[video]http://www.youtube.com/v/piR2i3eiBw4[/video]

So we have officially been MIA for the past few weeks. Lots of colds, the flu, celebrating the New Year and the unfortunate passing of Seth’s grandmother have lead to a lack of updates and pictures. There are a few new pictures in Lily’s January 2008 folder, but hopefully I will get more soon.

As I mentioned, Seth’s grandmother passed away last week, so we spend time up in New York with the family. It was a blessing to have Lily there as children just seem to give everyone something else to focus on. It was a very hard week for Seth and his family, so please keep them in your thoughts.

Lily has been very busy learning lots of new things. She can now sing/act “Head and Shoulders” (well, she can’t quite do it fast enough so some body parts get skipped!) and she loves to play Peek-a-Boo. She will cover her eyes and open them and say “I see you!” This morning she started saying “Peek-a-Boo” to let you know she wants to play. We have been practicing our animals, using the Little People Animal Zoo that Aunt Lynn bought for Christmas and she can pick out some of her favorites from a “line-up” like the lion, penguin, monkey and fish. If you ask her to bring you something she will go and get it for you (now this is a skill worth practicing… if only I could teach her to get my morning coffee!)

I think it is so interesting to watch her brain develop and how she is beginning to truly express her likes and dislikes. She can now say so many things, it is so cool! She says, “Puppy, Mommy, Daddy, Kitty, Happy, I see you!, Peek-a-Boo, Head, Shoulder, Zookeeper (I know… that is a weird one! Although she has only said it twice.), Lynn, Papa, Grandma, Rachel, Christopher (or her own version of this), Roar!, Pooh Bear, Diego, Baby, What?, Lemme See (and you better let her see it within 20 seconds or it is not pretty!), Fish, Ball, Elmo, Baba, Cookie, Pizza, Shoes, Walk (which is  a command in her world!), Phone, Seth, Woah!, UhOh, Thank You, Sorry, ByeBye, Night Night, Nana (for banana) and  Your Welcome”. The coolest thing about this age (and probably the most frustrating for her) is that she also understands the meaning of so many words although she can’t quite say them yet. So I can talk to her and she understands a lot of what I say which allows her to understand the routine. For example, I can say “let’s go get lunch from the kitchen” and she will go into the kitchen and stand by the fridge. The human brain is sooooo amazing!