Chatter Box

For the longest time, Madeline wasn't very into talking. "Eh, eh" was her favorite sound and to her it could mean anything from "Tell me what that thing is" to "I'm hungry" to "Let's go play outside". For months now she's been able to say the sounds of different animals and things (dog, cat, owl, cow, crow, train, siren) and she could say mama, dad (daaa-aaad), Nana, Papa, uh-oh, go, hi and bye. Now, just within the past two weeks, her vocabulary is exploding and she's trying to approximate almost every word we say! It's so much fun to hear!

Her most recent words are:
lulu (our dog Lucy)
Google (she knows the icon on the computer)
baby (she especially likes seeing them on labels, like the Gerber baby)
bow (for your hair)
bubble
yo-yo (yogurt)
wa-wa (water)
shoe
toe (she can identify almost all her body parts now)
two (she holds up her two pointer fingers)
pop-pop (popcorn, which we make for a snack pretty much every day!)
pool (totally obsessed with this...and swinging!)
fooh-fa (flower)
cheese (she loves string cheese, just like her mama)
peeeees (please...she's starting to realize how powerful this word is, especially when accompanied by a sweet smile)

For the past two weeks my dad has been in Lebanon, Iraq and Syria (not quite the destinations I'd pick!) on a trip with our pastor. My dad was able to meet with local pastors and businessmen and really see the love of God in action--now he's all fired up and inspired to go back and visit 1-2 times per year to work on ministry opportunities and business projects, like setting up grants for small business owners to get started on their own. Before he left, my parents came to our house to help us start landscaping the front yard. He does love landscaping and digging in the dirt, but of course the most fun part of the day is getting to play with his sweet grandaughter! :-) Love you, Dad!