what mae has in store.

she loves the flower room at our local grocery store...



and it's perfectly clear why!

also, i've worked very hard to make sure she finds the promise of brushing her teeth to be an exciting event. now we brush our teeth together every morning and night!



i've also taught her to say "please" and use sign language for it at the same time. she now does it without my prompting when appropriate. in addition, when she asks for something, i'll hand it to her and she'll say "ga-ga" which is close to "danka" which i've taught her means "thank you" and have been prompting her to do for months. she's just coming to understand how to ask for help or "hapa" when she needs something. i'll say, "help? do you need help? say 'help' please!" and she will. so adorable. my initial response is almost always an enthusiastic "you do it!" (when it's clear she can) to which she immediately responds by trying to figure out how to do it herself and usually succeeds! if she doesn't then i'll help her out. ahh, i'm proud to be raising an intelligent and independent child!

she also knows how to say "sorry" and "i love you" both of which typically involve her hugging or kissing me! i can't get enough of her and every day i sincerely love her more, something which surprises me at times. my heart seems to grow bigger every day. i had no idea it would be this wonderful to be a mother.

oh! we're still working diligently on the alphabet! i started when she was 10 months old and it's finally starting to pay off! we have an alphabet game we play that shows her the sounds which the letters make. she already knows A, B, C, D, and I! she loves the letter I for some reason!

and to think this is only the beginning...