They both have outgoing personalities with different approaches to how they greet new people. Annika will say 'Hhhiiii' to pretty much anyone who walks by. Luka gives a look of suspicion to new people but, within seconds, flashes a beautiful smile and says 'Hhhiiii'. Sometimes one or the other will bat their eyes at a new person with a bit of coyness with smiles and greetings quickly to follow.
Playing at the park.
Annika and Luka "winking".
Annika and Papa walking on the sidewalk at our house.
Luka and Mama flashing a smile after a successful dinner out at a restaurant.
Both have extraordinary vocabularies and we find ourselves wowed every day. Here is a sampling of how they communicate -
Words they sign: milk, eat, help, please, papa, butterfly, bird, banana, brush teeth, and frustrated (our most helpful sign)
Words they say: papa, mama, hi, bye bye, ball, bus, diaper, right back, shoe, turtle, bear, truck, plane, book, eyes, and they will repeat back most of the words at least once if you ask 'can you say _____'
Animals or objects they can make the sounds of: cat, dog, cow, horse, chicken, duck, rooster, frog, sheep, goat, bird, crow, truck (we taught them the old school sign for a tractor trailer truck to honk to go along with the sound), plane
Body parts that they can point to if asked: head, hair, eyes, ears, nose, cheeks, mouth, teeth, arm, hand, fingers, belly, belly button (their favorite), leg, knee, foot, toes
They already have some words that they know and will happily locate pictures in various books. For example, ask them to find the cat, truck or banana in one of their books and they will turn to the page and point to the picture and say the word. Blows our minds every time.
They also LOVE music. They will do signs with 'wheels on the bus' (round and round, open and shut, move on back, shhhh, wiper swish); dance to songs that André plays on the guitar or songs on the radio; and they really love playing music too. They will strum a guitar, shake a shaker to the beat, blow their kazoo, and they really enjoy playing harmonica. They also like playing different rhythms on the electronic keyboard and have recently begun dancing to the rock music when they hit the right button.
And, as if all of that isn't enough, if it gets too quiet one of them will start singing - laaaa, laaaa, and the other quickly jumps in to harmonize. FUN!! :-)
Here are some fun pictures from the past few weeks.
Carrying bottles for snack time. Luka really enjoys helping and is quick to help clean up or share.
Wearing her "hat". Annika loves wearing hats and carrying purses.
