sentences

Firstborn said her first confirmed "sentence" this weekend. (This is the kind of sentence where the requirement is only that there are at least two different words, and they are related somehow). Her sentence was "Sit sit sit sit kitty." (This translates roughly as, "The kitty is under the chair.") Since then, she has said several more sentences, including "Duck quack quack," "Cat quack quack" (still working on those animal sounds I guess), and "Esther kitty" (our cat's name is Esther). She now seems to be frequently saying several different words in a row, though I often can't tell what most of them are.

Okay, I don't usually do poop, but I will share a story including poop, because... well, because.

So Daddy was changing the diaper and asked for help because it was poopy and green. This was due to a kiwi for breakfast. While I worked on the diaper, I told Firstborn that the diaper was green because of the kiwi. I asked her what color her poop would be if she ate chocolate. "Bah."
"That's right, chocolate is brown!" (I thought this was just a coincidence--it might be). "What color would your poop be if you at a banana?"
"Yl." I was speechless for a moment. I looked at Husband, who asked, "Was that yellow?"
"It sure sounded like it."
"What color would you poop be if you had blueberries?"
"ll." (pause) "ee." (Were those colors? I don't know.)

I also have heard reports of her matching colors, but I don't know if she did it on purpose. She hasn't done it since. I've talked about colors for over a year, and we've had a color book for several months, so it wouldn't surprise me if she was picking up something.

More on my brilliant daughter, if you're not tired of that

On Friday, Firstborn suddenly became very helpful. When I sorted magic cards, she brought me more from another part of the room. When I loaded the dishwasher, she brought me clean tops from the tupperware cupboard. Since then, she's also carried objects to people to help us pick up. She has previously helped get out-of-reach laundry for Mommy, and started handing me ducks when we pick up at the end of bath time.

Her implementation often leaves something to be desired, but her heart's in the right place, so I definitely tell her that she's a good girl and so helpful.

Her new favorite word is sit (sis or sszss). She gets a book (or several), brings it over, backs up to me on the couch and says "sit, sit, sit." She loves having mommy read to her. She also likes to sit on pillows, in chairs, in boxes or baskets, and in baby carriers/car seats (belonging to babies or to dolls).

I still don't think she realizes that she's about to get a brother, though, no matter how much we've told her. But she does like to carry and feed and kiss her dolls--and shake them.

She speaks

Firstborn now has many words. She has said:
cat/kitty, momma, daddy, ball, mmm, please, stick, duck, down, cup, Blankie, doll, foot, wigglytoes, diaper, smart, good job, no, bye-bye, book, car, vroom, her name, tweet-tweet, turkey, an animal sound (growling--between a bear and a duck; made by all animals, in her opinion), banana, bread, fan
She may be saying other things I haven't caught on to yet as well--right now most of her words start with a d, and the number of syllables does not always correspond to the length of the word. All of these are words I am fairly sure she has both said and comprehended. And there's probably more I'm forgetting.

She also definitely understands, though she has not to my knowledge said:
clap, hair, ear, nose, mouth, tummy, belly button, nap, up, chair, seat, grandma, grandpa, shoe(s), head, hand, cracker, cookie, yummy, medicine, tub, in, not, don't, bird, frog, spoon, fork, dancing, dog, bear, bottle, brush

We still have a ways to go before real, two-way communication. I really am going much more by context than sound in interpreting her words. So if she is pointing at her cup saying "dup, dup" I know what she is talking about. If she is watching "King George and the Ducky" and pointing at the screen saying "dut, dut" I know what she's talking about. But if she's not pointing or carrying the object she's talking about, I rarely have a clue. Sometimes her understanding impresses me--like associating a picture of a cat and a real cat, or when I told her that a freestanding fan was a fan and she went and pointed at a ceiling fan instead. She tries to put on clothes and shoes, and she feeds a bottle to a doll on occasion. So there are a lot of things she understands--but what she is thinking is often still a mystery. Real conversation is a way off. It's less common than it used to be, but she'll still point at something and call it "dah" and I'll still not even know what she's talking about sometimes.

She's also really adorable. Complete strangers randomly come up to me and say how beautiful she is.