Books read aloud with Julia, 2013
Addie Saves the Day
Changes for Addie
Changes for Josefina
Secrets in the Hills: A Josefina Mystery
Meet Kaya
Kaya's Escape
Kaya's Hero
Kaya and Lone Dog
Kaya Shows the Way
Changes for Kaya
Kaya and the Silent Stranger
Meet Kirsten
Kirsten Learns a Lesson
Happy, Birthday, Kirsten!
Kirsten's Surprise
Kirsten Saves the Day
Changes for Kirsten
Kirsten on the Trail (short story)
Kirsten and the New Girl (short story)
The Runaway Friend: A Kirsten Mystery
Samantha Learns a Lesson
Samantha's Surprise
Samantha Saves the Day
Changes for Samantha
Nellie's Promise
The Cry of the Loon: A Samantha Mystery
The Stolen Sapphire: A Samantha Mystery
The Curse of Ravenscourt: A Samantha Mystery
Meet Rebecca
Rebecca and Ana
Candlelight for Rebecca
Rebecca and the Movies
Rebecca to the Rescue
Changes for Rebecca
Danger at the Zoo: A Kit Mystery
Midnight at Lonesome Hollow: A Kit Mystery
Meet Caroline
Caroline's Secret Message
A Surprise for Caroline
Caroline Takes a Chance
Caroline's Battle
Changes for Caroline
Meet Cecile
Meet Marie Grace
Voices at Whisper Bend: A History Mystery
The Adventures of Granny Fox
The Adventures of Old Man Coyote
The Adventures of Johnny Chuck
Grandfather Frog
Happy Jack
Reddy Fox
Of Bob White
Tommy and the Wishing Stone
Anne of Green Gables
Anne of Avonlea
All-of-a-kind Family
All-of-a-kind Family Downtown
Ella of All-of-a-Kind Family
Betsy-Tacy
Betsy-Tacy and Tib
Emily of Deep Valley
The Borrowers
The Borrowers Afield
The Borrowers Aloft
The Borrowers Afloat
Paddington Abroad
Little House in the Big Woods (2nd time)
Little House on the Prairie (2nd time)
On the Banks of Plum Creek (2nd time)
Babe
The Jamie and Angus Stories
The Original Adventures of Raggedy Ann and Raggedy Andy
The Best Christmas Pageant Ever
Callie Woodlawn
The Moffats
5 Little Peppers and How they Grew
Rabbit Hill
Thee, Hannah!
Black Beauty
Homer
Hitty: The First Hundred Years
Strawberry Girl
The Hundred Dresses
Nutcracker
The Landing of the Pilgrims
The Reluctant Dragon
A Papa Like Everyone Else
Sympathy
Meredith's love for dolls has increased a lot the last few months. She takes care of them, and they take care of her. Yesterday when she fell, my hands were messy from kitchen work, and I couldn't immediately get to her. When I walked in a minute later to see if she needed a cuddle, she refused and said, "Dwenny hewp me, better." She likes to smell all the spices while I'm cooking, and she often goes to get a doll so they can smell, too.
When we took a trip a couple of weeks ago, I forgot to pack one of her dolls. I was a bit worried how she'd do without them - she doesn't need them to go to sleep, but she plays with them constantly through the day. I was surprised to see her with her blanket wrapped around something, bouncing and patting and comforting it, just as she always did with her dolls. I asked her what she had in her blanket; she said, "Mine boot."
A few weeks ago, lots of inchworms were hatching in our back yard, and Meredith was a bit scared of them. (A time or two, one had landed on her and surprised her.) One day after that, she was comforting her doll and said, "Poor Dwenny! Inchworm bite you?" So then I knew why she was afraid of them. =) A few minutes later, she was playing with the cooler, opening and closing the lid. Then she said, "Poor baby! Slam your head?"
Another video
Here are a few clips of the girls the last few months, with a few explanations:
A lot of singing and dancing goes on at our house. That's what most of our videos end up being. =) At the end of Meredith's song around the stool, I lover her little shy head-turn that she does. When she sings, "Rock-a-baby to you," that's a cross between, "Rock-a-bye baby" and "Happy Birthday to You." That video was taken on Julia's birthday. And one of Meredith's favorite things is to look at herself in the mirror and be silly.
Language
I have been meaning to record the little advances in talking that Meredith makes, because I love how amazing it is. Here's a bit from the last two weeks, at 20 1/2 months.
I love how she says, "Evabody tweem uht" (Everybody clean up).
Her first five-word utterance was about a week ago, when she didn't want me to peel her clementine for her: "My turn peel orange pweese!" Her strong desire to do things for herself has prompted a few of her communication advances. She says, "I doot!" (I do it) and "self" a lot.
A couple of weeks ago, she was restless at 4am (getting sick, as it turned out). She sat up suddenly and wailed, "I want mine shoes!" I was impressed by the sentence, even though the hour wasn't ideal for it.
Meredith has been interested in the mole on my face. One day she pointed at her one little freckle on her hand and said, "My have freckle." Then she pointed at her face and asked if she had a mole. When I said no, she said, "I want a mole."
Yesterday afternoon, Meredith kept saying 4- and 5-word utterances, several in an hour. I was amazed by it. And then today, she was saying 6 words together frequently!
She's finally to the point where she can tell Julia what she wants. Yesterday when they were pretending to be in boats (laundry baskets) and Julia got on Meredith's basket, Meredith yelled, "Get off mine boat!" And later when Meredith needed to go to the bathroom and Julia was using the stool, Meredith yelled, "Julia get off stool!"
Several times a day Meredith asks me to take a picture of her, and then she wants to see the picture. Yesterday she said, "Pictures spinning my red boots please!"
And later, "Pictures messy hands please!"
And "Pictures me playing Julia computer."
Then, "Pictures blue egg please!"
It's amazing how fast language develops! Yesterday I was so surprised by these long phrases that I wrote them down so I could tell Trevor and grandparents about them. And today she talked so much all day long that it seems like old news already!
5th Birthday
Julia got sick the morning of her birthday, but she was able to perk up long enough to enjoy some birthday fun.
