Best Monkey Ever

We recently discovered that Mikayla knows a few words. Not to say them, but to clearly respond. Yesterday when I asked her for a hug, she promptly leaned her little head down onto my shoulder and snuggled me! For Joel, she snuggles into his chest. She knows how to hug!! (Sort of. No arms yet.) She will give us a hug every time we ask for one now. My favorite was today, asking for a hug as I was putting her down for her nap. What a blessing to a momma's heart!

She's also catching onto the idea of giving kisses. She doesn't do it every time yet, but when I ask her for a kiss she will often lean in for one. Baby-style, with mouth open and drool everywhere. A kiss only a mother could appreciate, probably, but it fills my heart up so much to think she wants to give us hugs and kisses. She does both with a gigantic smile on her face. I pray that these are her first little responses to us because she experiences so much love herself. That is my prayer for my daughter through her whole life, and for all our children: that their lives are characterized by love because that is what we have filled them with, in Christ, by the grace of God.

We're also trying to teach her "so big" because we watched a video of cousin Jillian doing this, and we can't let her get too far ahead. Hopefully Mikayla doesn't inherit too much of her dadda's competitive spirit, geez! (For those who are curious: we have had several successes in a row with her throwing her hands in the air when we ask how big she is. Soooo big!! Although sometimes she just looks at us and laughs, so we are not 100% yet.) It is just so cool watching her clearly understand our words and even having her start to associate them with actions.

Oh, and very important tidbit: unless something significantly changes, she is going to be a lefty like her momma! Her left hand is her exclusive cheerio shovel these days.

She's my favorite. I can't wait til 2P arrives and I get to have TWO favorites!

SDG
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