We are constantly amazed by Leah's fast growing vocabulary and skill set

She'll be ready to take the SATs in no time...all she needs is a few more words, some reading and writing, math skills...oh, I guess we'll have to start with teaching her how to hold a pencil without eating it...we'd better get one without an eraser so we don't have to worry about her biting it off and choking on it. Do you think they let your parents carry you in and put you in the desk to sit for the test? Because Leah is not walking yet. My hopes of her taking her first steps on her first birthday were dashed. But that's okay...no pressure Leah...I know you'll walk eventually.


Meanwhile, her word list just keeps growing. Last week she started saying bye bye while waving - definitely proper usage. Pronunciation could use a little work...sounds like ba ba...but hey, in context we totally know what she's saying. She also added to her fast growing list of animal sounds. She's been saying quack and moo for awhile. Now she can also baa like a sheep and woof like a dog.


She's been referring to her lovey, a little pink puppy blankie that she cuddles with when she sleeps, as pup pup for awhile now. But in the last few days she's started saying pup-pee. She says it over and over again...obviously she's quite proud of herself for saying it right. Along with this new "ee" sound come several other words. I haven't added them to the list because we're really not so sure she gets the meaning - but she frequently says dah-dee, bay-bee, and mom-mee. She does put in quite a pause between syllables...but lets not be too picky here. Every time she says mommy I get very excited...but alas I can't quite tell whether she means me.


The other "ee" sounds she's added are very fun. There's a song in music class called Me You and We. She now says me me me when it comes on...and then later in the song she says we we we. And last week she started pointing to herself - poking herself in the chest actually - and saying me me me. That's what we do when we sing the me part of the song in class, so I'm not really sure whether she understands the meaning or if she's just imitating the hand gesture from class. She's also started fussing "me me me me me" - where before she mostly fussed "na na na na na." That one still makes the rotation, but it's nice to have some variety. We're really not sure whether she means anything by either of those, other than to draw attention and get something she wants...and most of the time we can't tell what that is and we aren't so successful at meeting her request, but rather we just distract her with something else.


Her comprehension is growing even faster than her spoken vocabulary. A couple weeks ago she was playing with a cup and I asked her if it was a hat...and she put it on her head. She now does that very consistently...I guess she knows what a hat is. After noticing that she was interested in other girls' baby dolls, I decided we really ought to get one for Leah. I had some things to exchange at Toys R Us, so we picked out a very cute Carter's baby doll and got it a little stroller, a change of clothes, and milk and juice bottles. Leah definitely seemed interested in the doll in the store, and when we got home and took it out of the package, she immediately grabbed it and hugged it. We're calling it her baby...and she's Mommy Leah. She was sitting there with the doll and the milk bottle, but not holding the bottle, and I said, "I think the baby's hungry. Do you want to feed the baby?" And she immediately picked up the bottle and tried to hold it to the baby's mouth...it was adorable! She seems to really be enjoying taking the baby's hat off and trying to put it back on, rocking the baby back and forth in the stroller (and sometimes dumping it out of the stroller), feeding the baby, and cuddling with the baby. She's been sort of biting the top of it's head...I'm not quite sure whether she's trying to bite or trying to give it kisses...but I'm pretending it's kisses.


She also continues to gain dexterity...getting better and better at picking up food and getting it into her mouth, even when it's soft or shaped oddly. She loves putting the roll-around balls into the gumball machine and she can now put the blocks onto the train. She's still not so interested in stacking the rings back on her stackers, but I think she could if she wanted to. And she's getting pretty good at turning pages of board books. We love that she is so into her books...she seems to really enjoy sitting or standing with a book and turning through the pages, often babbling along pretending to read, even pointing at things on the pages as she goes.

Is it a hat?

We took Leah to the big Toys R Us in Times Square to get her birthday surprise (they send you a card in the mail to bring into the store if you join Geoffrey's Birthday Club). Her birthday surprise was a balloon and a hat and a free ride on the ferris wheel. We all had lots of fun on the ferris wheel. This actually is a hat...but Leah refused to wear it...she was in the process of taking it off in this one:

Mommy Leah's first moments with her baby...I think the baby needs to eat...do you want to feed the baby?
The real reason we bought a 2nd outfit for the baby is because it came with a hat and booties...Leah loves hats...but just like she doesn't want to wear hats...she immediately took the baby's hat off:
But wait, maybe the baby's head is cold...she put the baby's hat back on...and sat back to admire her work: