Growing Fast

Can you believe that Rachel's 15-month checkup is coming up in two weeks? Rachel's been developing at rocket speed the last few months -- she's taller than ever, is starting to say some words, and understands everything you say to her. Yesterday evening, for example, we went for our typical walk to get the mail, and I asked her to go over to the yellow fire hydrant -- and she did! Then I asked her to point to the red stop sign -- and she did! She's a smart cookie, I tell you -- she'll outdistance her parents in a few months (if she hasn't already).

Some common words that Rachel has now:

• Done - Pronounced "Dunnnnnggg" with strong emphasis on the "D" and the palms up in the air hand signal, this is what she says when she's done with her meal, or done with her bath. She likes to play games with us, pretending she's done and then grabbing something else to eat
• Mama
• Da (or Baba) -- that's Daddy
• Ba - Ball, or Balloon
• Bu - a general purpose term that can mean anything from "look at that" to "I want to go up on the bed" to "I'm bored, come play with me"
• Brr - Bird, or Airplane, or anything else in the sky
• Uplr - This, believe it or not, seems to be specific to airplane (she hears Daddy say it all the time)

Look for some recent pictures of Grandma Susi's visit and other random shots coming soon!