Happy Birthday, String Bean!

Dear String Bean,

We have enjoyed being your parents these last 24 months. You've brought much laughter to our home and have enhanced our lives in ways we never could have imagined. We look forward to this coming year and seeing you grow into a big sister, learn to use the potty and expand your vocabulary more and more. We can't wait to hear all your thoughts and help you discover new things.

We love you more each day than the day before.

Love and Kisses,

Mommy and Daddy

Pill! Pill! Pill!

String Bean repeats words over and over when she's really excited or until you acknowledge what she's talking about. Today, I learned that she picked up a new word from somewhere. Whenever a new word comes out of her mouth, it is a bit of a guessing game to figure out. Well, not today.

I was in the kitchen heating up a bowl of homemade chili (cue drooling) when String Bean came racing in and grabbed the kitchen towel and screamed out and back into the living room where she'd been playing.

From the living room, I heard her yelling, "Pill! Pill! Pill!" Of course, it peaked my interest since "pill" is a word I'd never heard her say before. When I walked into the living room, I saw the surprise of my life. She was trying to wipe up the spill from her sippy cup leaking water on the couch. It was literally 3 drops, but she was eagerly trying to clean up the mess.

Immediately, I wondered where she'd learned the important life skill of cleaning up a spill right away. Certainly not from me!

A few minutes later, she took the towel back to the kitchen and hung it up herself. Wow. WOW!

Words

String Bean's top ten words at the ripe old age of 22 months:

1. More
2. Buh (book)
3. Two!
4. shoe
5. Ma
6. Da
7. yeah
8. woah
9. bye
10. peas (please)

First Words

At 19 1/2 months, String Bean is starting to talk! We typically get the first sound of a word when we ask her to say something. Instead of "cheese" we get "ch". When we hear "K" we know she wants crackers. The following words are generally said in their entirety: Mom, Dad, more, Pop (grandpa's name) and ball.

Today while flipping through the channels, I paused on the news which happened to be showing baseball highlights. String Bean dropped what she was doing and yelled (complete with fist in air): Go Cubs!

Mr. Bean would have appreciated this more if the first phrase she said unprompted was: Go Bears. Sorry, dear, if only String Bean were born a few months earlier or later.

The Words We Say

I've found myself in a position of having to report someone for the words they've said. I *think* those words were said innocently, but how can I know for sure? Did the other party take it as an innocent joke between friends or not?

He who guards his mouth and his tongue, guards his soul from troubles. Proverbs 21:23 (NASB)

I'm reminded of my constant need to be careful of what I say for "from the same mouth come blessing and cursing." (James 3:10, NASB)

I prefer to be a blessing.