Overly Academic

Sorry for the delay in updating.  It’s been a crazy few weeks with lots of activity.  Ilyana has made some neat leaps, including jumping right out of the car at Grandma and Grandpa’s yelling “Bapa! Bapa!” instead of taking a day to warm up.  She’s also counting to three, and saying “eh-phan” when we pass a billboard of an elephant every day.  It’s trying at times with her emerging control issues, but we’re making it through.  Just don’t leave her with a crayon unsupervised…had to clean out of the teeth.

Thanks to Grandma Laurel for the pictures!!

Hi!

I’m playing at Grandma and Grandpa’s house.

Aren’t I the cutest?

We’re playing in the park now.

The rocks are the best to play with.  Mama wouldn’t let me eat them tho…

I got nice and clean later.  Baths are fun!

I got a drum to play with.  It was nice and loud.

Time to go, woof.  Bai!

Pictures are coming soon – we’ve had a busy few weeks, and haven’t been able to post.  We’re currently experiencing an explosion of words with Ilyana.  Some are things like naming body parts, items of clothing, or toys.  Others are sounds, which she uses to identify things.  (She’s saying ‘moo’ when she sees cows, and ‘woof’ when she sees dogs).  It seems that every day there is something new.

By far the most fun are the phrases.  We’ve got “up please,” “thank you,” and one of her new favorites, “I don’t know.”  (Actually, it’s “I non no,” but you get the idea.)

My favorite is the one she just came up with Thursday morning.  She ran into the dining room as I finished up breakfast and said “Mama, yuv you!”

Can’t beat that .

Lots of things have been happening here lately, not the least of which has been our preparation for our trip to England and Scotland.  Jeffrey and I will be providing a few updates while we’re traveling, but pictures of the little one will be on hold until after July 18th.  Ilyana is staying at home in the capable hands of Grandma Sue and Grandma Ann, with a little help from our regular sitter Helen.  I will have some pictures up over the weekend, featuring our trip to the Children’s museum and some other fun around the house.

The neatest thing that pictures can’t really capture is how much Ilyana’s vocabulary has grown lately.  She is saying things like box, bath, duck, click, dance, map, etc.  She’s big on copying sounds too.  She’s been enjoying playing along with Blues Clues on TV, singing the “mail time” song.  Her grasp on music is fantastic, and she tries to sing along in tune with all the songs I sing to her.  It’s so much fun to hear something new coming out of her mouth every day!

She’s also getting better at telling us what she wants, mostly by pointing.  In fact, three times in the last two weeks she has put herself to bed!  She’ll have us carry her into her room, and point to her bed.  Potty training has taken a jump too, with her telling us when she’s done her thing, as well as loving the big potty.  So, she continues to astound us.

Stay tuned for pictures soon, and think of Jeffrey and I as we fly out soon.