Talking Up a Storm

Well, we officially have 2 chatterboxes in the family! Sierra has been saying more new things all the time, and with all the talking my girls do I am often reminded of the phrase my cousin Casey repeated (in her cute southern accent) running around the airport seats at the end of a visit back when she was probably close to Lily's age and the medical alert bracelet commercial and Urkel made famous the line: "I've fallen and I can't get up!" --"I'm talkin' and I can't shut up!"..."I'm talkin' and I can't shut up!" ...Sometimes I feel like I could never get too much quiet...but I do love my cute girls and I'm glad they are good communicators, and I have hope there will come a day when they will learn to ask only for what they cannot do themselves and not repeat things over and over, or whine! Anyway...just wanted to remember some of the things Sierra says a lot these days.

Sierra says:
Right there
Different one (she asked Mike for a different one when he was about to recycle a slightly dirty bib, and always wants a cup without a lid or a different sippy cup than the ones I usually give her)
Vitamins (only it sounds like almons) then she specifies orange, pink, or red (she asks for them several times a day)
Crackers (quawqua)
Breakfast (Bweckfiss)
Yogurt, eat it!
Stwabewy
Share! (meaning: give it to her, of course)
Counting to 9 (Lily taught her that)
3...Blastoff! 3...Blastoff!
some of the ABC's
Bubble Bath
Tickle Monster
sings: 'Hoppy Bird day to Gwama!', "Row, row, row, boat," "Round and round" (wheels on the bus) and once something she made up with 'Jesus' in it that was so adorable!!
The other day at church she was saying to herself: Up high, side, side, down low, slow
She says 'Church' when she sees a dress
Come on and Comin'! (she always wants to come when one of us is going somewhere)
Yeah, Okay!
She is the most excited kid ever when it's time to brush her teeth. "Brushteef Ok-AY!!!"
No thankyou!! No thankyou!! (with vehemence) Mike was just saying after hearing her say this how some of our manners teachings have backfired with this little one because her polite words come out sounding so sassy! --Like how she also always says 'Excuse you' instead of 'excuse me.'
She calls her big toe "Mommy toe" and her little toe "baby toe" (Mike's idea) Yesterday Grandma asked her which one was her Daddy toe, and she pointed to her other big toe and answered "This one!"
The last couple of days Sierra's been stringing together full sentences like: "I want some of that!" only without taking any breaths between words :)
Sometimes after she sees Lily do it she'll will pretend whisper in your ear.
Sierra will repeat almost everything back to you if you ask her to - and it's not too long and intimidating. One day she was repeating back everything Lily said and making Lily quite annoyed! It ended like this: "Lily: Stop it!!! Sierra: Stop it!" And sounded so much like an exchange between older kids it had me cracking up! Now I often hear Lily telling Sierra: "Ok, Sierra - You can repeat anything I say now!" -I think Lily knows there isn't much she can do about whether Sierra will repeat her or not, but as long as Lily has bestowed permission then she won't have to get mad about it when it happens. :) Now Lily uses Sierra's repeat-after-me-abilities for laughs and enjoys teaching her new things  to say - they are the cutest sisters!

 (warming up after getting soaked on the way home from school on a rainy afternoon -

these photos make me think of me and my sister when we were little)

Sierra is such a darling when she says 'Mommy!' in the most affectionate tone and smooshes her face into me and gives me a great big hug! She can be so serious at times - her facial expressions are just priceless!

But she still smiles a lot too! The other night she was sitting in my lap waiting for(ever like usual for) Lily to come back from brushing her teeth and telling me all kinds of things about her day, repeating the words she knows to express her thoughts - like how she was 'scared, scared' of the fire 'truck' sirens that were 'loud' and how she wanted the little 'girl' she met at the park to 'share' her 'bottle' of 'wawa'. Then we talked about how we don't share drinks or things we put in our mouths with other people, but we do share toys. I could tell she totally got it, I don't think she got the whole sharing concept and am not expecting her to be a pro toy-sharer after this one brief chat, but I could see the understanding in her eyes and in what she said back to me when I talked about not sharing cups or things we put in our mouths. It's just amazing to me how much she is growing! I can't believe she is going to be 2 in a few short months! (My baby!) The time really goes too fast!

Some pictures from the last month or so...

This one's a slideshow of my cute character!

 Our Valentine's day dates for lunch at the Yellow Deli - one of our favorite places!

Whispering in her Daddy's ear :)

Looking so little in the big people chair!

My adorable dates!

and one of me!

Sierra is a champion high heel walker - better than her mom will ever be!

Pretty good in Cabbage Patch doll shoes too!

...and Littlest Pet shop sunglasses!

Cute sisters!

My big five year old!

 Playin' with mom at the park while Lily is off with her school friends

Doing wheels on the bus

("I pity the fool!")

Looking oh so prim and proper :)

Update: Last night Sierra had her arms folded so cute ready for family prayer that Mike asked her if she wanted to say it. She said yes, and Lily - disappointed because she wanted to say it - offered to help her. Sierra leaned back with arms folded against a pillow and Lily's shoulder and I prompted simple phrases, but it wasn't really until Lily whispered them back to her that she started saying/whispering them back. After the prayer she said excitedly "Father, Father 'gin!" (Heavenly Father again) like she wanted to pray again. Tomorrow, we said. It was so sweet! Moments like those make it worth all the trouble :)