We're all pulling for you, girl, and we hope you get well soon.
Sunday, August 24, 2008
Strength
I'm not going to go into details here, because it's really not my place to do so, but just know that our good friend Maria needs all of the prayers and good thoughts she can get right now.
We're all pulling for you, girl, and we hope you get well soon.
We're all pulling for you, girl, and we hope you get well soon.
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
Saturday, August 09, 2008
Two years, two months
Dear Rachel,
Today, you turned 26 months old. As you can tell by the title, I've decided to stop referring to your age in months because I once worked with a woman who referred to her child's age in months and her child was 10 years old. It was a bit annoying. And a little creepy.
We did some more traveling this month, and I'm glad that we did. You need to get used to taking trips during the summer because we'll probably do it a lot, especially as you get older. And the older you get, the better you travel. For the most part. If
the trip is short.
You got to meet almost all of the Laleman side of the family this month, and while there were quite a few people you already knew, there were also a bunch you'd never met before. I'm glad that we got to go - you had a great time, and I remember how much fun it was for me being at large family gatherings like that as a child. I hope we get to do more of those as you grow up.
You absolutely lovedgoing to the beachswimming in the ocean when we went to Corpus earlier in the month. It was so weird though, because when we went in the fall, you had no problem walking in the sand, all over the beach with me, but this time, you wanted nothing to do with the sand. In fact, you made us carry you almost everywhere, even into the water. But the swimming, you couldn't get enough of. In fact, when you woke up Sunday morning after being at the beach Saturday afternoon, the first thing you said was "I go simming in bid oh-sun?" So we went to the beach Sunday morning and went swimming.
When we came back from the coast, you came down with what we thought was a nasty cold and sinus infection. You were all snotty and stuffed up to the point that we had to give you a pillow to sleep on to keep your head elevated. We thought you had caught something terrible from the ocean, or had gotten sick from our hotel room being so cold, but about three days after you got sick, we noticed that you were chewing a lot on your fingers. One day at dinner, I noticed you really gnawing on your fork, and it clicked - the runny nose, the chewing on your fingers and anything else that you could jam back into your mouth...I stuck my finger in there and felt your top molars coming in! Your bottom ones came in without us even noticing, but the top ones you had a lot harder time with. I'm glad that we're finally done with all the teething.
You learned to jump this month, and much to my dismay, you discovered that jumping on the bed and other furniture is really fun. So now starts years upon years of me being a dad and yelling at you for jumping on the furniture, or even standing up on the couch, when what I really want to do is join you in jumping on stuff, but I know that if I try it, we'll be buying new furniture really soon.
We converted your crib to a "big girl bed" this past month, meaning that we took the sliding rail off the side of it, lowered the mattress so you can climb into it by yourself, and put some smaller, non-sliding rails on each end. You loved climbing in and out of it, and the first night you got to sleep in it, you promptly fell out. Three times. Evidently, the space between the small rails is just what you needed to wriggle your way right onto the floor. At about 3 AM we both heard a thump, then heard you moan once, then nothing. I went in to check on you and found you sound asleep on your stomach on the floor. You didn't even wake up when I put you back into bed. The next day, we went and got you a movable rail to help keep you in bed.
You have become quite the little tape recorder, and now your mother and I really have to watch what we say around you. In fact, just today, someone hit my car in a parking lot and as I was kneeling down inspecting the damage, you came over and asked me what was wrong (which was very sweet), and as I continued to look at the scrapes, I must have muttered something under my breath because the next thing I knew, you were touching the scrapes just like I was and saying "dammit...dammit...dammit." Whoops. Earlier today, we were watching the US Women's volleyball team on the Olympics and you started in with "Yeah! Nice!" just like your mother was saying whenever there was a good shot.
You've also started singing to yourself. You know a bunch of songs now, and every once in a while, we'll hear you singing loudly and way out of key, but it is very cute. A couple of weeks ago, we were putting toys away in the garage and you broke out with "Please, please, please do not goooooo" and it was actually in tune. I was very impressed.
