A Breakthrough At Last

I finally figured out an Anna-ism. For a long time now, she greets people - and things she's happy to see - with a word that sounds like "EYE-nah!" She says it so brightly that it just makes me smile whenever I hear it. Dan and I have been trying to figure out why it's not just "hi." We thought maybe she was saying something like hi there or maybe she was repeating her name like we do, hi Anna. Then last night Anna ran up to me and I said to her, "hi honey." And it hit me that I say that to her somewhere close to five million times a day. Add to that the number of times she hears Dan and I say it to Rachel and to each other. No wonder she says it. I am immensely relieved to know that I am capable of understanding her.

Dan-isms, Part 1

The following exchange occurred earlier this evening -

Me: Honey, Rachel is grabbing fistfulls of my hair and stuffing it into her mouth.
Dan: Don't take it personal.

Rachel's Milestones

Rachel is at a fun stage where she seems to learn something new on a daily basis. She has never seemed to have the urgency Anna had at her age - kicking and fighting to get to her belly; wildly shaking her toys; raising her head and doing stomach crunches - but when she learns something new, she seems so happy and serene. This weekend she rolled from back to belly for the first time. She also suddenly knows how to sit on her own. She's great in the bumbo seat, but now she can sit up for several minutes at a time, playing with her toys. Something about seeing her sit up on her own just made me realize how fast she's growing. Today she also started looking for toys she has dropped and raising her hands for me when I go to pick her up. Such a busy weekend for such a small girl.

The Secret Language of Anna

Anna is quite verbal. We are hoping that someday we can learn her language. Several things she says quite clearly: Dad, Mama, Tiger, baby, yeay, tickle. Most other things she says in a funny stream of toddler-speak. She speaks to the television, to the computer, to Rachel; she says hi and then talks into the cell phone on her shoulder. She says ohhhhh when she sees something she likes and uh-oh when something is wrong. She shrieks in delight while being tickled and sometimes even babbles just to be funny when she is in a particularly silly mood.

But my favorite is when she is trying to communicate with me or Dan. Her voice drops to a whisper as she holds up her sippy cup. Tkah, she whispers to me, indicating that the straw is folded away and she needs help. She repeats that strange string of sounds in whisper when she picks some random crumb off of the carpet and hands it to me to throw out. I have no idea what she is actually saying, but she certainly has a way of making her thoughts known.

Phrases I Never Thought I'd Use Part 1

"Which one of you pooped?"

Weird Science

This morning, Anna's big poopy diaper was outweighed by Rachel's wet one. Keeping in mind that Anna outweighs Rachel by approximately 10 pounds, I am mystified. But then again science was never my best subject.

Firsts

Rachel laughed for the first time about a week and a half ago. I was holding her after a feeding and she was mostly asleep with her cheek pressed up against my chest and I looked down at her and said her name. At the sound of my voice, before her whole name was even out of my mouth, she giggled. It was such an amazing sound.

Then last weekend Anna blew me a kiss for the first time. Dan was taking her to bed and I was waving goodnight to her after smooching her cheeks. As Dan was walking out of the room with her, I blew her a kiss and she put her hand to her mouth and blew one right back at me. She is just so sweet.

And last Saturday morning I looked at the clock and noticed that it was 9:30 a.m. Then I realized that despite the fact that it was 9:30 a.m., everyone in the house was still asleep. Rachel, Anna, Dan. A miracle had indeed occurred. Rachel had been asleep for eight and a half consecutive hours.

About fifteen minutes later, Rachel woke up crying loud enough to wake Anna, at which point my house became bedlam for the day. But what a nice little present Mommy got for a Saturday morning!