New words

It seems that a switch inside Annika's brain flipped. New words are springing forth from her daily. Some of her newest ones are "bups" (bus), "nay" (horse sound), "baaaaa" (sheep sound), and "nuooooooo" (no) is making a more regular appearance in our home and it is almost always partnered with a comical amount of head shaking that nearly knocks her off of her feet.

I had lunch with my dear friend Caroline (aka "Rodney") yesterday. We haven't seen each other in a few months and I've missed her... even though we e-mail very regularly. 2008 was less than a kind year to her and I am thrilled to see that she still can smile and laugh. Caroline has a little boy who is about a year older than Annika; it is so fun to have a friend with a child who is doing many of the same things. We can bounce ideas off of each other and laugh at the goofy things our kids do on a regular basis. I must say, I think I get more out of our friendship at times because her son hits the stages a bit before Annika does. I can pick Caroline's brain for ideas and suggestions knowing she's just gone through the same or similar things. Aside from our dogs deciding to go on a bit of a walkabout, which caused Eric and his dad to go searching for them in the car, it was a perfect weekend.

We spent last weekend on Whidbey visiting Eric's parents. I think we set a record for number of Quiddler games played in a 24-hour period! Everyone won, which was a great bonus to the tournament. Annika was a champ; I think this was the easiest weekend we've had there with her. She slept well (YIPPEE) and didn't break anything (double YIPPEE!). It is such a treat to see Eric's parents interact with her. The love that they have for her is so evident ... it warms my heart to see it.