Today's updates (Anna)

1) I was eating a quejos today and Emma wanted some. But instead of grabbing it, or pointing or crying, or saying "Emma?" or "Pliz?" as she normally does, she said:

"Mumma, share pliz."

I thought I was imagining it, but then she repeated it. How could I resist that? So I gave her a bite, and she said "tank-you." So something's sinking in.

2) E went trick and treating for the first time tonight, in a huge pack of kids from the neighbourhood. She was dressed as a monkey. It was lots of fun. By the time we had gone to three or four houses, she started whispering, "Trick or treat" as if she needed to practice it. She refused to actually say it to anybody at the doors, but would whisper it on the way back down the stairs again: "Trick or treat." She also wouldn't say thank you at the doors, but waited until she was safely back on the pavement before whispering "thank you".

3) The high chair is officially a thing of the past. Ever since B was here on Friday night, Emma has refused to go back into it. So no more safely contained baby for us.

4) E has been doing a lot of language processing today, talking almost constantly when she's been at home, and going through what sounds like lists of words. Earlier, it was an inventory of nouns as if she was looking for the right word. It went something like this:
Fish. Nooo. Mummy. Nooo. Water. Nooo. Bed. Nooo. Teddy. Nooo. Cup. Noooo. Diaper. Noooo. Mumma. Nooo. Elbow. Nooo. Book. Nooo. Car. Nooo. Monkey. Nooo. Moosik. Noooo. Pasta. Nooo....

This went on for several minutes.

And then tonight it was phrases with "more" in them, as in "More crackers. More milk. More cuddles. More water. More play. More..." well you get the picture. She wasn't asking for anything, just cycling through her words.

And at bath time, she went into a long animated monologue with the bath taps, telling them a very excited story that included characters with the names "Mumma," "Mummy," and "Monkey", interspersed with "yeah" and "no" at frequent intervals.

There's obviously a lot going on in there, and it's fascinating to hear it start to come out in ways we can begin to understand.