Ethan Ruth Harper Jack

Good Cognitive Skills!

Harper can now say her own name! For the past three days, Harper responds with a "Hapah" when asked, "What is your name?" Super cute! For the past month or so, when she saw a photo of herself, she would point to it and then point to her own chest to communicate that the photo was of her, but now she will point to it and say, "Hapah!" (When she woke from her nap a few minutes ago I was holding her in my arms and she saw a framed photograph of her when she was four months old. She perked up and said "Hapah!" in recognition. She amazes everyone with her ability to recognize and identify people in photographs, even when the picture doesn't look like the person does today. She can also correctly identify baby pictures of Ethan or me, even ones that she has never seen before!)

Other newish words include the following:

shhhh! (with index finger over mouth)
choo-choo (with hands clasped together and bouncing them vertically)
turtle
bubbles
gorgeous
boat
bath
push! (said when she wants to push blocks through their corresponding hole in the lid of the box, i.e. circle in the circle hole)
zoo (says while holding out "Put Me in the Zoo" book)
whoops (says she's holding a book entitled, "Whoops!")
uh oh
toots (said when she or someone else toots)
and many more... it's tough to keep up with this kid!

Harper is also starting to put words together and make small sentences. For example, the other day while she was eating at Grandma's house, she pointed to her placemat and explained in sign language "kitty cat sleeping". Indeed, the picture featured in the center of the placemat was of a sleeping cat. This morning she was talking to Dada in the other room and I overheard, "Va Dada Mama"-- translation: I love Dada and Mama. She also does the signs for "sleepy" and "baby" to tell me she's tired sometimes because I've always said, "Are you a sleepy baby?" She also asks me to play a specific song by sitting in front of the stereo and doing the sign for train (a sign, by the way, that she made up) and saying, "choo choo!" (The song she's wanting is "Little Red Caboose", sung by Laurie Berkner.) She can even find the H in her LeapFrog Phonics Radio toy and tell me it's for "Hapah". It's so fun to watch her express herself so confidently and effectively.