So...

I've been MEANING to write about a MILLION blogs.  Seriously.  I've been writing them in my head.  Which is remarkably inferior to writing them here...I can't remember any of them now.  Well, I have the gist of some of them.

Two awesome things to do with your lips:
Talking, and teething (okay, so teething isn't really with your lips.  But the title was intriguing, wasn't it?)
Shortly after my last post (which was not shortly ago, I know), Isaac cut his first two teeth--one popped out the day after the other.  He also began speaking.  "Uh oh" was his first word (words?) closely followed by "ball" ("bah").  Of course he started saying "Dah dah" and took a lot longer for "Mah Mah."  But he surprised us.  His fourth word (waaay before Mommy.  Did I mention that?) was Gregory!  Obviously you couldn't hear it clearly, but you should've seen Isaac's face when he would call out his brother's name and Gregory would respond!  In retrospect, the title should be three or four things to do with your lips.  We are currently enjoying Isaac's whistling.  Ever met a ten month old who could whistle?  It's a sight to behold.  The "whistling" began when Isaac wanted something.  He would get so excited and his lips would form an "o".  When he would start breathing heavily to show how much he wanted it, you could discern a faint whistle, which ended up getting louder and louder.  He will now occasionally whistle along to a song, though he prefers to dance.  Thing number 4: KISSING!  of course.  Isaac loves to give kisses.  He usually thinks it's silly if you try to get him to do one on your cheek, but he will make kissing noises (and lately waving goes with kissing) as long as you will make them back.  You knew this would've had to be a kissing post with that title, didn't you?

Um.

There are more, cross my heart. I'm going to develop an AWESOME blogging habit and catch you all up on how we *quit Wow (with a nostalgic insider's guide to Wow that I've been meaning to do for a lot longer than I've not blogged!), *bought a bunch of cool furniture with our tax rebate, *began a MONSTER of a project refinishing/repainting the bed we bought with said tax rebate, * painted and decorated Gregory's room, *discovered that it's not just Mommy that has blood sugar problems--hypoglycemia, how we love thee, *had company stay in our guest bedroom for the first time ever, *went to the zoo, *built cool towers, *have pretty flowers growing in our yard, *and some other stuff too.

It's going to be GREAT!  Now that the ice is broken, the rest will be easy :D  PLUS I have the motivation of my sister moving across the country.  I used to talk to her 'bout every day.  Now it's hardly and I'm sad.  Besides, if Kirby can blog, I can totally do it too :P  I will "see" you all very soon.

Disappointment.

So...we've been slowly but surely turning this house into our home. Some stuff we've bought is necessary--needed a dresser. Needed some room paint. You wouldn't think that new faucets for our bathrooms would be NEEDS, but turns out they are.

When we moved in, we discovered that for some reason both of the drains in our 2 bathrooms are broken. Instead of a nice handle so you can pull the drain up and down, there are gaping holes. I can put the drain back in when I put my contacts in, etc. and we have a nifty purple magnet on it so I can pull it out again easily. We thought we had solved the problem nicely.

Then we remembered how we have a two-year-old. And what is a two-year-old's favorite pass-time of all TIME?!? Dropping things down holes, that's what. Ask my mom. She can still remember. Anyways, my loving husband got far too tired of opening up our sink (they call it the P-trap. I'm learning fast) to remove toothbrushes, buttons, hair bands, more toothbrushes, etc. fixing the drain quickly moved to the NEED side of our renovations list.

You can fix the drains just fine by themselves and it would have been nice n' cheap but kind of a pain. Soooo we figured (with a little help from the decorator in our family) that while we were opening things up and going through the annoyance, we might as well replace the whole darn faucet. Because the ones we have are...very not my style. Two-toned chrome and brass little suckers with two handles a piece. I'm personally a fan of one handle-ers in a more subtle finish--oil rubbed bronze or brushed nickel for instance. Something like this in fact:
HA Ha! isn't this one of the most delightful faucets you have ever seen In Your LIFE?!? I enjoy the subtle funki-vintage-antique-ness. So we went to Lowe's bought ourselves two of these and headed home to try and install our newest treasures.

