A, B, Cs and 1, 2, 3s

Lydah's verbal skills increase everyday. Today we heard her say, "1, 2, 3, 8, 9, 10." It was pretty impressive even if she did skip half of the numbers. She's also doing much better at saying her ABC's. Next week Lydah will be spending her time with Grandpa and Grandma Coates while Mom and Dad go on a vacation in celebration of their 6th anniversary and Greg's graduation (we're calling it the "greguation") from seminary. It will be interesting to see how she handles being away from her mommy and daddy for 5 days, but we figure she'll survive. Enjoy these pictures from springtime in Kentucky. Soon we'll be sending them from Indiana!

Daddy, Noah Strauser and Lydah

Sliding with Phoebe Boileau

Reading with great-great Grandma Lida Miller

Kite-flying with Thomas, Elise, and Noel.

She's never happier than when she's with her babies!

Lydah has discovered the effectiveness of calling attention to her "owie" for sympathy.
It always works.

Lydah's Big Surprise!

She's going to be a big sister this November!

Show me the "Munny"

Sometimes Lydah-speak is a little difficult to interpret.
Today we found out "munny" means bunny, only after much confusion. Greg and I were lying in bed, and Lydah was peering out our window saying something about a "munny." "Greg," I said, "she's been saying 'munny' for weeks, and I still can't figure out what that means." I finally asked my exasperated little girl, "honey, what does a munny look like?" She said, "hop, hop." Both Greg and I said, "Oh! A bunny!" Then we actually looked out the window with her and there it was, a bunny munching grass in the backyard.
P.S. In an effort to clear up any future confusion, I told her today, "Lydah, say bu-bu-bunny." Her response? "Bu-bu-munny!" Of course.

Easter with Friends

Most of these were taken on or around Easter with friends at church and the egg hunts that followed. We are thankful that Lydah is finally overcoming a chronic cough which has lasted over 6 months. We have found that the source of the problem was a medication that had been prescribed to her for long term use, but thankfully we now know the cause of her health problems. Thanks to all for your prayers and support!

"Here go, Baby!"

Lydah is imitating a lot of what we say these days. And she doesn't yet switch around her nouns to make things make sense. For example, we have always said, "Do you want me to hold you?" So now if she wants to be held she will just look at us and say, "Hold you." It's pretty cute. The other day Lydah and I were making snowmen together after a very rare March snowfall in Kentucky and she was "helping" me by picking up three or four flakes of snow in her mitten and handing them to me. In an effort to imitate one thing we often say when giving things to her ("Here you go, baby"), she handed me the snow and said, "Here go, baby." I laughed not only at the adorable thing that she said, but also at the minuscule amount of snow that she was giving me.

It made me realize what God must think when I act like I have something to contribute to the building of his magnificent kingdom.

Proudly walking her new baby in her new stroller.

A special gift for the Chinese New Year from our Malaysian neighbor.

Watching Elmo with Thomas.

Saying our prayers before supper.

A Breakthrough

Yesterday Lydah used her training potty for the first time! She went #1 in it yesterday and #2 in it today. So we threw her a little party, gave her some "kiki" (candy), and sang a little song for her consisting of the lyrics "poo poo in the potty" repeated about 25 times. We decided not to share pictures of these events with you, but here are some from her grandmother and grandpa Coates' camera taken during a visit two weeks ago. Some are from our first trip to to Chuck E Cheese's.

How To Speak Lydish

Just for the record, our daughter is now 17 months and 9 days old. And she is an excellent communicator. For those not familiar with her unique dialect we have created a brief pocket dictionary of Lydish. We grant full permission to reproduce and copy this to anyone... anyone, that is, who mails us a "gift donation" of $20 or more.

Be-pa = Grandpa
Ga-gam = Grandma
Bee-bye = Library
Maw-des = Thomas (her good friend)
Coffee = Coffee
Ah wa wu = "I love you"
Wah-wah = Water
Kan-Key = Candy (not that we ever give her any)
Pita = Pizza
Elmo = Elmo, of Sesame Street fame
Bebo = Bellybutton
Sinning = Sitting
Bush = "Push me, please"
Baff = Bath
Hello = Phone
Uh-oh = "I just threw my whole bowl of milk and cereal onto the floor. Come admire the mess with me."
Issa wah why = ??? We still have no idea what this means, but she says it regularly in various contexts.