"I Love Percy!"

A. has declared her first love:  Percy, from Thomas the Train.  More important, though, is that she declared. her. first. love (note:  I'm not counting our successful prompting of "I love you," which she's said to Mama or Papa when asked).  No lie.  She said "I Love" for the very, very, very first time.  M. was reading a Thomas The Train story to her before he left for work this morning and, voilà! A. declared - with the largest, sweetest smile on her face (first picture below) - that she loves Percy.

As the day progressed, she picked up the use of the word "like," too.  She let us know that she "likes" applesauce and she wondered if Grandma, Grandpa, and Mama like it, too.  This sudden burst of new vocabulary, memory, and grasping meaning is so fun!  She's even starting to make other food requests (which can be dangerous if we can't satisfy her craving.  But that's life, right?) and activity requests (e.g., "drawing" - of course - and playing outside), add to that distinguishing little from big (sometimes this isn't always flattering.  Use your imagination), identifying her colors (she loves black and white), and asking us to draw wacky, off-the-wall things, (e.g., "how 'bout cookie monster?").  I'm always happy when tricky phases pass (e.g., unwillingness to dress) and new, helpful developments emerge.  So, what's next? Tricky phase or more fun developments?  To be continued . . .