Uh Oh!

Well, its been a little while since we’ve reported any new happenings with the girls' speech development so we’ll try to get you caught up. The sounds are sutble and come in batches. The girls will utter a few new sounds and then just kind of wait for about two weeks and then suddenly, again, something new! Something surprising.

So…
About four weeks ago the girls started saying “Eee! Eee! Eee” at breakfast, lunch, snack, and dinner. They are missing only the “t”. “Mama” was there first word. “Eat” is officially the second. It was funny. Several days ago in the evening Vicki and I had fed the girls about an hour and a half before we decided to eat something ourselves. I asked Vicki, who was playing with the girls, what she wanted to eat. The girls had their backs to me and as soon as the question left my mouth they both turned, faced me, and started saying, “Eee, eee, eee,” signing and crawling. I said playfully, “Who taught these kids how to hear? You two are always eating! Let us eat.” So, for the first time, having daughters that circle our plates like vultures anytime we try to eat, we have to spell it out to each other if we’re going to get into something we don’t want to share. “Hey Vic, do you want to “E-A-T?”

They also make a “ma” sound for “more.” We know this because they often accompany the sounds with the sign it signifies. And when they sign “please,” more often than not it is accompanied by “eeaze.” They’re working on “eyes,” “nose,” and “ear.” They come out “Iy,” “Noo…,” and “eugh” (yeah, use you’re imagination on that one.) Vicki got after Soph the other day and said, “Sophi, No!” To which Soph responded by turning to her, smiling and putting her index finger on the end of her nose. That probably means she’s not hearing the S’s on the end but that’s ok for now.

They also make a kind of chirpy noise, especially when they’re scolding us for taking something away or telling them no. They sometimes sound like Dino from the Flintstones and at other times like Beeker from the Muppets. Its pretty cute.

This weekend we traveled to Nashville to visit Crosspoint, a church that supports our work in the Dominican and Haiti. We had the opportunity to stay with our friends Page and Christina (we met them when they came down on a short-term trip to the Dominican last July). Page has some dogs that were barking at the girls from outside of a glass door. The girls stood in their faces on the opposite side and barked right back for the first time ever, “ar, ar, ar!” They were outrageously excited by the dogs. Sophi, in particular, was fearless.

Later that night one of us dropped something and said, “uh oh.” Rena, for the first time and clearly as can be, looked up and said “Uh oh.” She did it again and again for us but I’m sure that when the time comes to show her off to our therapists she’ll clam up just for fun. (I had to come back and add this part: as I was writing this Soph started saying “Uh oh” just as clearly as Rena!!) How cool is that! Thanks Page for the awesome hospitality and all of your love for the girls!

And thanks to all of you who check this so frequently out of the same love for our girls. We appreciate it more than you will ever know.

Grace and Peace, all