Mah-mah, Dah-dah, Bah-bah, Nah-nah, Unh-unh

Joshua's verbal skills are improving these days. We started to teach him some sign language about a month ago just to ease some of the frustration, but he is starting to pick up new words here and there. David and I were thrilled when Joshua started calling us by name. Most of his syllables have multiple meanings, but I don't care as long as I can understand him for now!

Mah-mah: Mommy, more
Dah-dah: Daddy
Bah-bah: Bible, male grandparent (They each have different chosen names, but I guess this is what it will be for now!)
Nah-nah: night-night, female grandparent (see parenthetical note above)
Unh-unh: (a vast myriad of meanings, this syllable takes on the inflection of the correct words) thank you; "Yes, Mommy;" okay, etc.

Sleeping Beauty

Ellie has been an expert sleeper since she was born. Some people think that all newborns are sleepy, but I can tell you that they are not! Joshua hardly slept during the day in his first two months of life. Ellie, on the other hand, could not be bothered to keep her eyes open... no matter what we tried! I thought that the sleepiness would subside, but she has continued to be terrific at falling asleep and at staying asleep during naps as well as through the night. Her bedroom door in our house does not close all the way, and I actually love it because I can peek in at her from time to time. I have learned that she isn't always sleeping in there! She lays quietly wiggling around; sometimes she is grabbing her face in a desperate attempt to get all of her fingers in to her mouth in order to soothe herself back to sleep. Most often, she is laying completely still with her eyes cracked open. Now I know that babies sleep with their eyes open sometimes, but it seemd like hers are hardly ever closed!

Family vacation

I realized as I typed the title of this post that last year we spent several days in Beirut for our vacation when David's sisters and brother-in-law were here. My sources of refreshement included air conditioning and coffee shops. This year, things are a little different.

Many of you may have heard that David got a job. We are so thankful for the provision of God in our lives. One enormous blessing was that David found out he had been hired two weeks before he has to report to work. We are making these two weeks count! We knew we wanted to spend lots of quality time together as a family, and we decided that the best way to do that with our kids' ages was simply to stay home. What it looks like is this: we do something fun together each day, and we try to spend some time outside each day. David and I take turns during the kids' naps going running, running errands, and continuing the unpacking process. Today is the beginning of week #2, and David will start his new job next Monday!

Time marches on

I am finally running again. The past 6 months has been my longest hiatus from consistent running since... 8th grade! It is funny because these days, when I run, I have to remind myself how much time has passed. I still enjoy running on the Bear Trail, a 2.4 mile loop on Baylor campus. Since I started running that trail in August of 2001, life sure has changed! I have a lot of history there. I ran that trail when it was mostly runnner-friendly gravel; I ran it as I watched monstrous buildings go up. I have run the Bear Trail five or more times in a row to train for marathons; I have run it with my double jogging stroller. I have run the trail with friends, by myself, and with my kids... both in utero and in the jogging stroller. I have run the trail as a freshman in college, single, dating, engaged, married, and pregnant. I have run the trail in the dark hours of the morning and in the wee hours of the night. When I set out to run the Bear Trail for the first time this season, I enjoyed watching students go about their lives. I wonder, when I am not with my kids, how old I look to those students. They sure look young and little to me! For me, it feels like hardly any time as passed since I ran my first lap.

Ten Little Fingers and Ten Little Toes

This is one of my favorite books that we read to Joshua. (Actually, I still haven't found it since we returned from Lebanon, but one day...!) Ellie has discovered her fingers and toes, or at least her hands and feet! Joshua never really sat and stared at his extremities as I heard he might, but Ellie has definitely entered into that phase! She began by staring at her fist which she would extend like a cheerleader frozen in the middle of a cheer. In the past few days, I have caught her tracking her hand as she waves it around. She also grabs her feet and watches them move around. One day, in her carseat, she kept lifting her foot, looking at it, and then lowering it. She must be experimenting and realizing that she has control over those things! (Or maybe she just thinks it is a cool toy that keeps moving back and forth.)

Houston

We recently went to Houston for my cousin Laura's bridal shower. It is so fun to be able to participate in these celebrations again! While we were there, we stayed very busy. Joshua swam a lot in Grandmom and G-pa's new pool, and he went to the park with his cousin, Lily. We also got to meet my cousin Julia's new baby, Claire. She is about 2 months younger than Ellie. What a fun weekend!

Throwing technique

Joshua loves to throw things, especially balls. He likes to play catch, it just requires a whole lot of effort for his partner. A few days ago, David was lying on the floor on his back, and he was tossing a stuffed animal in the air. Joshua thought this looked pretty fun, so he decided to try. He got the small stuffed lamb, raised his hand up waaayyyy in the air, stood sooooo high on his toes, looked at the ceiling, and then threw the lamb down on the ground with all of his might. He continued with the same technique, determined that he could throw the lamb down and still get it to go up by looking up and standing tall.