Walkie-Talkie

Liliana is running around like a champ and trying to talk now. In addition to her early words (mama, dada, and hi) and signs (food, more, please); she is now saying bye bye, cheese, up, bread, cookie, that, what's that, agua/water, and trying to say please; and signing bread, cookie, water, thank you, wash hands, and occasionally signing potty. I'm amazed at how well she can communicate even though she does not speak a lot of words yet. When she needs or wants something we ask her to tell or show us what it is and she is normally able to express it in one way or another - which leads to a quick resolution and prevents a lot of tears. It is amazing how much those little ones can understand and express!

Student teaching is going well. I've got three weeks down and only 7 more to go. The last class that I was petitioning to have waived (since I took a very similar one at the community college) has been officially waived now, so I will be completely done with my degree at the end of student teaching. Graduation is June 14th, though David and I have opted not to walk. We figure we'll save ourselves the money of purchasing gowns and paying to be in a dull ceremony where we'll be told that we are the future and to go out and make the world a better place with all that we've learned. We figure we're doing our family members a favor as well by not making them sit through another ceremony (we both walked with our community college when we finished our 2 year degrees about 7 or 8 years ago and have attended enough commencement ceremonies to know that while they mark an important achievement, in and of themselves they are not that great).

Today we planted some vegetables in our garden. This is our third attempt at growing our own food. The first time we planted a garden we started too late in the season and nothing was done growing before the frost returned (that and the squirrels dug up a bunch of our seeds). The second time I planted seedlings inside a few weeks early and planned to transplant them outdoors when the weather warmed up, but became pregnant and had such bad morning sickness that I never got around to doing it before the plants had outgrown their little starter pots and begun to die. Last year I didn't even bother because I had a newborn and didn't have the time or energy to do it, so this year is the year! We'll stay on top of it and have a great garden with more vegetables than we can use.

I am so grateful to all those friends and family members who have sacrificed of their time (and some of their means) to help care for Liliana while I'm completing my schooling. I look forward to June 12th, when I can again devote all my time to my job as a baby-entertainer! I sure miss hanging out with Liliana all day every day. Luckily, that time will return soon.