Solana Says ...

Yes, Solana is talking more and more every day! It seems as though it was just yesterday that she was born, and that I was in that hospital room, feeling such a high the moment I looked over my right shoulder and first laid eyes on that perfect little angel, with her Asian looking eyes, wide open, and her adorable dimples, looking like a toddler already, at 9 pounds 13 ounces ... that precious, precious second is so vividly engrained in my memory! To look at her now, there's no trace of baby to her ....

Her first word was Dada. She now says Mama, Tita (my mom), Ganma (Danny's mom), and my favorite ... Dado (what she lovingly refers to as her brother!).

One of the first phrases she learned was "I want"! She's a full blown female alright, she says this phrase at least 20 times a day! As she learns a new word or two (or ten!) a day, she is expanding this sentence tremendously! Here are a few of her variations: I want eat, I want shake-shake-shake (aka yogurt drinks), I want jute pack (aka Juice Pak), I want titsa (aka pizza), I want carry you (aka I want you to carry me), I want jump jump (aka jumping on the bed or sofa, assisted of course!), I want bike, I want shoes, I want eckace (aka necklace), I want wawa (aka water), I want tea (yes, Daddy makes the best tea!), I want hen hies (aka French Fries, from McDonald's preferably), I want Ath (aka Bath), I want Ikeem (aka ice cream), I want Down (when she wants to get out of any seat), I want Iyaman (which we always have to figure out ... is she saying Iron Man or Vitaman???) ... the list goes on and on!

She is also singing along to her favorite lulluby's ... which include:

• Twinkle Twinkle Little Star (which she calls "lil tawww")
• Rock A By Baby (which she calls "Baby")
• Itsy Bitsy Spider (which she signals with her hands more than with words!)
• A San Martin (which she calls Ong Ong Ong and signals with clapping hands ... it's a Spanish song that you clap to)
  
• and her absolute favorite, You Are My Sunshine (which almost sounds like French Fries ... "Hen Hie Away" :) but also quite ironic that it's her favorite song because her name means sunshine!)

Solana has also finally mastered the meaning of "Yes". One of her first words was No and for the longest time she would answer everything with NO! No matter what we'd ask ("Solana, you want ice cream?"), the answer was always No! The only way we could tell if she really meant no was by observing her head motions. If she meant no, her head would stay still. If she meant yes, she would say no but nod yes!

Well, a few weeks ago she finally started saying Yes and just recently has been very consistent in saying yes when she means it. I'm so proud of how quickly she's learning now! And with the concept of "Yes" down, she also added another level to her "No" concept. If she doesn't want something that we are offering, she'll repeat the word but with "no no" at the beginning!

Solana, nap time
"No no nap time!"

Solana, time to go
"No no go!"

Solana, time to put up the toys
"No no up toys!"

Solana, night time ....
"No no night night!"

Even when I tell her it's time for me to go to sleep (yes, I usually fall asleep before her and Daddy puts her to bed soon after) ... Solana, mama night night ...
"No no mama night night!"

And the most recent thing she has learned is how to pout! She really uses that bottom lip well! And she enjoys watching TV so she'll ask for the following shows:

• Un Ob (Spongebob)
• Ni Hao (which she says well!)
  
• Down Show (The Upside Down Show)
• Awgans (The Backyardigans)
• Oiiiia (Olivia)
• Ling Ling (meaning Ming Ming, one of the characters from Wonder Pets)
• Ora (meaning Dora the Explorer)
• (My Favorite) "Wow wow wow wow wuuuuubzy" (it's really just Wow Wow Wubzy but she adds like a million "wow"s in her made up title!

Oh, and how can I forget one of her latest tricks ... she loves to get naked! She's quick to say, "I want off!" Solana is very comfortable running around in just a diaper and every once in a while, even her diaper gets lost! She hates keeping her shoes on for too long ... if the van ride is more than 15 minutes, you better bet that she's taking her shoes off! She can't stand anything in her hair for long (if at all).

Recently she's shown interest in being potty trained! So she now says "I want poo poo".

Overall she loves to play so she'll say, "I want ay" (aka, I want to play). She loves playing with my jewelry, playing with baby dolls, pushing around the stroller, reading books and writing / coloring, like most girls her age!

It's amazing to see her little personality develop, and I love being able to communicate with her. It's bittersweet, even at this age (almost two years old), she seems to be growing up too fast! And I just know that in a few years, all of these things that Solana says will be a vague memory if I didn't jot them down! I hope that she reads this one day and gets a kick out of how she developed!!! Love you Solana!