She Speaks!

I wish I could back-date blogs, but here's a draft that I never finished that I feel must go out so I can catch up to real-time. (It's like DVR guilt, you can't jump ahead in a series!) So this post is kinda old...

Aria started talking this weekend. It was a couple "mores" accompanied by sign language, and of course the very clear "Dada" and "Mama" but then suddenly, everything seemed to click. New in the lineup: please, thank you, yes, milk, outside, up, down, inside, open, dog, toy, moon, and on and on. Heck, the other night after bath, Roland taught her the word "hug" and she said it - each and every time he slowly said it to her - and then they practiced hugging which resulted in hysterics. This lead to Aria laughing open mouthed on Roland's shoulder...leaving a smear of drool...and the end of the hug-fest.

For the record, her first word was "no". She also now enjoys repeating what you say, which can be endearing and then exhausting. Imagine hearing "Just one moment" called back to you a hundred times. But regardless of her budding venacular, she's still a singer at heart. She's getting better, more creative, and of course, louder. And all of it, every last little shrill, is lovely.

Here's the wild-woman herself enjoying a ride on Zeus.