Meredith's newest composition

Meredith likes books a lot, and has recently started asking about the punctuation marks. Rob told her what each mark was called and we've been working on helping her understand their functions -- seems a little intense, but she seems to be catching on to some things (ex. an exclamation point means you "say it really loud!"). There was some difficulty distinguishing apostrophes and commas at first, but now she knows which one is "at the top" and which is "at the bottom".

On their way home the other day, Rob heard Meredith singing about the punctuation in the book she was reading in her carseat. We thankfully got her to recreate the song for us at home. This is absolutely priceless! I've titled it: "I Love Dashes (You Can Believe It)" for reasons that will become obvious as you watch it. It proceeds in two movements (such as they are) so it's a little over 3 minutes, but the best parts are the beginning and then a rhythmic interlude just after the 2-minute mark.

Enjoy!

Lucas communication round-up!

At 13 months old, Lucas is well on his way to being a great communicator. Here's the list so far:

• please (the baby sign -- generally means "more Cheerios")
• all done (baby sign)
• sound of a cow ("bvvvvvvvv", which is what "mooo" sounds like when you don't open your mouth while doing it)
• sound of a sheep (very clear "ba ba ba ba")
• sound of an airplane (self-explanatory)

Occasionally, I'm also able to convince him to repeat after me the word "Yuck!". Other than verbal (and baby sign) communication, he's also an expert at pointing, whining, and tugging on your pant leg. Screaming occurs when he is in the high chair but the food you put in front of him has run out.

Ah, for the uncomplicated life :)