Esther is Growing Up!

Here's a quick update on things Esther is learning to do!

At camp last summer she found a broken bad-mitten racket and was playing it like a guitar for all she was worth.  Recently we found an adorable little tune-able toddler guitar and she loves it!

She has begun to be dry some mornings, so we began to get her on the potty seat and she has had success most mornings!  She loves the routine, and she gets so excited when she has success!  She has even begun to tell me when she is "stinky"!  This is HUGE!

We are also seeing progress in her cognitive development through the Can Do therapy program I am doing with her.  She now knows the names of nearly all the photo cards that I use with her, and just this week she was able to see two cards, and then find their matches after I took the cards away!  She is also able to repeat back to me some of the sounds for letters!  She LOVES working with these cards and gets so excited when she gets it right.  I'm so glad we were able to begin this program with her.  She doesn't like some of the physical things, but she loves all the attention!

She is talking a lot, but we can't always understand what she is saying.  I love it when we finally understand a word that she's been saying for a while.  Once we have context, then we can totally understand what she is saying, but many times, without context, we just can't figure it out.  Once we know it, sometimes is seems silly that we didn't understand it!

Esther LOVES going to the beach.  We had a little scare earlier this summer when she decided to follow the big kids and got in deeper that she was prepared for and her floaty swimsuit kept her afloat, but she got her head under the water longer than she likes and I was afraid she was going to lose her love of the beach, but our day at the beach and couple weeks ago proved that she is still 100% a fish.  She was the first one in and the last one out!

I re-arranged the girls' bedroom this week.  Esther was SO excited about the change.  I had taken her top blanket to be washed, so it was missing for a couple of days. When I brought it back she acted like it was her long lost friend!

 Her excitement over everyday things is so captivating!  I'm sure her birthday this year (in just a couple of weeks now) will be a most over-the-top exciting day for her!