Words!

Hello, dear reader.  It's been awhile, I know, but on those rare occasions when there is a quiet moment, sometimes I like to just sit and enjoy the quiet.  No humming laptop, no distracting internet -- just silence.  And me and a jar of pickles followed by whipped cream and cinnamon roll for lunch.  Gross, yes, but gimme a break.  I'm pregnant.  And apparently my blood pressure is so low that I have been instructed to ingest salt as much as possible.  Which is, of course, not at all a problem.  Chips please!  Stat!!

It's been a whirlwind few weeks in the world of Anika, as we spent much of the month of January visiting Ga-Ca and Ga-Ca 2 in Wisconsin.  Yes, you heard that right -- we went to Wisconsin in January.  It was either head to the land of frozen tundra and experience mild cabin fever or wait until it warms up and see how fun it is to fit pregnant belly + 16-month-old in your standard coach aisle seat.  We opted for the former.

Our trip happened to coincide with the onset of discernible English words emanating from my daughter's perfect little self.  A month ago, she could moo like a cow and 'ark' like a dog but wasn't saying anything beyond mama and dada.  She can now say:  Sarah (Sascha), Becca (Ka-ka), Grandpa (phonetic spelling above) and again (ghen).  It amazes me how quickly little toddlers can begin to communicate when I still struggle to put together a coherent and adult-sounding sentence in Spanish sometimes.  And the delight on Ani's face when she says a word we actually understand is priceless.

She spent most of her time toddling after her energetic and imaginative older cousin, who would grow understandably upset at Anika's current status as no-longer-baby-so-I-can't-hold-her-anymore-but-not-old-enough-to-play-Dora-Candyland-with-me.  And then there was the cat- and dog-chasing.  The dogs made much easier targets (and the chasing went both ways, especially if Anika was carrying bits of food around, which she usually is), but the cat proved Most Interesting Ever.  Even after she had had enough tail-pulling and scratched Anika's ear before screeching away in a ball of fur.  Come to think of it, that made her even more interesting.

After two weeks sharing a farmhouse with family, two dogs, a cat, and the occasional football-watching visitor, however, we were both visibly relieved to be home.  Anika made a beeline for her toys and started squealing and flapping her arms around, because apparently the joy of recognizing her own toys (and the realization that she doesn't have to share with an older cousin) were too much for her wee little toddler self to contain.  Our first play date on Tuesday morning began with Ani's little friend Danica giving her a huge hug and the two running off to play together.  For that second or two that they play together, that is, before running off to explore the next thing.  And oh, did she miss her Daddy.  She is still, three days later, walking around the house squealing "dada! dada!" as if she can't believe he's actually here. (I did tear up this morning, however, when she started asking for Grandpa.  It's hard to live so far away.)

Yet when I saw the mountains and sunshine come into view as our plane began its descent, my mood was instantly elevated.  Too bad we can't send some of this sunshine up north.