Dark day in my household. Turns out
1) sink faucets are kind of hard to remove sometimes.
2) wives aren't the best people to ask which ways to turn things to unscrew them (righty tighty, leftie loosie, right?)
3) what you didn't notice (and we didn't either) is that the puller-handle for the drain goes in to the sink at a slant. Which equals you need a little extra room in the back and quite a bit of room where the sink dips down in the back. As in, you don't want t sink with a completely vertical back--like the one we have.
4) this gorgeous faucet won't work in my bathrooms.

So nooow we have a few holes in our sink that aren't very helpful when I always forget I can't wash my hands in there and only remember after I've gone potty... sigh.

Luckily I talked Mike into doing the laundry room faucet first, just in case it tok longer than we thought it would* or something went wrong.*

Back to Lowe's we go!!!

*It did.

Opposites Attracting

I ADORE my husband.

As you all know.

There are many many MANY ways that we are so similar it's scary. There are also some core parts of our personalities that are very VERY different.

If you've ever learned about the "Real Colors" personality system, you know that there are 4 personality colors: green, gold, blue, and orange. Most people are naturally dominant in one color, with a second area close behind. I found these tables at this university link that sum things up rather well.

And yes, I worked really REALLY hard (I guess I do have some gold in me after all) to get these in here

If you've actually looked over these and you know me AT ALL, you know that the LAST color in the world I would even come close to (when I took the test various times, I believe I scored ZERO, in fact) is Gold. We've been over this, right? I am indeed, very blue with a good deal of orange mixed in.

My husband, on the other hand, leans strongly towards the other end of the spectrum (the left brained colors, in fact): he's very strongly green and gold. So what happens when a person who loves traditions, routines, order, organization, etc. is married to someone who craves change, new things, and can't seem to keep things orderly worth a darn? Well, the orangey-blue person (that's me, remember?) sometimes goes a little crazy (aka, I get CABIN FEVER) and begs the greeny-gold (remember how the golds are good at planning stuff?) to come up with something to break up the routine every once in a while. I know, it's supposed to be the orange's job, but the orange spends all of her energy and creativity and every drop of her (*VERY* limited) goldiness in day to day house-y and children-y things. SO the need is there and the ability is spent.

So what does my DARLING gold husband do? He creates a calendar appointment on his work computer to REMIND him to be more SPONTANEOUS. Tee hee hee. Really it's the most wonderful thing I've ever heard and I adore him for it times a majillion. I'm still geeking out about it.

A couple of weeks ago he called and said, "hey, want to go to a play at BYU? There's this one by a French guy--Moh-lee-yur? (Moliere. Did I mention I LOVE this man?) It sounds funny. It WAS funny. Very well done and I spent every moment in drama-loving, orangey delight. I would encourage you to see it, only it's done :( and I would NOT encourage you to see it any where else because of a couple of scenes that could go very AWRY if they weren't handled with taste. BUT even though I could probably write a whole critique of that show, I won't at the moment, because that's not the point.

The POINT is that my husband is the best ever and I LOVE him for stepping outside of his comfort zone to make me happy, and I resolve to try even harder to stretch my goldiness to make him happy too.

Live n' Learn

Adriane: [eating some fried eggs]
Gregory: Ooooh, that's hot.
Adriane: Yeah, can you see the steam coming off of my eggs?
Gregory: Wwwwooow!!
Adriane: That's pretty cool, huh?
Gregory: No, it's hot actually.

Keys n' Things

I am officially losing my mind.

Well, you've all known it for a while--I'm just in denial.

I was going to the doctor yesterday: the kids are sick and we've all been miserable. So I decided to pull a Ruby Lunt: "You find something wrong with this kid and FIX it, or YOU get to take him home..." (lol).

Getting out the door somewhat early (so proud--I've been working on punctuality). Can't find my KEYS (not proud--been working on organization too)!!! Looked everywhere I might have left them. Talked myself through where I had them last and what I might have done with them. Asked myself, "if you were keys, where would you be?" Found them.

Still in the keyhole. Been there all night long.

FREEEEEEEEEEK OUT!!!

