Caroline is quite a chatterbox lately! She repeats many words and says some things unprompted as well. She says, "Ma" for Mommy (which becomes "mamamama" when she's upset!), and "Dad!" for Daddy. When we read her family book that I made for Christmas, she repeats, "Ma" on the page with my picture, and then "Dad!" on the next page with Daddy's picture (although sometimes she gets so excited that she skips me and just says, "Dad!"). Then on Grandma's page, Caroline repeats the end of her name, "Ma." On Grandpa's page, Caroline says, "Bob!" which is very funny because that's actually his name! Sometimes it sounds more like "Bop," and lately she is making more of a "Pa" sound, so I think she's really trying to say Grandpa now too. Then we get to Gran's page, but Caroline doesn't know how to make the sounds for that yet. But on Grandad's page, she says the ending sound, "Dad" after we read his name. Then we get to the uncles and her aunt, but Caroline doesn't know how to say these yet, although sometimes she will say, "mu" after we read, "Uncle Mike."
Other things she says are "dak!" when I turn off the lights, and "aaaaah!" (ice) when I use the ice maker or hold a cup. She also says something that sounds like "dog" when we see dogs on our walks. Recently, she saw one of the cats at my parents' house and said, "Dog!" But when I say the word "cat," she will repeat, "Dat." She makes a "bu" sound for blocks, ball, and book. She says "ba" when we get her bath ready. She says "bap" when I am saying "snap" as I snap up her clothing. Caroline says "ha" when I put a hat on her head, and she says, "haw" when we get near the stove... unfortunately, I don't think she fully understands what it means for something to
be hot even though she knows the word!
What's even cooler is that she understands a whole lot of words. If I say, "Caroline, sit down," she'll generally sit. Also, if I says, "Where's Daddy?" she looks right at him. If I say, "Wave, Caroline," she'll wave her hand, as well as when I say, "Say hi," and sometimes when I tell her, "Say bye." She also knows to hide her face and play peekaboo when I tell her to "hide." The other day I asked her to get her sock, and she did! And she knows what I mean when I say, "Not for Caroline!" She'll also turn pages in a book when asked.
And of course, she likes to squeal and make other loud noises with her voice... especially during church!
(Note: Photo was taken on December 21)
Caroline is getting so confident in her explorations! She can now climb down the step from the den into the sunroom without any hesitation or assistance. She will play alone for as long as an hour, checking in with me from time to time, but then continuing with her adventures. She enjoys opening the cabinets where her toys are stored, and ususallu she ends up in the cabinet herself! You can tell she's had an active day by the number of toys scattered beyond the cabinets and across the den. 