We are constantly amazed at how smart you are (or at least we think so). You know almost all of your colors, and identify things by color all the time (boo car, purple butterfly and so on). You can also count to ten all by yourself and even know quite a few of your numbers and letters by sight. Along with working on those, we started trying to get you to say your whole name this month. So far, it comes out "Way-shul Eeesa Mon-ez Ma-nen." But you're working on it.
As always, we love you very much, and can't wait to see what new things you learn in the coming month.
Love,
Dada
Today, you turned 26 months old. As you can tell by the title, I've decided to stop referring to your age in months because I once worked with a woman who referred to her child's age in months and her child was 10 years old. It was a bit annoying. And a little creepy.
We did some more traveling this month, and I'm glad that we did. You need to get used to taking trips during the summer because we'll probably do it a lot, especially as you get older. And the older you get, the better you travel. For the most part. If
the trip is short.
You got to meet almost all of the Laleman side of the family this month, and while there were quite a few people you already knew, there were also a bunch you'd never met before. I'm glad that we got to go - you had a great time, and I remember how much fun it was for me being at large family gatherings like that as a child. I hope we get to do more of those as you grow up.
You absolutely loved
When we came back from the coast, you came down with what we thought was a nasty cold and sinus infection. You were all snotty and stuffed up to the point that we had to give you a pillow to sleep on to keep your head elevated. We thought you had caught something terrible from the ocean, or had gotten sick from our hotel room being so cold, but about three days after you got sick, we noticed that you were chewing a lot on your fingers. One day at dinner, I noticed you really gnawing on your fork, and it clicked - the runny nose, the chewing on your fingers and anything else that you could jam back into your mouth...I stuck my finger in there and felt your top molars coming in! Your bottom ones came in without us even noticing, but the top ones you had a lot harder time with. I'm glad that we're finally done with all the teething.
You learned to jump this month, and much to my dismay, you discovered that jumping on the bed and other furniture is really fun. So now starts years upon years of me being a dad and yelling at you for jumping on the furniture, or even standing up on the couch, when what I really want to do is join you in jumping on stuff, but I know that if I try it, we'll be buying new furniture really soon.
We converted your crib to a "big girl bed" this past month, meaning that we took the sliding rail off the side of it, lowered the mattress so you can climb into it by yourself, and put some smaller, non-sliding rails on each end. You loved climbing in and out of it, and the first night you got to sleep in it, you promptly fell out. Three times. Evidently, the space between the small rails is just what you needed to wriggle your way right onto the floor. At about 3 AM we both heard a thump, then heard you moan once, then nothing. I went in to check on you and found you sound asleep on your stomach on the floor. You didn't even wake up when I put you back into bed. The next day, we went and got you a movable rail to help keep you in bed.
You have become quite the little tape recorder, and now your mother and I really have to watch what we say around you. In fact, just today, someone hit my car in a parking lot and as I was kneeling down inspecting the damage, you came over and asked me what was wrong (which was very sweet), and as I continued to look at the scrapes, I must have muttered something under my breath because the next thing I knew, you were touching the scrapes just like I was and saying "dammit...dammit...dammit." Whoops. Earlier today, we were watching the US Women's volleyball team on the Olympics and you started in with "Yeah! Nice!" just like your mother was saying whenever there was a good shot.
You've also started singing to yourself. You know a bunch of songs now, and every once in a while, we'll hear you singing loudly and way out of key, but it is very cute. A couple of weeks ago, we were putting toys away in the garage and you broke out with "Please, please, please do not goooooo" and it was actually in tune. I was very impressed.
We are constantly amazed at how smart you are (or at least we think so). You know almost all of your colors, and identify things by color all the time (boo car, purple butterfly and so on). You can also count to ten all by yourself and even know quite a few of your numbers and letters by sight. Along with working on those, we started trying to get you to say your whole name this month. So far, it comes out "Way-shul Eeesa Mon-ez Ma-nen." But you're working on it.