Christmas Advent Boxes

This is the project that consumed my life (or at least, my kitchen) this Christmas. It took so much out of me that I haven't finished it yet! There are 'sposed to be super cute ribbons all upons those bottom squares... ah well. PLUS, remember how you are supposed to have candy inside? Never happened. Bought the candy, but it never went inside. :P I'm also planning on a Christmas experience and scripture every day, but that's going to have to come next year!

Thanks to Lauren for taking these cute pictures! I got this idea from Jessica Sprague (who has awesome Photoshop tutorials plus is just super cool) who got her idea from Ali Edwards, who credits Martha Stewart (have I ever told you I'm semi-obsessed with all things Martha?). I give you these links so you can see everyone's ideas and create your own. AND for those of you around here, check out Walmart's selection of Papier Mache boxes. They were, I believe, $.69, which is a STEAL when you compare them to Jo-Ann's $1.oo and Roberts' $1.69! Roberts, however, had the best selection of the three. I didn't check Michaels, though that would be worth doing.

Ali said this project took her one night...it took me much longer--I must be missing out on a primer step or something, cuz I had to do many many coats of paint. But in the end it is worth it--I'm hoping these'll last for years. Currently, I have these on my wall with sticky tack. I didn't want to put 24 little holes in my wall before I figure out where I want everything to go. Most of them are pretty secure, but every once in a while I hear a bang and I know I need to put one back up. I think when I take them down (which should probably be soon...) I will thumb tack them to a board and frame the whole thing cute-like.

And now you know. The inner workings of a fevered and crafty mind.

Difficult Child?

I have an adorable two-year-old. Many of you have met him. He can be strong willed and challenging along with the adorable. Some of you have seen this. He's also very good at learning, and he goes through phases. One day, he was coloring at his table and talking out loud about what he was drawing:
"Six....six....six...six..."

Mike raises his eyebrows. "Uh oh! 666, huh?"

We laugh. I turn to put the milk back in the fridge. And this is what I saw*:

*This is what I saw and then I got him to come pose. What an obliging li'l bug!

My Bedroom <3 <3 <3

So we decided to use some of our tax credit for 1st time home buyers (thanks, by the way, for your contribution to that ;) to get a new comforter (Mike didn't like our older pink flowered one that we got as a hand-me-down. For some reason.) and matching valances. Then we decided to paint our room to match (Mike didn't like the Pepto Bismal pink color that came on the walls. For some reason). Now we have a super pretty, super relaxing room. That I love. And when I'm stressed, I come in here to feel better.

My Dresser. <3 <3 <3

This is my baby. Our shopping experience went like this:
A-yeah, these $300-ish dressers here at the RC Willey Outlet in Provo are pretty nice! Love the price, and they are nice...*turns* *sees this dresser across the store* *heart stops beating with pure joy* . Miiiiiike...that is the prettiest thing I have ever seen!

Saleslady-Oh boy, I can totally get this girl to buy this dresser and get a huger commission.

A- *tries to hide price tag from Mike* It is so gorgeous! *not succeeding at hiding price tag* *tries Jedi maneuvers* That price tag doesn't say $1400. Don't look at the price tag. Just say yes to your wife.

M-um, honey, that's a lot more than those perfectly good dressers over there.

Saleslady-let me go check my availability *hops, skips, and jumps to her computer*

A-but my HEART stopped when I saw it! I NEEED this dresser!!!! I'll do chores for 20 years to get this dresser!

Saleslady-well, this is our last one, which means we need to put it on CLEARANCE for you! Did I mention that clearance is an extra 20% off this weekend? You can have this dresser for eight hundred dollars! The original original price is $1900, so think how much you are saving!

M-It doesn't matter how much you save, it matters how much you spend.

A-WE'LL TAKE IT!!! *hops, skips, and jumps. all over the store. into her husbands arms. does a jig with the saleslady.*

Then the macho men who were bringing it to be loaded into our car must have dropped it...because the leg became broken between that point and when I saw it next. I very nearly cried. But they said they'd try and fix it. And they did. And it was good. And sturdy. And they knocked ANOTHER hundred dollars off. The four macho men who ended up carrying it to our car for reals said it was the heaviest dresser they'd ever moved. Go figure.

Happy New Year Y'all! And have a marvelous 2010!!!

We moved.

So, this one time...

Two months ago...

We moved.

