New reasons why I won't sell Inara on ebay...yet

Every day I'm amazed by how fast Inara is growing. She's such the little sponge right now and learning new things every time I turn around. She's still not saying any new words besides mama, dada, and uh-oh. I'm actually surprised she's not speaking more considering HOW much I read to her every day. The kid loves books! It's cute when she wants me to read to her, she'll bring me a book, I sit down with my legs crossed, and she backs up to me and sits down. It's hilarious. She could use some new books though because I'm getting bored reading the same ones every day. I'm about to pack away Goodnight Gorilla actually. It's a good book, but we read it at least 5 times a day. The latest fave is one about Christmas that we checked out from the library, and she loves looking at pictures of Santa. It's my goal to teach her to say, "Ho ho ho!" No luck yet, but I'm gonna keep trying.

Inara has also become infatuated with Pooh Bear and friends. She loves wearing the shirt Kristi got her with Darby and Pooh bear on it because all day long she walks around pointing at her tummy and smiling. I took the shirt out of the dryer yesterday and she came charging over when she saw the shirt and got so excited. She loves reading the one My Friend Tigger and Pooh book we have, so I checked out another Pooh book from the library. I'm thrilled that she loves these characters so much. They're some of my faves too.

Shawn and I are always teaching her animal sounds, but nothing has stuck yet, which we're also surprised by. However, she does do her elephant sound, which kills us every time. I've also tried teaching her to wiggle her nose like a rabbit does. Somehow it got translated into her winking her right eye. It's the cutest thing ever. She gets a kick out of it too.

One thing Inara has gotten very good at is congratulating herself when she does something. She's always clapping and cheering. I know that's because Shawn and I are always congratulating her when she does something. Positive reinforcement is so important.

Yesterday, Inara made me so proud when she became mommy's big helper. She loves to get in the way when I'm emptying the dishwasher, which makes me nervous because I don't want her to fall on the dishwasher door and hurt herself. So yesterday, I decided to get her involved in the chore. I took out some of her sippy cups and handed them to her. I then said, "Inara, help mommy and put these in the cupboard. You know where they go. You're special cupboard." She took the cup from me, stared back oddly for a sec, then turned around and put them in the correct cupboard. I was so proud and cheered for her. Of course, she clapped and cheered for herself too. We did this with all the cups and snack bowls that are hers and she put them all in the cupboard. Then I decided to try the plastic storage bowls that she plays with. She took them from me and knew exactly where to put them. She even surprised me when she put the small bowl inside the bigger bowls and then put them in the cupboard. I'm tellin ya, she might not be able to say any words, but the kid knows SOOO much!

My favorite new thing she does though has to be her kisses. I'll say, "Give mama kisses," and she'll lean over and kiss me. And she's starting to close her lips now, so they aren't big slobbery kisses any more. Yay! The other day I was trying to get her to say, "Love you." It was so cute because every time I would say "Love you" she would lean over and kiss me, so now when I say that, she comes right up and kisses me. Too adorable!!! So I guess I'll hold off listing her for sale on ebay for another few weeks, but as children go, the tides can change so fast that she just might end up for sale tomorrow. Ha ha!