As always, we love you very much, and can't wait to see what new things you learn in the coming month.
Love,
Dada
Thursday, August 07, 2008
Why, hello there!
Yes, yes, I realize it's been almost a month since I posted anything.
I managed to be at home for three weeks and not write a thing, and then when I had to go back to work, I've been working 10 hour days and just haven't had the energy to do much of anything when I get home.
So here I am, back again. It was incredible to see everyone this past weekend. We're really glad that we and so many others decided to make the trip.
Pictures from the weekend are up at Flickr (you can see them over there on the right), but I'm going to post a few of my favorite.
I managed to be at home for three weeks and not write a thing, and then when I had to go back to work, I've been working 10 hour days and just haven't had the energy to do much of anything when I get home.
So here I am, back again. It was incredible to see everyone this past weekend. We're really glad that we and so many others decided to make the trip.
Pictures from the weekend are up at Flickr (you can see them over there on the right), but I'm going to post a few of my favorite.
Wednesday, July 09, 2008
Time flies when you're having fun...
Just a quick retrospective of what we were doing three years ago this month:
The wedding, three years ago today...
And our three week honeymoon:
Big Bend area...
That's Mexico behind us in both pictures.
New Mexico...
Bandelier National Monument (north of Santa Fe)
Colorado...
Rocky Mountain National Park
Both of these pictures were taken on Trail Ridge Road...the top one was taken at about 12,000 feet above sea level, and yes, that's snow on the ground behind us. The second was taken somewhere significantly farther down the road, and about 20 degrees warmer.
Wyoming...
Grand Teton National Park
Yellowstone National Park
And finally, South Dakota...
Mount Rushmore
The Badlands
Happy Anniversary, Monica!
The wedding, three years ago today...
And our three week honeymoon:
Big Bend area...
That's Mexico behind us in both pictures.
New Mexico...
Bandelier National Monument (north of Santa Fe)
Colorado...
Rocky Mountain National Park
Both of these pictures were taken on Trail Ridge Road...the top one was taken at about 12,000 feet above sea level, and yes, that's snow on the ground behind us. The second was taken somewhere significantly farther down the road, and about 20 degrees warmer.
Wyoming...
Grand Teton National Park
Yellowstone National Park
And finally, South Dakota...
Mount Rushmore
The Badlands
Happy Anniversary, Monica!
Two years, one month
Dear Rachel,
Today, you turned twenty five months old.
It has been an extremely busy month for all of us. We've traveled quite a bit, and you've gotten to see Nana and Dodd a lot this month. You've also had the chance to meet a lot of new people.
Let's start with the talking. Holy cow, girl, your vocabulary has just exploded. We are having conversations all the time about everything under the sun. Your big thing this month has been this:
"Hi!"
"Hi Rachel."
"How you?"
"I'm fine, how are you?"
"I good."
Over and over and over again. Of course, your other big thing in the past couple of weeks has been learning how to say your name and age. Last week, we even taught you how to respond to the question "¿Como te llamas?" and when we ask "¿Cuantos años tienes?" you tell us "DOS." You're getting really good at repeating what we say, although your brain will mix up the beginning and ending of words sometimes. You've been trying to say "diaper" this week and it keeps coming out "pie-der." But you're also very good about listening to corrections and trying them on your own, so as long as we have the patience to keep repeating the words for you, you keep trying to say them correctly.
Speaking of on your own, another new thing this month is, "No, no...my turn." When we're counting (especially in Spanish) or singing or whatever, at some point, you'll stop us from leading and say "My turn" and become very upset if we don't let you take over.
The traveling. You and I had a "first" together this month. It was the first time either of us had ever been to New York. I'll admit, I wasn't all the excited about going. I figured the second we got off the plane my wallet would be gone, I'd be fitted for concrete shoes, and the mafia would sell you off as child labor. But I was pleasantly surprised. The mafia didn't sell you off. OK, so my impression of New York was completely wrong. The people were very friendly, and except for our car service, things weren't all that expensive.
