OFF

The word of the day was "off". Karla said this word for the first time and used it appropriately ALL day. She used it when taking off her clothes, shoes, socks, diaper, lids to things...ALL day. I think she actually said "off" today more than she said the word "no"!! Her other new phrase today was "Are you okay?" She spent a lot of time asking all her stuffed animals this question. It was one way to work on her saying "yes". She can do it! :)

Here are some new words Karla has said since last Thursday: I know, gobble gobble, key, more juice, got you, pull, you, coffee, got it, boo boo, Karina (foster aunt), Boots (from Dora), scoop, soft, pee pee, off, sticky, "nita" (for bonita - "pretty" in Spanish) and Are you okay?. She is saying so many more words and 2 word phrases. I know some of them would only be understood by me, but she's getting better. I'm a speech therapist and even I am impressed...maybe I'm biased. :)

Karla said "coffee" after she got up extra early one morning (can't remember at this point what day it was), went straight to her Daddy's desk, got his keys, and set off the car alarm. I was still half asleep so it took me a minute to figure out what was happening and that our car was the one probably waking people up. As soon as I turned the alarm off I said, "Karla, I need coffee". She shook her head yes and said "coffee", like she agreed with me. :)

My computer still isn't working properly and a new part is coming in the mail (in 3-4 more days!) so I can't view or post my pictures. It is awful. At least I can email and blog now. I should probably be doing laundry or cleaning up the kitchen, but blogging is so much more fun.

Other Karla things:
*she identifies eyes, nose, ears and belly button on her, her toys and us (in English)
*yesterday I licked my finger and then swiped some dried food off the corner of her mouth one time. Today, I saw her do this to her toys a few times. How does she remember this stuff? I seriously keep a notebook on the counter so I can jot things down during the day so I don't forget! How does she remember one thing I did yesterday? It is kind of scary. :)
*Saturday she said several new family members names (or attempted to)
*Each week seems to get better. Karla doesn't say "no" nearly as often and she doesn't have meltdowns/tantrums nearly as much - maybe 1 a day. That is probably okay for a toddler. I feel like things are a bit easier for me too. I have figured out that my attitude plays a big role. :) So if I feel crabby in the morning because someone has kept me up during the night, I've learned to pretend I feel just great! I think we are both happier that way and I see less attention-getting or bad behaviors from her.
*she ate more than I did for breakfast and lunch today! I don't know where she puts it!
*we went to the Y this morning. You can see the pool to the left through a glass wall as soon as you go in. As soon as she saw it she said "Adios Mommy" and ran to the wall. She started trying to take her shoes and coat off. It was pretty funny. I think I am going to sign her up for swim lessons starting in January. We went to the Y to run around the gym. We were only there a few minutes before another mom came with her two little boys. Karla liked watching the boys, running after the ball, "racing", and running, running, running. My goal was to give her some exercise on a cold day - but I think I got more exercise than she did.

*Obviously I feel like Karla has always been my daughter. I forget she is adopted (...except when I remember the 2 years I was without her). At Target and Giant Eagle though I had experiences that reminded me. The first time we went to Target the lady at the check-out asked Karla her name and how old she was. I felt like saying "She has no idea what you are saying to her, she speaks Spanish. She's only been in the country for 2 weeks". But I didn't say that. She just thought Karla was shy. (Of course we're working on these two things now.)
Then today at Giant Eagle we were at the deli counter when the lady asked me if my baby would like a slice of cheese or salami. I felt dumb because I said "I don't know, because I really did not know." She looked at me kind of strangely and then I just said, sure, she'll have some cheese. I ended up eating it. Karla likes shredded cheese but apparently not sliced cheese. I had tried sliced cheese before at home and she didn't eat it here either. Now I know.

*Daddy came home from work early today because he was sick. I haven't even gotten to tell him all about our day. Karla saw him a little bit tonight and seemed to understand he didn't feel good. He was on the couch for a little while and she just stood beside the couch with her hand on his leg watching TV with him. When his bowl of soup was gone she signed "more" for him so that I would get him more soup!! It was SOOO cute.

*Karla said "amen" today after we prayed at dinner time. Later this evening when we were playing with some "little people," they sat down at a table and Karla said "amen".

*We've been listening to a Praise CD when we get in the car. She started singing part of "Let God Arise" on Saturday when we were driving to Ohio. She would sing part of the chorus "God saves". It too was SOO cute! Today she was running around singing just "God". I think we need to work on this so it doesn't sound like she is using the word inappropriately. :)

*She is still not sleeping through the night. I really wish I knew why. It is almost the same time every night/morning that she gets up and does not want me to leave the room.

*If anyone has read this and made it this far, I have a question. What is a good type of laundry detergent for a kid who loves spaghetti and pizza and gets sauce all over their clothes? I use Kirklands from Costco, it is not getting the stains out. I'm beginning to think it is not the best.

Sorry, no cute pictures in this post. I got a good one today of her too with all her Osos (bears).