Back to your regularly-scheduled program *EDIT*

I've talked before about how amazed I am by how many words Ari understands, even though she can't say all that many yet. Well, lately I've been noticing how she's starting to understand the context these words are used in. She's really good at imitating us--if we tell her to say a word, or repeat a word over and over, she'll say it. But now she's starting to say some words all on her own, without prompting from us.

For example, if you ask her if she's hungry, she'll reply, "Eat?" and do the sign language for it. The other day when she was being exceptionally whiny, I said to her, "Are you tired?" She replied, "Nap?" and started heading toward the stairs. With a shrug, I followed her--I was skeptical, but figured it was worth a shot. I laid her down and got in the shower. When I checked on her, about half an hour later, she was laying in her crib--completely awake, pacifier in her mouth, and her Beloved Belle in her hands. I don't know if she ever slept or not, but she was obviously aware that she at least needed some downtime. And she stayed quietly in her crib for another good 15 minutes or so as I got ready--and if I hadn't barged in to get her ready too, who knows how long she might have chilled.

We were at my parents' the other day, and the adults were playing cards at the dining room table. Ari was wandering around, keeping herself amused, when suddenly she started chanting, "Mom! Mom!" in that frantic way she does when she really wants my attention. I called out to her, "What is it, baby?" but she just kept persisting, and I could see she was pointing at something. I got up, wondering what she'd broken or messed up. When I turned the corner, I saw she was pointing at the kerosene heater, which was off. She looked up at me, and quite seriously said, "Hot." A few days later, I was holding her in my arms while I was making her dinner. We were standing near the stove, and she told me, "Hot. Hot." She says it in this funny little half-whisper too, which cracks me up. But needless to say, I was impressed to find that she's actually been paying attention when we tell her something is hot.

She's been playing peekaboo for a while now, but now, she'll actually start the game herself. I was changing her the other day when she clapped her hands over her eyes, then flung them out, declaring, "Peekaboo!" When she says it, she really only get the "p" and the "b" sound, so it sounds like "pee-buh" or "puh-buh."

She also blows kisses on her own now. The past several times I've said "bye" to her, she responds by blowing me a kiss, complete with a "muh" for added effect.

She's even starting to repeat words that her toys say to her. She has this one activity table that has lights, plays music, talks, etc. There's an apple on it that says "apple" when you press it. Ari was playing with it the other day, pressing on that apple and then saying, "Ap-poo, ap-poo" over and over. She also loves her "The Very Hungry Caterpillar" book, and will excitedly say, "ap-poo, ap-poo" as she "reads" it. The funny thing is, though, if you ask her to show you the apple, she can open up to the page that shows all the fruits, but she doesn't know which one is actually the apple. It's like she knows it's in there somewhere, but can't quite remember where. I'm sure she'll have it all figured out in no time.

**********EDIT**********

This is what happens when you let your child feed herself pasta...



Needless to say, it was straight to the bathtub after dinner. And after the bath, it was into her new Belle pajamas.



She kept herself entertained in her room until bedtime. I guess this book was pretty exciting.



Not sure what's going on with her tongue here...



Look at those kissable cheeks!



She is finally getting hair--I actually use the blowdryer on it after her baths now. Sure, I only have to blow-dry it for about 10 seconds, but still...