It's been awhile . . .

This isn't going to be an eloquent post, but I need to get something down.

Greta turned 3.5 a few days ago. Lydia is nearly 15 months old. Time is flying.

I can't believe how much these girls are growing and changing every day. Greta started preschool in September and is becoming more independent and competent all the time. It is getting fun to have conversations with her and to see her opening up to new adults and children. Last week, she threw up just before preschool (carsickness) and so I needed to bring her to work with me because she couldn't go to preschool. She did a phenomenal job of staying quiet while my students took their exams, talking in whispers to me and very quietly narrating her activities as she was drawing pictures on the floor near my desk. And yet, when it came time for me to have lunch, or for us to greet children in the hallway, she was vocal and excited and ready to chat with any adult who engaged with her. It is so exciting to see her carrying on conversations with new adults and older children -- holding her own in a conversation without needing her mama to interpret or translate very much at all.

Lydia took her first steps today! She has been cruising and using various pushtoys for awhile now but today she actually took independent steps. She's not going to be my baby for long -- soon she will be a toddler!

In Lydia's vocabulary:
Bath
Splash
Boom
Uh Oh
Mama
Tickle
Five (she says this when she is initiating a high five)
Boo-Boo (for "Peekaboo")

I think what surprises me is not her vocabulary but the way interacts with people and things. She tickles herself or someone else and says "Tickle Tickle!" the way that Greta does when she tickles Lydia. She pretends to put on deodorant or brush her hair. If she drops something, she looks at me and says, "Uh oh" and, if she falls she looks sad and says, "Boom." If we are taking her upstairs and it is the evening she starts wiggling and saying "Bath!" It's so crazy to watch this transformation -- to see her initiating interactions and displaying her own thought processes. I had forgotten how amazing this stage is.

I can't believe these are my kids! They are real people -- with thoughts that they are eager to communicate to the world. This is such an exciting time.