She Made It!

Our sweet Lydia is a late bloomer.  Much like Leo.



Last summer Brett and I made the commitment that if Lydia didn't start talking more by the Fall, we would look into checking in with a speech therapist.  Then the big kids went to school, Lydia was required to communicate her own needs for herself and now she won't stop talking!

Here are a few choice Weeda-isms to make your day:

When she is frustrated about a situation ... maybe her socks aren't on straight or her milk has escaped her cup ... she is known to declare, "That not awesome!"  She even adds a little pouty lip so you know just how not awesome it is.

"Dat match" is her favorite pronouncement.  As she goes about her day discovering similarities among other people's shoes, vans and scraggly baby dolls, she is quick to a announce, "dat match".  She's always on the look-out for more.

Recently I gave all the girls manicures and pedicures.  As you can imagine, in spite of my attempts to keep Lydia in one place, she's a wiggly one and before her polish had a chance to dry entirely, she ended up with a few smudges.  After finishing Norah's nails, I was admiring her long fingers and lovely  shaped, hot pink nails.  "Your nails are so pretty, Norah."  Lydia marched right up to me, shoved her little smeared thumbs in my face and declared in her grumpiest voice, "Dis not pretty.  Dis a mess."  She added a pouty lip for emphasis.

A few days ago we were running errands in the van when we saw a few people out walking their dogs.  She asked what they were doing.  (She has no reference of Gimli going for walks because he's a couch potato.)  I explained that they were out getting some exercise and that their dog needed a walk, too.  A few more blocks down the road and we spotted a gentleman walking along along the sidewalk.  From the back of the van I heard, "Oh no!  He lost his doggie!"  Hmmm ... not exactly.

In these post-Christmas days, we have been enjoying the many gifts that we received.  If you can imagine, a few of the items that Lydia opened that morning were so quickly unwrapped that I missed out on some of her gifts.  As a result, I have had to ask her a few times where a pair of socks or a head band came from.  Her response is, "I got dis Happy to You".  Ahhh ... this was in your stocking.  Got it.

Lydia is a super-duper helper with Baby S.  She spends much of the day reading to her, showing her how to play with her toys and "helping" her roll over.  Unfortunately, sometimes Baby S doesn't want to be read to, already knows how to chew on her teething ring and really, really doesn't want to roll over.  As you can imagine, this results in a few verbal protests from Baby S.  Lydia's response to her fussing is to immediately run for the paci.  As I explain to her that sometimes the baby needs some space and that sometimes she wants to talk, too, Lydia will inform me, "But BabyMantha crying really fast!"  Yes.  Yes, she is.  Let's give her some breathing room, okay?

Our Lydia has fallen head over heels in love with Diego.  Or as she likes to refer to him, "Eggo".  Whenever we are discussing what to watch for a few minutes, she insists on watching "Eggo, Eggo, Eggo", much to the despair of her older siblings.  I keep waiting to hear "Leggo my Eggo" ... but I don't think it's going to happen.

Our girl has also developed at three-syllable "No".  It goes a little something like, "Nooo-oooo-whah!" and is mainly used in response to a request for her to do something.  It's really great.  Of course, she does obey a lot of the time and I love that her response to my thanking her for obedience is an enthusiastic "Yelcome, Mommy!"

Lydia likes to use middle names when she is trying to get someone's attention.  Of course, that means that everybody has Ashley's middle name.  "Aaron Mae ... peas pass the bue berries.  Tank chew."

The season of independence has dawned in Lydia's life.  She is quite indignant whenever we attempt to help her with anything.  When we make the mistake of, say, pouring her milk or zipping up her sweatshirt, she will declare, "I do it myself!"  She will then demand that we go back in time in order to allow her to do the task from the beginning.  This is exhausting, but she is learning how to do a lot of jobs herself.  And helping her mommy grown in patience.

As you can see, Lydia has bloomed into quite a talker.

Now we're working on eating neatly ... and that's a whole new area of growth.

And a whole new challenge.

And a whole other need for prayer!

Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. (Romans 12:12)


You know ... the usual trifecta of parenting!