Sunday, September 9

Julia’s communication skills are really improving, both in her use of words and her ability to make her needs known without words. This morning, as she was coming up the stairs, she started saying “dee dee,” her word for cream cheese. Josh, who was walking up with her, assumed she was just babbling or saying her word for baby (also, interestingly, “dee dee”) to the pictures of herself by the stairs. However, when she got to the top, she hurried to the refrigerator, pointed at the door, and repeated “dee dee!” until Josh got out the cream cheese and gave her some. This was the first time we've confirmed her use of a word when she was thinking about something that she couldn't see, so it was very exciting. 

Later in the day, when Julia was at the park, she communicated that she wanted to leave the swings area by rattling on the gate. When Josh came over to open the gate for her, she pointed back at her doll stroller, and Josh realized she wanted to walk around the circle in t he center of the park pushing her stroller. A nearby dad with twins Julia’s age was impressed she had been able to communicate that complex concept so efficiently.

Sunday, September 16

Julia’s word of the week is “duck.” Whenever she sees a duck (or even a body of water where she thinks a duck might be, she gleefully calls out “duck!” She had an extraordinarily long nap today, so tonight when we put her to bed, she didn't go immediately asleep. For almost an hour, we could hear her over the baby monitor, saying “duck duck duck duck duck” to her duck posters, rubber ducks, and the duck book in her crib.