More about New Words

“Yuck”

Lillian’s grandma Peggy says:

We are missing Lillian and her cute little words. I don’t know if we’ll ever figure out “ani” but “yuck” is expressive of everything she sees (and does). One night when I had put her down for the night, and after about 20 minutes of her usual figeting around in the bed, she started saying “YYYYYYuck”… “YuCK!”… “yuCK”… “YYYYYYYUCK!”. I really thought it was cute until I smelled the reason–a full diaper–so I went back to change her (again) and start the sleep process all over … So I know sometimes it REALLY means “YUCK”.

She also used it properly when she was eating a bowl of raisin bran cereal (from which I thought I had picked out all of the raisins) and accidently chewed a raisin … out came the raisin … followed by a convincing “YUCK”.

Now if we can just get her to add a few more words to her vocabulary to help us follow her spoken instructions. Being dragged around by a finger, followed by a finger pointing at something, which as silly adults we do not always interpret to her satisfaction, is sometimes annoying to Lillian (as we all discovered). Aunt Cari was pretty insistent that she “use her words” and Lillian did say a version of snowman (no mis) and reindeer (rrrrreer) for her.

New Words

Lillian has added two new words to her growing vocabulary: “yuck,” which she learned from her cousin Katelyn, but for Lillian seems to apply to anything she finds interesting, and “ani,” with emphasis usually on the second syllable, and meaning that escapes us. She declaims it with great enthusiasm.

Back in Houston

Lillian and Josh got home after a wonderful Christmas in Huntington. That meant a quick trip to the park for some swinging with yia-yia Nancy.

More East Texas Christmas

Lillian sculpts in Play-Doh with her aunt Elli and cousin Katelyn:

Katelyn and Lillian and a keyboard:

Lillian in the sandbox:

Motoring with grandpa Keith:

Reading Kai-Lan with dad:

Christmas

Lillian Grace Denby

Christmas Cousins

Katelyn and Lillian

Christmas Eve

It’s an odd Christmas Eve this year: the weather outside, far from frightful, is quite delightful: a balmy shorts and flip-flop day. The family is scattered here and there: my son Richard is off to his friend Lauren’s in Navasota; my brother David and family are at the old family farm in Western Kentucky, driving old pickups around the back forty and shooting off their growing arsenal of advanced fire-arms. Nancy’s brothers and sisters are all in town; we hung out out with them and with her mom in the afternoon and ate beef and pork until we were sated. My mom went to the afternoon family Christmas Eve service, and I’ll go join the choir for the late service (even though they’d sound better without me) and sing the old songs and listen to the old words. And Lillian and Josh are up in East Texas with the Denbys and Lillian’s cousin Katelyn, so it’s pretty quiet around here.

Nancy and my mom and I went to dinner with the Robertsons and Walters, old friends and neighbors, who were gathered from every corner of the globe, last night, and spent a pleasant evening reminiscing about the old days, and hearing about the exploits and enthusiasms of children and grandchildren.

We view Christmas now through the lens of loss, thinking often of my daughter Ashley and my dad Richard, both of whom left us this year. Grief is a strange thing, walking beside you all the time, then grabbing you and overwhelming you when you least expect it. And yet, even when you are weeping, you find yourself laughing at a memory, or at a friend’s ill-timed but welcome joke, or at the surprise of a perfect stranger’s comforting hand on your shoulder.

We have been sustained by the prayers and love of so many people: it’s something of a marvel. And, to each of you and to those you love, and especially to those of you who bear your own sorrows and griefs, we wish a joyous Christmas.

Sunday at Katelyn’s

Lillian’s social calendar continues to be full: on Sunday, she and her dad and grandparents went to her cousin Katelyn’s house for burgers cooked by her uncle Josh and aunt Elli.

Katelyn has a playhouse and swing set in the backyard. Lillian, who has become something of a connoisseur of playgrounds and playhouses, thoroughly approved. Here she is with aunt Cari:

Sometimes, you just can’t resist tickling a little girl:

Underneath the playhouse is a set of drums:

And, best of all, Katelyn has a set of swings. Grandpa Keith gives Lillian a hand with the big girl swing:

Zoo Safari

Lillian and her cousin Kaitlyn went to the Ellen Trout Zoo in Lufkin on Saturday.

Before they left, Lillian got in the mood by playing with Kaitlyn’s dog: like her mom, Lillian loves most four-legged creatures:

Aunt Elli put a bow in Lillian’s hair, while Lili sat in grandma Peggy’s lap:

At the zoo, Aunt Cari helped her ride a lion. It was almost as much fun as her rocking horse back home, if a little tamer:

Uncle Josh, Kaitlyn, grandpa Keith, aunt Cari and Lillian all enjoyed pointing at the animals. However, Lili’s favorite thing to do at the zoo was to plan escapes and then execute her plans by running away while laughing madly:

Lillian and her dad try to figure out what’s going on. As far as Lillian is concerned, it’s a real head-scratcher:

Girls On Vacation

More on celebrity doings in Huntington from paparazzi Josh:

We started the day with a puzzle that made cool noises:

Then we went outside to the tire swing (you may have gathered from previous posts that Lillian loves to swing). Lillian pushed off, lifted her feet and swung herself:

Lillian’s cousin Kaitlyn and aunt Cari showed up in the afternoon. The cousins promptly drafted Cari as a chaser:

Two girls and a Christmas tree: Lillian can’t quite believe whatever it is that Kaitlyn is doing under there!

Lillian’s grandma Peggy has undertaken the task of potty training Lillian (have I mentioned that Peggy is a saint?). Ashley had begun this, but it was interrupted by her final illness. We are all praying for success!

Lillian, from time to time, feels called to demonstrate that she is a two-year old and throws a temper tantrum. Her favorite method is to get on the floor in a frog-like position and bang her head on the floor. Peggy says that she is beginning to learn that this is not as much fun on their hardwood floors as it is on the soft carpet at Lili’s house. So, in the middle of one of her fits, they moved her to an area rug and walked out. Lili was a bit offended at the lack of interest in her dramatic performance and after a few minutes came into the kitchen looking for hugs of reassurance — which, of course, she received!