Someday I'll write about something besides kids, but not today. Though the major theme of the weekend was "Julia's third birthday," it's minor theme was "talking." Julia had her usual array of hilarious comments, like saying, as she played a board game with my mom and my mom's friend Jan, "I fink Jan is fascinating!" The verbal high point was hit the previous night, though, when she invented a bedtime song called "Baby Window." It went something like this (and had a melody!):
Baby window, don't be scared
Close your eyes and go to sleep
Baby window, it's time for bed
Baby window, close the shades
Baby window, no talking or calling
I'll check on you later
When asked, she provided a coyly ambiguous answer - practically Dylanesque - as to what or who "baby window" was, confirming that it was a small window and saying that it was a window from which a baby was looking.
Genevieve didn't compose an original song, but made her first discernibly meaningful word-like sound. We'd been trying for a week or so to get her to say either "numnum" for more food or "mama" for, you know. At breakfast and lunch, she made a sound halfway between those two utterances, so we felt like we were on the right track. She gleefully set us straight later in the afternoon when she ripped the corner off a magazine cover, jammed it in her mouth, and shrieked, "Numnumnum!" She did the same thing at dinner when service got too slow, so I think we can book this as a long step toward speaking. Whether she ever gets in a word when her sister's around is another matter.