Into a HOUSE!!!!!1!one!!

Our very own. And we are so excited!

We have a big Christmas tree now, and lights on our house, and EVERYTHING!!! (which, by everything, I do not mean we own all the furniture we need. We are a little shy on living room furniture, for example...negative on couches in there).

We bought this house (as you know) on July 1st, with plans to move end of August/early September. At last, on Halloween, we got to move in! So we've been pretty busy since then. Today, we finally unpacked the last box that was in our living space (and are trying to ignore the ones sitting in my CRAFT ROOM. I have a CRAFT ROOM!!!)

I've been having fun with furniture (more on that to follow. My dresser gets its own post. I love it THAT MUCH) and with paint (okay, so I've only painted one room, but I lay awake at night and think about colors for the rest) and with organizing (I actually really LIKE organizing. I just struggle with maintenance. Stop laughing.) and with decorating (okay, so, most of my decor is stuck in those boxes in the CRAFT ROOM. Oh my gosh, I have a CRAFT ROOM!!!!!!!one!111!!!) and cooking (in my own kitchen) and cleaning (no, I really do this...sometimes) and living IN OUR VERY OWN HOUSE!!!!

So, come and play, because I like you, and because I have my own house now so you can.

In Short

As my mind slid back into consciousness, I felt something cool pressed to my lips. "Eat," said a familiar voice. I obligingly smacked my lips together a couple of times and said "yum" even though there wasn't anything inside of the green plastic Easter egg. It seemed to satisfy my caretaker though, and he moved away to get more, painstakingly baking these delicacies over his nightlight.

-----------------------------------

He wanted to swing outside, but Mommy was so busy talking to all of those grown up folks. So, he did what she always does when he isn't listening very well: put his hands on either side of Mommy's face, pulled it towards him, and said, "swing." He nodded and raised his eyebrows to emphasize the importance of this task.

-----------------------------------

Last night Isaac slept from 12am...


...until 8am.


HA LE LU JAH.

Hello World!

Well, Mommy kept saying and saying how she wanted to write a blog, but that caring for Gregory and me was taking up all of her time and energy. I solved the problem--I told her I, Isaac Hyrum Richardson, would write the blog for her.

And so here I am. And I am so glad to meet you.


Dang, I look good! ;P If you would like to see more adorable pictures of yours truly (and Gregory), you can visit Aunt Lauren's blog: http://davisonphotography.wordpress.com . She is, of course, the professional that took my newborn headshots.

This life thing is pretty okay, I suppose. I'm not a big fan of gas...and when Mommy puts salt drops in my nose--that's really annoying. But I'm starting to get everything figured out okay. The computer is super easy, so no worries there. My biggest complaint, I suppose, is that Mommy never feeds me enough. She tells me she doesn't like having rivers of spit-up flow from my mouth after every feeding...that's weird. I think it's fun to eat so much I spit half of it up again...huh. No accounting for taste.

Well, I'm sure Mommy will get the swing of caring for TWO little people very soon. She'll have lots of things to write about since I'm such a marvelous creature, (not to mention my brother Gregory--he's teaching me all about the GOOD things in life).

Toodles!

-Isaac

Isaac has arrived!

He's here! Born at 11:20 A.M. He is 8 pounds 1 oz. and 19 inches long. Everything went very well. Mommy and baby are doing great!

It's baby time!

So this one time Dr. Jones messed up and scheduled Adriane (this is Mike) to be induced today instead of yesterday. Needless to say we were both quite annoyed. Anywho, just wanted to let all you eager people out there know that we didn't forget about you. It will most likely be quite a few more hours before the baby is born. Wish us luck!

Frozen Burritos.

Still preggo. Still contracting in the mornings and then stopping. My shoulder really hurts all of a sudden so I can't breathe very well...or sleep, but I gave up sleep a long time ago ;)

Gregory is still basically the cutest ever. Which you would know if I ever put pictures up...But that would mean I would have to
1) Find the camera
2) Charge the camera
3) Find the cord that connects the camera to the computer
4) Decide which pictures to put up
5) Probably tweak them in Photoshop and
6) Upload them to my blog.

