Me: lily's gonna come see you!

Celeste: yay! Is Lily here yet?

Me: nope.

Celeste: *5 seconds later* is Lily here yet?

Me: not yet.

Celeste: *5 seconds later* I'm gonna get my stool and look.

And there she stands. Lily is her best friend ever. It doesn't matter that they just saw eachother two days ago, or that we've seen lots of other people since then. It's Lily!

We spent an evening with a friend and her newborn son. Celeste enjoyed watching and talking about the baby and seemed very fascinated. That is until she realized there were kitties too. Apparently, kitties are better than babies. Or, at least a lot more fun to chase around. [caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="360" caption="is there a better way? (9/11/2009)"] [/caption] We had pizza for dinner that night and Celeste showed off her very efficient method of getting the most flavor out of each bite. This is especially true if the pizza is topped with olives and mushrooms as this evenings pizza was.

(Since I'm now a day behind, I'd better include dates to keep things clear. This is Texas Coast Day 2, Friday, September 4th.) We started our day with an awesome breakfast. Then did some grocery shopping, visited some people including three adorable toddlers, and then came home for a nap. After nap, we headed out to the beach for a late afternoon / early evening swim. Celeste loved it. She didn't open her eyes underwater, was not afraid of the waves, and had a blast looking for seashells, watching the birds, and playing in the sand. When it got dark enough, our friend, Bonnie, spun Poi on the beach and Celeste watched in awe. [caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="400" caption="Celeste watching Poi"] [/caption] I got eaten alive by mosquitoes once the sun set. Thankfully, Celeste didn't get a single bite. After packing up the car, we sat our sand covered selves down for a good dinner at a local restaurant. Celeste discovered a love for Ranch dressing, and then we headed home.

I know it's not a photo or a video which is what all of Celeste's adoring fans really want. But it's too important to go unmentioned for much longer. Watching the mind of a child develop is absolutely amazing. The other day, nearly right before my eyes, I watched her figure out how the word "and" works. For instance, she'll be looking at the cover of one of her books that features a cartoon drawing of a cat, a dog, and a frog. We've always played the "what's that?" game and would go over each of the animals. Eventually, she didn't require prompting and would point at each one in succession and say their name or the sound that they make, depending on her mood. But now it's different. Now she says "DAH" (dog) "AN KITTY" (and kitty) "AN FRA" (and frog). It's the same for a family photo of Jess, Celeste and I taken many months ago: "MAMA AN DADA AN BAEBEEES". I tried to count the other day, counting words she's able to sign, she can say well over 80 things. [caption id="attachment_98" align="alignright" width="199" caption="Celeste and Archer"] [/caption] She's starting to make two word sentences as well. The most common ones I've heard are other words joined with "BYE BYE", "MUH" (more), and "PEES" (please). Such as "BYE BYE KITTY" and "MUH CRA-KUH" (more crackers) and "PEES BA BA" (please banana). Seemingly more amazing is that I can now talk to her like an adult and she understands nearly every word I say. I can ask her to do something complicated involving many words that I'm not even sure she knows, and yet she understands it. I'll be making dinner and I'll get several things out of the refrigerator with my arms full. She just follows me around back and forth. I'll ask her, "Celeste, can you close the refrigerator for me?" and she'll say "YA" and take care of it. I can't even begin to explain all of the combinations of words I've spoken to her expecting a blank stare and finding, instead, that she understood perfectly. This little girl never ceases to amaze me. Ok. Just so you're not completely disappointed at the lack of photos, I've included a photo of Celeste and her friend Archer (taken by Archer's mom) from a few weeks ago on a hike at a nearby State Park. She loves pine needles.