You were quite the trooper in New York. I think the only day you got a regular nap was the day Aunt Sarah and Uncle Britton (Say-ah and Bit-on) got married, which was the whole reason for the trip in the first place. Ever other day, we were so busy doing touristy things, you just zonked out when ever you reached your limit, no matter where you were. One day in was in your stroller, then on my shoulder while we were fighting our way through the crowds at Coney Island. You slept through all of that commotion, but the second I gave you to Mommy on the subway (sub-bay tain!) you were wide awake. Hot, sweaty, people yelling and pushing - sleep. Comfortable, air conditioning, quiet - awake. Another time, we were taking a tour bus (ride red buth!) through Manhattan, and you knocked out on Nana's lap. You did really well for having your entire schedule messed up, and even when our flight was delayed over 3 hours coming home, you were still pretty good. I think we might actually have to go back to New York sometime when you're a little older, so you can enjoy it as much as we did.
The weekend after New York, we took a road trip up to Fort Worth to see a friend of our family get married. It was very interesting to see all of these people who knew me as a child see me now with a child of my own.
By the way, on both of our trips, you were quite the hit. Perfect strangers would talk to us and you, and tell us how beautiful you were. I don't know how many pictures were taken of you (excluding those taken by you mother and me) but I'm betting it was in the hundreds. Two weekends in a row you got to see Nana and Dodd and dance the night away. Quite the lucky girl, I tell you.
We started potty training late this month, and it has been less than successful. You are telling us when you have to go "poo-poo," but you're afraid to actually do it in the potty. The two times we've gotten you to actually go, you cried the whole time. We are being patient with you, though, and trying to teach you that this is what big girls do because Mommy needs a raise, and when you get out of diapers, she gets to stop spending money on them.
We are loving this part of your life because we're learning so much more about you now that you communicate with us. We can't wait to see what the next months will bring as you continue to grow and learn.
We love you very much.
Love,
Dada
Today, you turned twenty five months old.
It has been an extremely busy month for all of us. We've traveled quite a bit, and you've gotten to see Nana and Dodd a lot this month. You've also had the chance to meet a lot of new people.
Let's start with the talking. Holy cow, girl, your vocabulary has just exploded. We are having conversations all the time about everything under the sun. Your big thing this month has been this:
"Hi!"
"Hi Rachel."
"How you?"
"I'm fine, how are you?"
"I good."
Over and over and over again. Of course, your other big thing in the past couple of weeks has been learning how to say your name and age. Last week, we even taught you how to respond to the question "¿Como te llamas?" and when we ask "¿Cuantos años tienes?" you tell us "DOS." You're getting really good at repeating what we say, although your brain will mix up the beginning and ending of words sometimes. You've been trying to say "diaper" this week and it keeps coming out "pie-der." But you're also very good about listening to corrections and trying them on your own, so as long as we have the patience to keep repeating the words for you, you keep trying to say them correctly.
Speaking of on your own, another new thing this month is, "No, no...my turn." When we're counting (especially in Spanish) or singing or whatever, at some point, you'll stop us from leading and say "My turn" and become very upset if we don't let you take over.
The traveling. You and I had a "first" together this month. It was the first time either of us had ever been to New York. I'll admit, I wasn't all the excited about going. I figured the second we got off the plane my wallet would be gone, I'd be fitted for concrete shoes, and the mafia would sell you off as child labor. But I was pleasantly surprised. The mafia didn't sell you off. OK, so my impression of New York was completely wrong. The people were very friendly, and except for our car service, things weren't all that expensive.