That's a lot of steps. It's like making a full meal complete with vegetables (I struggle with vegetables. Not eating them. Remembering them) versus whipping up some frozen burritos. But I promise to work on it. After I post I will go find the camera and plug it in. I will need it tomorrow at the hospital anyways. (!!!)

So, pictureless Gregory update:

He can count! I know, be impressed. It goes like this: "Toooo, (you have to imagine the downward-then-upward swoop of his voice), toooo, toooo, tooooo.... all while pointing at the various things he is counting. For the life of us, we can't get a one or a three out of him--but he's actually really good at four and five if you prompt him :P

Still OBSESSED with volleyball (and any other kind of ball will do in a pinch). If I counted all of his phrases throughout the day, #1 would be "where'd the volleyball go?" One of his favorite activities is to watch Zach, Kirby, Julia, and Daddy bump the volleyball to each other, and occasionally throw it "high" himself. Not to mention bumping and setting himself, which he gets better at every day. We try not to laugh when he says "shet" because really, he doesn't MEAN to sound like he's swearing...

Uncle Zach introduced him to Jar Jar Binks. Now instead of Winnie the Pooh, he begs for "jarjar." Thanks Uncle Zach. He also likes to watch "football" which is code for Remember the Titans. Somehow, that is much more appealing to me than StarWars Episode One. Call me crazy...

Pretty sure he has NO idea what's about to hit him though--he knows there's a baby in mommy's tummy, and he'll even give him a kiss some days. But he answers no to any question like, "are you going to get a baby brother soon?" Pretty sure it's gonna be tough for a little while, but he's a sweetie--he'll get used to it. Luckily Daddy will be home for a while to give him lots of extra attention. Paternity leave is the BEST invention I've ever heard of.

no dice.

I'm still with child, waiting ever so patiently. Not even when my adorable son begged (in a voice strangely like his mother's) "please Dr. Jones, can't we induce my mommy early so I can see my brother?" did the doctor relent. No, I basically figure we're in it for the long haul. 4 more days. So close, and yet so far away...

There Ain't Room in this Town...

Well, at least in my tummy. There's isn't room for two and ONE of us needs to get out!!! Oh, I'm in the home stretch. Keep telling me that I can do ANYTHING for six more days. I can, right? ?!?

So, funny story...sometimes I have pregnant moments. They are like pregnant pauses, except more one sided. They happen when I completely miss part of a situation until looking back--such as at my doctor's office last week. The nurse came in, did her thing, and left, saying the doctor would be there soon. It wasn't soon, however, so I finally laid back on the examining table...gotta grab the sleep when I can, since it isn't coming at night time. I didn't really fall asleep before the doc showed up, but I'm not sure if I was fully conscious. When he proclaimed that I had made no progress in dilation that week, I was crushed. BUT--

"Isn't this your last appointment?"

"Well, I sure hope so, but I'm not due for another two weeks--I could need one next week."

"But aren't we inducing you?"

"You said you would induce me on my due date." Insert still completely crushed face.

"Hmm." Doc looks at calendar on wall, pulls out his PDA and takes a look. This is actually what he did when he told me he would induce me on June 1st, several months back.

*PREGNANT PAUSE* I'm just trying to stay awake and not look completely crushed.

"Well, if you haven't had your baby yet, can you come back on Wednesday?"

*Laugh that borders on insane giggle* "OH yeah. I can do that."
What I'm thinking and SHOULD have said, "TO be induced? I can have my baby? On WEDNESDAY?!?" Alas, I was still recovering from previous pause, and have always been bad at communication anyways...'specially when I'm tired.

So then I walked out to the receptionists and told them I was supposed to come back.

"Well, Dr. Jones won't be back until Wednesday, does that work for you?"

WEDNESDAY? Is that what he meant by Wednesday? Wednesday for an appointment, not Wednesday for having a baby?

"We have a spot at 9am--that's the only time he won't be double-booked so far."

BUSY Wednesday? That probably means no time for "having a baby Wednesday"...he must have just meant an appointment. Try not to look double crushed and get yourself home.

