"Gemma running! Gemma jumping!"

"Gemma running! Gemma jumping!" These are currently two of Gemma's favorite 'sentences' right now at almost-20 months old. 

She loves being outside and being active. Last week she ran/walked a half mile at the YMCA track, all the while exclaiming, "Go! Go! Running! Gemma running!" (This did not require much encouragement by her mom; she seemed particularly motivated after observing a pre-school class doing games on the field and running a lap around the track.)

Some other favorite sayings right now of our little goofball:

• "Chase you!" i.e. 'Daddy, please chase me around the living room and tackle me.'
• "Watching! See you." i.e. 'Mommy, look at me climbing on the couch.'
• "Pray. Hands." She says this promptly at mealtime and holds out her hands, one for Dad, one for Mom. Twice in the past few days she has even said, "Pray. Jaja. Pa-kuh (Grandpa). Hands." so then we prayed for them, too. Isn't it amazing how the Spirit works through the heart and vocabulary of a toddler?
• "La, ti, ti." i.e. singing along to the Do-Re-Mi song from The Sound of Music.

Another notable explosion of language is her ability to remember names and recall recent events. She loves to list off the names of her cousins and her friends; her first made-up song goes like this: "Emma friend, Asher friend, Kenna friend, Joy friend...".

And at the end of each day before bed she likes to go through recent events and talk about them again: "Bunny; pets; Rachel" she will say to prompt me to recall how we went to the animal shelter with her friend Rachel. Or: "Band-aid; pinch; brush" to recall how she got a finger prick to test her iron level (at WIC), and then was rewarded with a new toothbrush. She will remember events from several weeks back, like "Asher; bagel" to describe Asher eating a bagel during our visit to Durham in mid-March, and repeat the words over and over until we realize what she is referring to.

Here are some pics of Gemma playing with her tunnel in the living room one night before bed. 

"Yes, Daddy, you want to take my photo?"