You were quite the trooper in New York. I think the only day you got a regular nap was the day Aunt Sarah and Uncle Britton (Say-ah and Bit-on) got married, which was the whole reason for the trip in the first place. Ever other day, we were so busy doing touristy things, you just zonked out when ever you reached your limit, no matter where you were. One day in was in your stroller, then on my shoulder while we were fighting our way through the crowds at Coney Island. You slept through all of that commotion, but the second I gave you to Mommy on the subway (sub-bay tain!) you were wide awake. Hot, sweaty, people yelling and pushing - sleep. Comfortable, air conditioning, quiet - awake. Another time, we were taking a tour bus (ride red buth!) through Manhattan, and you knocked out on Nana's lap. You did really well for having your entire schedule messed up, and even when our flight was delayed over 3 hours coming home, you were still pretty good. I think we might actually have to go back to New York sometime when you're a little older, so you can enjoy it as much as we did.
The weekend after New York, we took a road trip up to Fort Worth to see a friend of our family get married. It was very interesting to see all of these people who knew me as a child see me now with a child of my own.
By the way, on both of our trips, you were quite the hit. Perfect strangers would talk to us and you, and tell us how beautiful you were. I don't know how many pictures were taken of you (excluding those taken by you mother and me) but I'm betting it was in the hundreds. Two weekends in a row you got to see Nana and Dodd and dance the night away. Quite the lucky girl, I tell you.
We started potty training late this month, and it has been less than successful. You are telling us when you have to go "poo-poo," but you're afraid to actually do it in the potty. The two times we've gotten you to actually go, you cried the whole time. We are being patient with you, though, and trying to teach you that this is what big girls do because Mommy needs a raise, and when you get out of diapers, she gets to stop spending money on them.
We are loving this part of your life because we're learning so much more about you now that you communicate with us. We can't wait to see what the next months will bring as you continue to grow and learn.
We love you very much.
Love,
Dada
Thursday, June 26, 2008
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
Home
We made it back from our trip to New York. It was a great trip, and all of my worries about going there turned out to be just that...worries. Nothing more.
We had a wonderful time and I'm glad I don't have to be back at work right away so I can take some time to recover. We walked way more in those 5 days than I think we walked the rest of the year!
Instead of posting a bunch of pictures here (I took over 300) I'll just direct you to my Flickr photostream. If you've been checking in over the past couple of days, I'm sure you've seen those four thumbnails on the right changing every couple of hours as I upload.
I've created a few sets on Flickr to kind of categorize things, so if you want to see the wedding pictures or touristy things, or architecture, pictures of our family, gargoyles, or pictures of the Brooklyn Bridge (yes, I took enough pictures of it for its own category), they're all there. You don't have to go wading through all of them to see the things you like.
I think we're going to have to go back. Soon. The list of things we didn't do is about as long as the list of things we did do.
We had a wonderful time and I'm glad I don't have to be back at work right away so I can take some time to recover. We walked way more in those 5 days than I think we walked the rest of the year!
Instead of posting a bunch of pictures here (I took over 300) I'll just direct you to my Flickr photostream. If you've been checking in over the past couple of days, I'm sure you've seen those four thumbnails on the right changing every couple of hours as I upload.
I've created a few sets on Flickr to kind of categorize things, so if you want to see the wedding pictures or touristy things, or architecture, pictures of our family, gargoyles, or pictures of the Brooklyn Bridge (yes, I took enough pictures of it for its own category), they're all there. You don't have to go wading through all of them to see the things you like.
I think we're going to have to go back. Soon. The list of things we didn't do is about as long as the list of things we did do.
Sunday, June 15, 2008
Watch out, American Idol
Rachel started singing this in the car with me the other day, and every time it comes on she asks to hear it again.
New address
One of the many changes you'll notice around here is that Laleblog has a new address. I've been trying to get my entire website a little better organized, and one of the ways I wanted to do that was to create a subdomain especially for Laleblog. The new address is http://blog.namelal.com - that's it. Nothing else to remember, nothing else to type. It's a little more simple than the old address and it allows me to keep all of the blog stuff out of the main site folder.
