I noticed for the first time today that Lily understands when the books she looks at are upside down. Several times today she has picked up a book, looked at it and turned it right side up. Another sign of understanding is earlier she was screaming at me and I told her firmly to stop it now. She stopped and looked at me like I hurt her feelings. Maybe she is starting to understand and is getting to the point where I can reason with her about things. Then again maybe not.
I remember when I had Lily I kept telling my mom, "I just want her to stay this way. I just want her to stay little and precious." My mom's omniscient advice was "no, you don't because then you will never get to be excited about her getting her first tooth, or her first step, or her first words." It is very true because a child's learning and growth are so fun to watch.
Lily has this song and dance that she puts on for all visitors that goes like this..."Lily what does a doggie say? Ruff, ruff. Kitty Cat? Meow, meow. Monkey? Oh oh, ah ah ah. Ducky? Quack Quack. Sheep? Baa. Piggy? tsk (trying to make a snort, yet not getting the inhale) Horse? Neeee. Cow? Neeee. (We are working on that one.) She does a spontaneous repetition of all these things on her own while flipping through her books or just sitting in her chair. The other day we couldn’t get her to quite down from sounding like a cat in labor after seeing a gift bag with a cat on it.
She says tons more words to even remember and will repeat any simple word. She says her own name "Nene" and can say her aunt's name Nahna (Lorna).
Some of my favorites are when she comes up to me and grabs my earrings and says "pedy" (pretty) or when I wipe her nose and she says "goo gurl" because every time I wipe her nose and it is done I say good girl. And maybe potty training is around the corner because the other day I was using the restroom and she comes in and lifts the lid on her potty and sits down. I hope she potty trains soon because she has a bad habit of sticking her hands down her diaper in the back. She does this all the time, and one time too many has pulled out her little fingers with a nice present for me to clean up.