Message from Mommy

At long last, I've got a minute to write some cute things Calista is doing these days. First, though, pretend I an writing all this down as if she were 18 months old (instead of 19!). Calista talks more and more every day. Here are some new words she has learned:

aah aah (monkey noises)
baah baah (sheep noises)
bike
blue
brrm brrm (motor boat noises)
byes (lullabies)
cookie (pronounced "uhkee" for Cookie Monster - her lovie)
down
elbow
Elmo
Ernie
eyes
hat
knee
Matt
me
milk
moon
mouse/mice
neigh (horse sound)
night night
Nonnie
off
on
pool
pretty
sit
sock
something
stars
suit (for bathing suit)
swimming
tutu
tweet tweet
Weezie (for Grandma Eloise)
whoo whoo (Owl noises)
She also made up her own noises for mice and penguins! And she opens and closes her mouth for fish and turtle noises too. Very clever.

Sign language:
airplane (she thinks this is where daddy lives!)
baby
bear
boat
book
dinosaur
fish
go
hot (she made this one up herself!)
monkey
please
shirt
sock
thank you

If you ask Calista where her body parts are (e.g., leg, foot, knee, toes, fingers, hand, arm, belly, back, head, eyes, ears, nose, mouth, cheek) she will point them out!

I've started asking her to point things out when I read her books, and it's astounding what she knows, even if she can't say the words. Like castle, snowman, penguin and elephant, for example.
Here are some more fun updates on Little Missy's life:

If you ask Calista a question she will understand you and answer, very emphatically, "No," or "Yeaah!!" Her enthusiasm is 100% contagious! Sample questions could include, "Do you want oatmeal for breakfast?" "Yeaah!!" Or, "Do you want to put on socks and shoes and go outside?" "Socks and shoes. Outside. Yeahh!!" Or, "Do you want broccoli for lunch?" "No!" You get the picture...

She LOVES looking through photo albums and we point out and talk about everyone in the pictures.

She's started to put two words together, like "daddy shoes," "hi quack quack," "oh no" (from the "Pancakes for Breakfast" book) and "no mine" which she learned on her first day of nanny share care!

She can blow kisses which is very fun.

She learned how to climb up on her high chair and a bike (see video) so apparently she has Scott's rock climbing genes in her.

She can also drink from a cup, which I saw for the first time on September 5, but which our babysitter Sara said she had been able to do for a while. You learn something new every day, I tell you.

She sings songs by herself, and especially likes the melody of Little Surfer Girl. We have changed the lyrics to "Mommy loves you, yes she does, Mommy loves you oh so much, Yes your mommy yes your mommy loves you, oh so much, yes she loves you oh so much." Then we rotate the lyrics with all our family members, Kiki loves you....Daddy loves you...Nonnie loves you...Weezie loves you...you get the idea! She is also a huge fan of the interactive "Old MacDonald Had a Farm" song, and likes to chime in with all the animal sounds.