It was actually several days before I told anyone about these conversations--it was a tough day and I'm kinda working on surviving. Plus remember said communication problems. As I discussed these things with someone...I think it was my mom? I started to think more and more that he might've meant "have a baby Wednesday." Call me a cock-eyed optimist, but hope was returning. After all, he had behaved exactly the way he did when he said he'd induce me on the 1st. Unfortunately, the office was closed, the doc was out of town for the holliday weekend, and I was stuck not knowing.

But it was all going to be okay--I was going to have the baby before then anyways.

Only now, that Wednesday is tomorrow. I have an appt. for 9am, but I'm not sure if tomorrow is have-a-baby day or not...I tried calling the office, but it turns out they have no idea (I was afraid of that) and I need to call Labor and Delivery at the hospital. And they will. not. answer. their. phone.

SOOOO, long story short, thanks to a pregnant brain, tomorrow promises to be very interesting. I could have a baby. I could be triple-crushed. Cross your fingers!

Busy busy

Well, HELLO there!

I just wanted to pop in and tell you what is going on in my life. Seeing as I am 38 weeks pregnant, that is pretty much what I am focused on. Come on, baby, come! I just went to the doctor today, and I am dilated the same amount as I was last week--a 3. Pretty disappointing to be exactly the same (I was hoping for, "HEY! You're a 6! Let's walk on over to the hospital and get 'er done!") but at least I'm not tight like unto a dish still.

Speaking of scriptures, Matthew 11:28 is becoming more important to me every hour. :P

So there's other stuff going on too...like how we're going to buy a house. Did I say GOING TO BUY A HOUSE?!?!? Yeah...as in, the biggest purchase we'll ever make in our LIVES. Tee hee hee. I'm so excited. And if you want to see REALLY excited, you've got to see Mike (he doesn't have a child kicking at his ribs and distracting from the monument of the occasion). He's PSYCHED.

Where is this house, you ask? Hunh. Yeah, that's prolly about the coolest part. If I step out of the house I am living in now (aka, my parental's), make 2.5 turns while walking approximately 50 steps (lol, now I need to actually count my steps out of sheer curiousity), I would be there. And so would you. The current owners have been in my ward off and on since I was a wee young lass--She was my young women's leader for a long time, and he was my bishop for a while there. I helped her run her dance concerts, and some of YOU probably helped them fix their waterfall last year (yeah, you heard right, WATERFALL!!!!!). Most of you, of course, won't know them, but for those of you who do, we are buying the Hunsaker's house, and did I mention we are excited?!? I'll give you more exciting details later.

Gregory's latest, by the way, is saying "yeah." He started on Sunday and it's adorable. And soooo much better than "no," which he had been using as an answer to EVERY question. I think HE thinks he's allowed to be two already. NOT. ALLOWED. But try telling him that! He is still obsessed with Volleyballs and Footballs and can kick, bump, set and spike. Hmmm...he doesn't get that from his mother. The other day he pulled this sentence out of the air: "All done sit on chair?" Where has my baby gone? He loves to go on walks and point out all the "tweet tweets" (birds) "woofs" (dogs), water, rocks, and cars. Today he started a new one: trees.

Anyhow, pip pip, cheerio and all that--I'm off to take a nap because I can and I need to :P Hopefully I'll get another blog in before the baby comes. Actually, I take that back, since I'm hoping he will come tonight, and that might be a little much. MWAAAAAAAH!!!

It's the END of the World As We Know It

All I'm saying is that someone I know can get through closed doors now. As of Wednesday March 4. This scares me not a little.



And in answer to all of you:
Thank you for your wonderful comments.
I am doing well.
I am quite proud that I posted.
Have no fear, that was only part one. Stay tuned for the rest of his vocabulary.
I was in the HBLL yesterday. Remember that one time that I almost graduated? I'm striving to remove the almost.
I want to hang out with all of you! I just need y'all to do the planning and remind me to come. As in, call me half an hour before. Pregnancy the second time around has been doubly worse on my memory and my energy...

....where was I again?

and HA!!!! I POSTED TWICE IN TWO DAYS! so there.

Guide to Gregoryspeak Part 1: The early words

As my child's translator, I feel it my duty to record his phenomenal verbal skills--before tomorrow, when I expect he'll be speaking on a fifth-grade level. I will do my best to begin at the beginning.

