Little Miss Manners

I now consider my job as a mother complete. Hmm...okay maybe that's an overstatement. But for the first time ever, Leah spontaneously said "please" this morning. Of course she can't say the "l" so it sounds like peas - but I knew what she was saying. I have been teaching her to say please when she wants something - whether that is help getting up onto a chair or food or a toy. And today she brought me her yogurt melts (which I thought I had successfully hidden out of sight in the diaper bag - I guess she's too smart for me). I was saying no - I'm trying to save them for snacks when we're out and about instead of at home where she could have actual yogurt or fruit or countless other options. But when she started saying please, of course I gave in. I have to reinforce good behavior.

She's pretty good at saying thank you when I ask her to. So maybe one of these days she'll just bust out with it on her own...might be awhile...it's much harder to give positive reinforcement for saying thank you.

She's also been saying "all gone." I think she thinks it is 1 word, so I wouldn't necessarily count it as her first 2 word combo. But she holds her hands out with her palms up and says "ah go" - it's adorable.

She has been a bit slower with the new words the past week or so - but she can't keep up that crazy pace perpetually. And other than drinking copious amounts of water, she seems to be all back to health. She is getting another tooth - maybe 2 - maybe 4. Her top eye teeth seem to be very close to breaking through, especially the left one, and the top molars look like they might not be far behind.

We're not quite sure why she has been drinking so much water - seems like about 10 ounces an hour - which is basically a full sippy cup (it's a 12 ounce cup but the straw doesn't quite reach the bottom). That means lots and lots of diaper changes and some leaks, especially overnight (leading to daily changing of the sheet and mattress pad...ugh). I did a little research to see what could be causing it - of course the scary things that come up are scary. But I think they're also doubtful. She is sleeping through the night - not waking up in order to drink - so her excessive thirst seems to be only during the day. And she's peeing it all right out - she's not bloated or anything. And there's no odor to her urine. And she's not gaining or losing weight any more than normal. So - I guess she just really likes to drink water! And we're going to test out some other diapers. Today she's wearing Huggies Snug & Dry (she normally wears Pampers Cruisers). And tonight we'll be trying the Huggies Overnites, which are supposed to be thicker and more absorbent. If neither one makes a difference then I may try a couple other options. Or I'll just wait for this phase to pass. She's gone through leaking phases in the past too. And we recently went up to a size 5 - which says 27+ pounds - so we certainly shouldn't need to go higher than that any time soon.

Leah is always very excited to hold the keys on the way home...although it sounds a lot like "cheese" when she says it:
She seems to be fascinated by hula hoops these days...although she doesn't know what to do with them:

Not quite sure why she kept trying to take her dress off at the park on Sunday:

After not seeing each other for a week, Leah and Avery were very happy to be splashing in the puddles together:
Puddle splashing is one of Leah's new favorite activities: