L

When I first arrived, L was about 16 months, barely mobile, mute and overweight. Now, she has grown several inches and actually RUNS. She started walking well shortly after I arrived and has made much progress. She is no longer the shape of a basket ball, but she is still quite large for her age (home girl rocks three year old clothes).

More interestingly I have observed, is her speech development. She started out with the easy words like Maman and Papa, but she now has a wider range of L phrases such as "Maman est partiee", "maman est pas la", "papa est partie", "papa est pas la." "Eye!" "Nez!" "Mais Beeee"(thats me) "Bebe fait dodo" "Tiiitiiiiii" "Du l'eau" "Du lait" "Datau!!" (for cake and or cookies) "Nonore est la" (she cant say her name yet). It's both charming and annoying. Now, she can almost successfully communicate when shes hungry (which is always).

When I came back from vacation, after three weeks, she made a ton a progress in her speech. So much progress, that when I heard her on the phone, I couldnt figure out what kid it was. It was the first time I heard her little voice.

It's a pretty amazing to watch her develop. She literally grows every single day. Now, when I say "Arms up!" to get her dressed, she understands and sometimes complies. I sing to her, and I can see her little brain processing the information as she starts mimicking the words along with me. (ABC and Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes are her favorites).

Yesterday, G was trimming the hedges with some kind of scary sounding power tool. I went outside to check on the kids, and she saw me, ran over with arms open and clutched her hands around me rocking everytime the trimmer started. You could say I should have brought her inside, but she was also mermerized by the noisy machine, and with me there, it was okay.

Sometimes this job doesnt suck so much.