"Bah:" used in reference to anything circular, Gregory loves to play with balls. We often spend most of our day looking for/playing with the many balls around our house. A related term, "ehdeh bah?" of course means, "where is the ball?" This is often used to try to distract Mom or Dad from any pending undesirable task (such as bedtime) or something naughty. This phrase probably originates from Mom and Dad's attempts at distraction.

"Baaaah-bbles": this nearly two-word phrase is one of Gregory's favorites, and is one of his very first. He can be distracted from just about anything (including chocolate cake) by asking, "Gregory, would you like to take a bath?" He then drops everything (even balls) to run towards the bathroom, exclaiming BUBBLES!!! the poor child nearly had a stroke when we introduced bubble bath. His newest bubble tradition is to watch over the shower door and tell Daddy when to put bubbles in his (Daddy's) hair, and when to wash them out. He employs one of his first non-verbal communication devices along with the bubbles for this--the finger point. I should mention that his finger is very double jointed, making it all the more commanding and impressive.

"Oh???": this near squeak is to be heard whenever Gregory gets near a telephone, or anything "like" a telephone (such as an ipod, or a stapler). He has now progressed to using the full word, "hello," though most of his time is still spent on the second syllable.

"Gih JAH": "Good job!" Gregory is not above congratulating himself when he deems it necessary.

"Deekuhl deekuhl": "Tickle tickle!" One of Gregory's favorite games to play. We are currently working on not hitting--only tickling. My favorite is when he reaches out wheile we are eating lunch (think really sticky fingers) and tickles me to get my attention.

"Dadden!": used several times an hour to discover the whereabouts of Gregory's father. This phrase has progressed from the primitive "Dah" of earlier months. This is often his first word when I get him up in the morning, and is heard consistently throughout the day. The joy enfusing this word when Daddy actually comes home is heartwarming.

"Mah MAH?": deceptively used to mean, "Grown-up that is currently paying attention to me, I WANT whatever I am pointing at right NOW!" My sister Julia had a rolicking time with this one when she took Gregory to the store by herself. Tee hee hee. Gregory now usually only uses this to get his actual Mother's attention, although it occasionally is used for Grandma as well.

"Za-CH": also nearly two words, with the "CH" added on as an emphatic afterthought, this is Gregory's term for Uncle Zach. We aren't sure how he knows that Zach spells his name with a CH, since it isn't pronounced that way. This is used to point out Zach's presence, get his attention, or check up on where he is right now (Gregory goes through the list: Daddy, Grandpa, and Zach and makes me tell him where each of them are--over and over and over).

"Jah-SH": Another one of Gregory's uncles. We walked into Mike's family's house for dinner one Sunday, and Gregory's face lit up. "Josh," he called, and then proceeded to go and find said uncle.

"Jooooo-ihss?": anything that is drinkable but not water is dubbed "juice."

"Shah-cks": Gregory loves loves LOVES his socks.

"Shooo-is": almost as much as he loves loves LOVES his shoes.

"CAH!": the picture of our family at Mike and Lauren's graduation is not actually a picture of Gregory's dear loved ones. No, the first thing he exclaims when looking at it is, "CAR!" while he points to the tip of the red VW Bug barely apparent behind Mike's back. Cars are just that important. He was pretty excited about his Christmas present this year: a Gregory-sized couch decorated with Pixar's Cars characters.

"Jihsis": out of the blue one Sunday, when Gregory was NOT behaving in sacrament meeting and therefore sitting out in the hall, he pointed to a picture of Jesus on the wall, and said, "Jesus!" 'Bout surprised his mother out of her skin. Later at Christmas time, we received a beautifully framed copy of The Living Christ from Julia. She had carefully placed pictures of Christ all around the edge as a border. That in and of itself was enough to make my eyes misty, but imagine what my eyes did when Gregory walked up to the frame and began kissing the glass on top of every Jesus he saw. On a less sappy note, on this very day while sitting in the HBLL, Gregory pulled a Barnes and Noble giftcard out of my wallet (which he had in order to keep him occupied and QUIET!!!! oh, I mean quiet), and pointed at the picture of Shakespeare. "Jesus!" he loudly proclaimed. Must've been the beard. I can't wait for him to do that to real life people.