The Vocabulary List

We had a nice and productive Saturday today. Catherine and I got up early (like always) and had applesauce pancakes for breakfast and played for a few hours until Daddy got up. Then Catherine and Daddy played until well into the afternoon while I worked on the basement (I'm thinking two more days and the drywall tape/mud will be done). We had to make a quick trip to the store because I ran out of joint compound and wanted to do some more work tonight. It looked really nice out, bright and sunny, so I thought we would go for a walk after we got back from the store, but changed my mind as soon as we stepped outside. It was very windy and therefore very cold - we're supposed to have a heat wave this week: it might get to 50 one day (while raining).

Catherine did some good playing today. She figured out how to tear apart the foam blocks that we use to build PainoForte, so now she loves separating the pieces until the whole thing collapses and then waiting for someone to build it back up again (she doesn't do that part yet). It's really funny when she makes growling sounds while destroying the structure.


We also did a lot of cleaning today. Catherine swiffered pretty much the entire house, and she helped Daddy do some dusting while I was in the basement. She also did some vacuuming with her toy vacuum - too bad it doesn't work for real.

I guess since it was too cold to go on a walk outside Catherine decided to take a little walk herself. She collected her purse and her dog and off she went to her room:



Catherine's spoken vocabulary is still pretty scant. She says "mamama" when she wants something really desperately, and she regularly uses "hi" and "ba-bye," almost always in the correct context. She also says "dog" to refer to dogs and pretty much all other animals and people, and now she says "shoes" to refer to shoes and lots of other inanimate objects. However she is definitely understanding a lot more than she says. When I tell her it's time to go out and she needs her shoes, she will run back to her room and get them out of her shoe box, and she even brings matching pairs. She'll do the same with "coat" and "hat." She will get one of her bowls out of her cupboard if we're making dinner and I tell her she needs a bowl, and when I tell her it's time for a bath she will go to her room and get her towel and bring it to the bathroom. And of course asking her if she's hungry or telling her it's time for a snack brings on a flood of "num-a-num-a-num." She also likes to say "mmmmmm" when she takes a bite of food. Tonight we had chicken tacos for dinner and I gave Catherine some of the chicken, and she would take a bite and say "mmmmmm" and then spit it out. I guess it's just fun to say. Catherine is also starting to learn some animals. One of her favorite things right now is to sit in front of her big book of animals; she points to them one at a time and waits for Michael or I to say what animal it is. Sometimes she will point to the correct picture if we ask her where one is (she's pretty good at "dog," "tiger," and "bear"). She'll also give a little growl if you point to the tiger and ask her what a tiger says.

This is a picture of Catherine's post-nap face. She always wakes up with super rosy cheeks after a nap.