Greater Understanding

Jillian's language is exploding like wild-fire. She is using so many new words that we can understand, and I can tell she is understanding many new concepts as well. Since this blog really functions as her baby book (I do have a traditional baby book, but I am months behind) I really should record as many as I can remember before they slip my mind....

"raf"-giraffe
"mana"-banana
"ah-puhl"-apple
"muh"-milk
"dah-ter"-cracker
"doh-durt"-yogurt
"bed"-bread
"bi-per"-diaper
"poopy"--I think that one is pretty self explanatory :) She has started telling me this after she fills her diaper. Most mornings upon walking in her room to get her up, I am greeted with "poopy! poopy!" Yup. She is.
"pee pee"--she says this to me when I go in to use the bathroom. She stands at the gate and shouts it as she points to me.
"ho-see"-horsey
"dah"-dance. She exclaims this anytime she hears music. It is usually accompanied by a little bit of actual dancing. Cute. Very cute.
"wiss"-fish. She also tries to sign 'fish' at the same time by moving her hand back and forth.
"dee-dee"-hungry. She says this frantically while signing for "eat" in response to the question "are you hungry?"
"soos"--shoes
"ruh"-brush. She loves to brush her hair (what little she has) and mine, too!
"ah-nay"-orange
"peh"-pear
"wah-wul"-waffle
"tees"-her beloved cheese
"pees"--wish I could tell you that this was her asking for some peas, but alas, she is saying please
"gi-gi"--Matt taught her to say Jilly! She points to the baby in the mirror as she says it, or points to herself.
"mimi"-blanket. I have tried to figure out how this interpretation came about and this is the conclusion I have drawn: the blanket she snuggles with at night is one that my mom knit for her. When she started snuggling it, I told her "your grammy made you that". She repeated by saying "mimi". Now, all blankets are "mimi".
"amies"-mittens. This is probably my favorite word of hers right now. I always tell her that it is time to put her "mitties" on as we are dressing to leave. Somehow, she translates "mitties" into "amies". Yesterday, as I was folding laundry, she took one of my socks, handed it to me, and said "amies!". I put one on her hand and she just nodded her head and grinned.
"ay-meh!"-yep, it's 'amen'. She caught onto us exaggerating the word at the end of our dinnertime prayer and now she says it with us. She will even remind us if we start eating and don't pray. She just suddenly shouts "ay-meh!". She also has started saying it when she is ready to eat, or sees me set the table. I am working to get this on video because it is so endearing.

Recently, Jillian began requesting songs that she wants me to sing. It's amazing to me how good her memory is. I started singing "The ABCs and "Old McDonald" one evening after her bath to distract her from her woes as I dressed her for bed. It took about two days for her to shout "E-i-o!" at me as I laid her on her changing table requesting "Old McDonald", and then "AB!" for "The ABC's". I was blown away. She absolutely associates those two songs with the post-bath routine. Similarly, she expresses her story time requests by shouting "Meeg" (you may recall that this is Jillian-ease for 'pig') as she points to the "If You Give a Pig a Pancake" book. It's her current favorite.

Lastly, just because I'd probably get in trouble for a picture-less post, here is the wild child NOT understanding that "we sit down in our chair" (A big thank you to Grandma and Pop Pop for the awesome chair!).