Skipping Town

Though to the untrained ear most of Greta’s words sound like some version of “Aack!!”, you’ll have to believe me when I say she’s adding more words all the time. Here are a few new additions, and some I forgot last time I did a round-up. (I meticulously recorded each new word Lucia said, along with her age when she said it, in her baby book; Greta will have to be content with a somewhat more haphazard blog record.) car (yelled at top volume at any sighting of a car or truck) cat alRIGHT! oh NO! pa (potty) ball (one of her first words that I forgot to record) sand broom fla (flower) bee (for any bug) sit, seat me achoo! hi bye ’night three* *When Lucia is in an open, friendly mood, she will announce to anyone and everyone who crosses our path that she is three. “I’m three!” she says, holding up three fingers. Greta has seen her do this countless times, and she clearly believes that this is what you do when you see a new person. She’ll hurry ...

Lucia’s been saying “mama” and “dada” consistently now, with “duck” and “ball” as occasional semi-words. But yesterday she said her official first non-parental word. That word is “bump.” Lucia’s favorite book these days is Fall Colors by Rita Walsh. It is an adorable book about fall leaves and the fun that can be had with them. One page shows children raking leaves and says, “Rake the leaves into a pile, / You’re sure to see lots of smiles. / Spin and tumble, dive and jump, / Then leap off an oak tree stump. / Land in the leaves with a BUMP!” Every time I read this to her, which is going on, oh, five hundred times now, I say “bump” with an excited expression. Yesterday, when I turned to that page and got to “bump,” she turned her little face up to me and said very clearly, “Bump!” Then she kept saying it: “Bump! Bump! Bump!” She said it with a good amount of gusto, putting extra emphasis on the “p.” It is definitely “bump.” She likes saying it so much that when we turned to that page t...