GEEK SPEAK AHEAD
If you happen to view this site via a feed reader, the feed will be changing as of today too. After today, the new feed will be located at http://blog.namelal.com/atom.xml
GEEK SPEAK AHEAD
If you happen to view this site via a feed reader, the feed will be changing as of today too. After today, the new feed will be located at http://blog.namelal.com/atom.xml
Thursday, June 12, 2008
Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes
In case you hadn't noticed, Laleblog is going through a few changes. It started off as a little tweak to the code to allow me to post larger pictures, because we all know, bigger is better. It's turning into a little more tweaking here and there, so be on the lookout for new things soon, and bear with me through the mistakes.
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
Twenty Four Months
Dear Rachel,
Yesterday, you turned two years old. Two years!
We had a big party for you on Sunday, the day before your birthday, and lots of friends and family came to help you celebrate. You were very excited about your presents, and actually understood that they were for your birthday. Since you got a few presents early, you would point to them, sitting on Sparky's kennel and say "for my birthday." We've had a very busy month with you, and next month is looking to be even more busy.
The temper tantrums that you were throwing last month have subsided a bit, because we've started telling you when things are coming up. We never thought that it would be helpful to warn you, but the Great and Powerful Internet told us that we should tell you that we're going to clean up in a few minutes, or that you're going to take a bath after dinner and then go to bed. Who knew that simply telling you what was next would help curb those fits?
You are starting to have entire conversations with people now, even on the phone. The other day, your mother put you on the phone with me and you said, clear as day, "What are you doing?" and I told you that I was coming home. When I asked what you were doing, you told me that you were helping Mama water. Simple as that, like you'd been talking your whole life. There are still times when we have to pause and consider what you're saying in context, but overall, we can figure out or just plain hear what it is that you're trying to tell us. We repeat back to you what we think you've said and you either tell us no or yes depending on whether we get it right or not.
Speaking of the phone, every time the phone rings, you make sure to tell us, and then proceed to ask if you can talk to whoever it is on the other end. You're getting really good at talking on the phone because your speech is improving so much.
You also started counting to us this month, and you can count to 10 on your own pretty consistently. We still need to get you started, but once you hit four, you can take off on your own. I love to listen to you say seven because it comes out at "sen-en." You've also started actually saying "I love you" instead of your shortened "fu."
The big exciting thing for you this month has been car washes. Yes, car washes. I have no idea what it is that fascinates you about the car wash, but every time we pass one in the car you have to point it out.
"Dada!"
"Yes Rachel?"
"Is a wash? CAR!"
"Yes, it's a car wash"
You even know that there are different varieties of car wash - the touchless ones at the gas station, the self serve ones down the road from us, and the Wash Tub, where they hand dry and detail your car.
We had to work on you with your manners quite a bit this month and it's paying off. You no longer run up and stick your nose in people's crotches or jump on them when they come through the door. Wait...wrong child. You started off the month saying "Yeah" almost all the time. It took a few weeks of me frowning at you, and correcting you even when I knew you were just playing a game, but it's paid off. Of course, in the meantime, your mother and I have also started correcting our own speech because you were only repeating what you'd heard. Saying "yes" has become a habit for all of us, and we sound much more polite because of it. Along with "yes," you've also started saying "thank you." You had please down a couple of months ago, but one day you came home from Judy's and everything we did for you was met with the sweetest little "dink doooo, dink dooo Dada, dink dooo Mama." Cute and polite. A deadly combination.
The last thing this new this month is the healthy stuff. Girl, you loves you some fruit. And apple is one of those words that you started saying very clearly this month. You can put the apples and cantaloupe down like nobody's business. When you tell us you're done with dinner, we'll offer you some apple or other fruit and you'll sit another 15 minutes chomping on grapes, apples, pineapple, anything sweet. Strawberries, not so much. In addition, we've started giving you vitamins in the morning to help you grow up nice and strong. I loved my Flintstones when I was a kid, but I'll tell you what. The Flintstones vitamins are six bucks a bottle, and the grocery store brand is just over three dollars, so you do just fine with your HEBuddy vitamins. The first day I gave you one, you looked at it, and said "I eat?" and put it in your mouth and crunched away at it.
