"Bi-ha-hen" and "He-eios" and "Bu-hu-hi"

Or, ya know, a 19-month old post.

Craig and I look at Madeline in amazement. Her 18th month of life brought about a growth spurt of vocabulary and recognition. I'm sure some of it was there before, but Madeline is able to communicate her understanding to us now. 

Here are a few of my favorite things:

- I've been singing "Jesus Loves Me" to Madeline since she was born. Now, she not only tries to sing with me, but she asks me to sing to her. In the car. Randomly at home. Every night. The only words she sings are "JESUS! JESUS! JESUS!" but she chimes in with me and I love it!

- She clearly understand the difference in the cats. Not that long ago, they were both "tarskee" (Starsky) but now she addresses each by their name. And they are the first things she usually asks for in the morning. "Tarskee! Huuutch! Tarskee! Huuutch!" Every once in a while, she'll throw in a mama or daddy or "rspbrerry" for good measure, but mostly, she just wants us to open the door to the cats.

- I love the way she says Cheerios. "He-eio."

- If we are ever missing something, there's a good chance she's shoved it in her play kitchen because she's "cook-keen" it. If her sippy cup is missing, it's in the oven part along with blocks, a stuffed duck, and all her self-feeders. I was wondering where they all disappeared to!

- She's started vocalizing please now. She still frantically rubs her chest when she reeeaaaalllllly wants something, but she's added "pees" to a few regular sayings. She usually has to be prompted still, but she's learning.

- I've noticed she's started pluralizing a few words here and there. It's not just one flower, it's "wowers" or "he-eios." She's also attempting longer words, which often come out completely hilarious and unrecognizable (especially when I ask her to add please to the end of something).

- She'd probably sleep with all her animals if I let her. I was informed by many mamas that small loveys were the way to go because if you ever have to travel, it's much easier.  Madeline was given two small dolls before she was born and they quickly became her loveys. Perfect. Well, sometime in the past couple of months, she's started increasing the amount of loveys she sleeps with. She would see one of them and ask me for it, so I would give it to her. Our current plush crib residents are: a large lamb she calls "nummy" because she thinks it's a bunny, a LARGE duck, a cat, and her two dolls. I typically remove the duck completely before I go to bed, and the lamb and cat get propped up on the crib rail. Most mornings, she has pulled the lamb and cat back into the crib with her sometime during the night.

- She has a play mat that has the alphabet on it with pictures associated with the letters. Some of the things she readily recognizes, but others (like the violin) she had never seen. Still, I would go through the items and add one new one a day and review the ones she had learned/already knew. I told her the violin and she uttered, "bi-ha-hen." Wow! Imagine my surprise when she immediately knew what it was the next day and recited the word. I removed my guitar from the wall stand during our massive construction last week and Craig put it in our closet. Madeline follows Craig into the closet ever morning as he gets dressed (to usually point out his "peet" (feet) and "yawks" (socks)) and she saw my guitar and said "bi-ha-hen." I didn't catch it at first, but Craig did. I was impressed!

- She's very selective on what she eats now. My formerly-great-eater has turned into a berry. Literally. She wants to eat strawberries, blackberries, raspberries and blueberries all day long (and she knows the difference between them all). They are in her thoughts first thing in the morning and even in her sleep. Craig and I heard her saying "rspberries" in her sleep one night. We're going strawberry picking next weekend and it's quite possible her head will explode from the excitement.

- She's cutting her last teeth! These molars are causing her pain, but these are the last baby teeth she will cut and I'm thrilled the teething days will be behind us soon!

- Madeline fell out of her crib the other day. We haven't converted her crib yet but I know it's coming. We're going to try turning it around to have the back facing out and the front facing the wall to buy us some time. She is still all over the crib and still prefers to sleep perpendicular to the long side with her head shoved in between the rails. She will stay happily in her crib but if she's resisting a nap or sleep, she'll try to escape. It's made for a few interesting days...

I had planned on showing you some adorable pics of Madeline petting a bunny, sheep and llama, but I forgot to put the memory card in the camera yesterday. sniff, sniff. I do have a video of her, but I'll upload that later. For now, enjoy a sneak peak into our chaotic home last week as construction was happening on the inside and outside. Madeline rather enjoyed the couches pushed together and would climb up and down and up and down and up and down...

Hutch had to get in on the action, too.

So, I didn't tell y'all what "Bu-hu-hi" was...any guesses???

Madeline darling, we love you so! You are full of energy and life and spirit (that's truly an understatement). You love being outside, independent and the center of attention! God made you so special and we are thrilled to be your parents!