What's Leah doing these days? So glad you asked!

• She is learning her numbers! So far she sort of knows 1, 2, 3, and 9. But 2 is by far her favorite.
• She talks. Constantly. Up until last week, she understood the concept of sentences, but didn't quite know how to put words together yet. So she would just make noises and string them in between words she knew. (For instance, "Eeeehhhh Mommy Eeeeeen Daddy?") Last week she actually started to piece words together, the most popular phrase being "Up, please?" Which of course is tough to resist. She knows I'm a sucker.
• She likes to talk about her friends, Mia, Micah (Midah), and Ella (Owwa). On Thursday, we had friends from CT come visit, and while driving home in the car, I told her that we would have friends at our house when we got home. It was quiet for a minute, and then I heard, "Midahhh...an Miaaaa.... an Owwaaaa". Unfortunately that's not who I meant, but it's so cute how much she loves her little friends!
• She looooves to dance on our bed. So much so that whenever one of us heads to our bedroom she runs in behind us and pats her hands on the bed asking "P up? P up? Pup?" (P up = pick up). Which leads me to my next point...
• Jared and I joke about how Leah needs her own little dictionary for her Leah translations. She has a bunch of words that we know what they mean, and she knows what they mean, but anybody who is not around her all the time would have no clue. For example, "dew"=juice, "doda"= cookie, and "wee mee"=raisin. And believe me, "wee-mee" is a step up from wee-wee, which is what she used to call them. (And yes, she does have actual words that you can interpret-- lots of them! The Leah-isms are much more amusing though.)
• She likes to gently stroke your cheek, give eskimo kisses, and hugs.
• Particularly when she's tired, she likes to go "night night" on the floor in the living room. She'll pull a blanket off the couch, lay down, and pull it over herself while yelling "Night night!!"
• We have a very little slide in our yard, and she has just recently learned how to do it all on her own. The steps, the manuevering of the feet at the top, and sliding down. Her only preference is that you sit at the bottom to catch her.
• She likes to lift up my shirt, poke my bellybutton, and say "Baby".
• Old Macdonald is her favorite song to sing, and Twinkle Twinkle is her favorite song to listen to. (Who knew there are actually 4 or 5 verses to this song? And who knew that I'd be able to sing every one of them?)
• And of course, she likes to say no. A lot. She tests limits, is defiant, and is smart enough to know when I'm too tired to stand my ground (like when Jared is out of town for a while and I've had a long day at work). After all, she's 17 months old. It's to be expected.

And naturally, she is an absolute joy in our lives. We just can't imagine what it would be like without her.