We want you to grow up to be a strong, healthy, well mannered little girl, and you're well on your way. Happy second birthday, and many, many more to come. We love you very much.
Love,
Dada
Yesterday, you turned two years old. Two years!
We had a big party for you on Sunday, the day before your birthday, and lots of friends and family came to help you celebrate. You were very excited about your presents, and actually understood that they were for your birthday. Since you got a few presents early, you would point to them, sitting on Sparky's kennel and say "for my birthday." We've had a very busy month with you, and next month is looking to be even more busy.
The temper tantrums that you were throwing last month have subsided a bit, because we've started telling you when things are coming up. We never thought that it would be helpful to warn you, but the Great and Powerful Internet told us that we should tell you that we're going to clean up in a few minutes, or that you're going to take a bath after dinner and then go to bed. Who knew that simply telling you what was next would help curb those fits?
You are starting to have entire conversations with people now, even on the phone. The other day, your mother put you on the phone with me and you said, clear as day, "What are you doing?" and I told you that I was coming home. When I asked what you were doing, you told me that you were helping Mama water. Simple as that, like you'd been talking your whole life. There are still times when we have to pause and consider what you're saying in context, but overall, we can figure out or just plain hear what it is that you're trying to tell us. We repeat back to you what we think you've said and you either tell us no or yes depending on whether we get it right or not.
Speaking of the phone, every time the phone rings, you make sure to tell us, and then proceed to ask if you can talk to whoever it is on the other end. You're getting really good at talking on the phone because your speech is improving so much.
You also started counting to us this month, and you can count to 10 on your own pretty consistently. We still need to get you started, but once you hit four, you can take off on your own. I love to listen to you say seven because it comes out at "sen-en." You've also started actually saying "I love you" instead of your shortened "fu."
The big exciting thing for you this month has been car washes. Yes, car washes. I have no idea what it is that fascinates you about the car wash, but every time we pass one in the car you have to point it out.
"Dada!"
"Yes Rachel?"
"Is a wash? CAR!"
"Yes, it's a car wash"
You even know that there are different varieties of car wash - the touchless ones at the gas station, the self serve ones down the road from us, and the Wash Tub, where they hand dry and detail your car.
We had to work on you with your manners quite a bit this month and it's paying off. You no longer run up and stick your nose in people's crotches or jump on them when they come through the door. Wait...wrong child. You started off the month saying "Yeah" almost all the time. It took a few weeks of me frowning at you, and correcting you even when I knew you were just playing a game, but it's paid off. Of course, in the meantime, your mother and I have also started correcting our own speech because you were only repeating what you'd heard. Saying "yes" has become a habit for all of us, and we sound much more polite because of it. Along with "yes," you've also started saying "thank you." You had please down a couple of months ago, but one day you came home from Judy's and everything we did for you was met with the sweetest little "dink doooo, dink dooo Dada, dink dooo Mama." Cute and polite. A deadly combination.
The last thing this new this month is the healthy stuff. Girl, you loves you some fruit. And apple is one of those words that you started saying very clearly this month. You can put the apples and cantaloupe down like nobody's business. When you tell us you're done with dinner, we'll offer you some apple or other fruit and you'll sit another 15 minutes chomping on grapes, apples, pineapple, anything sweet. Strawberries, not so much. In addition, we've started giving you vitamins in the morning to help you grow up nice and strong. I loved my Flintstones when I was a kid, but I'll tell you what. The Flintstones vitamins are six bucks a bottle, and the grocery store brand is just over three dollars, so you do just fine with your HEBuddy vitamins. The first day I gave you one, you looked at it, and said "I eat?" and put it in your mouth and crunched away at it.
We want you to grow up to be a strong, healthy, well mannered little girl, and you're well on your way. Happy second birthday, and many, many more to come. We love you very much.
Love,
Dada
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