.
- When we get home from school/ work it is her nap time-- but she is already learning how to procrastinate this. She will try any words she knows to prolong having to go to sleep-- "ti-ti?" (cookie)... "Elmo?" (watch him on TV, of course)... "ow-side?"... "Nemo?" (not sure how she got this, but it is her name for Mickey Mouse-- the star of her current favorite book)-- usually this is the only one I'll oblige, although after I've read Mickey, she will usually say "ummm..." and begin to look at the other books on her shelf as if to choose another to read.
- She will always announce to me-- very loudly-- "ah-don" (all gone) when her juice is gone, holding her cup up like a prize!
- She loves for me to sing her songs. She especially loves "The B-I-B-L-E," which she refers to as "b?" (which is way too short for me to have to sing 800 times) and the ABC song (which she does refer to as "ABC"). She also loves "The Wheels on the Bus"-- as seen in this video (although she is a bit distracted since we're outside):
She also loves "Ring Around the Rosey"-- especially the part where we get to fall down on the floor-- but if Mommy & Daddy are both home, she insists that we all have to play!
Of course the only song she actually sings herself is "Mommy, Daddy, Mommy, Daddy..." something she made up that she goes around singing, only when we are both home together.
- She tries to be such a big girl sometimes! She must have a fork (when she says this word, it also comes out like another four-letter-word I cannot repeat) with every meal and refuses help ("nononononononono"). She loves to help tie her shoes, or get mommy's shoes (handing my flip-flops up to me, which usually makes it very difficult to put them on), and helps to "wash" things with baby wipes when she spills. I'm hoping she maintains this helper attitude with her little brother!... On the other hand, she still very much wants to be the baby sometimes, saying "ho-me" ("hold me") with her little arms up in the air. It must be tough to be at her in-between stage!
She loves to find a "seat!" her size-- this was in the middle of the grocery store & she insisted that I sit down with her!
- I don't know if she's actually beginning to understand about her baby brother or not, but we can ask her, "Leah, where's Andrew?" and she will now point to my belly. (She probably thinks Andrew is my belly button's name!) We ask her, "Leah, do you want a baby in your house?" and she will always nod yes (but yes is usually her answer to every question). She does love to look at babies when she sees one in the store and will point at them, saying "baby" repeatedly.
We tried to get her to kiss the baby in my belly,
and this is what we got!
