Rosalind is learning to talk really fast.  She says more words now than I can remember, and signs even more than that.  And then there is a whole collection of “sounds”–like “mooo” for cow, “doot-doot” for bird, “rmmm rmmm” for car, etc.  She is starting to put them in combinations, too: yesterday, for example, she told me “shh” (finger on lips, “baybeee” (signing baby) is sleeping (signing sleep.)  She is also very proficient at the “mooo-uh moo-uh moo-uh” (signing more) “eez” (signing please) combination.  I feel like I am constantly in a conversation with her now, although it’s in a crazy language that only I can understand.  She can really let me know what she’s thinking about, even abstract thoughts and memories.  It is so great.

One thing I’m particularly struck by in her language development is how social it reveals her to be.  Two of her earliest words are the names of her best friends: “no-no-no” (Nolan) and “Azhzhus” (Azure.)  She started saying “Nolan” because we were often looking at a picture of him in the beautiful scrap book Jane made.  Several days in a row she said “no-no-no” on the same page, but we could hardly believe she was refering to her friend.  The first time I heard her say Azure was even more impressive.  It was the day after I started to believe in “Nolan”.  We drove over to Michele and Azure’s house, and as I parked the car in front Rosalind looked out the window and started repeating “Azhzhus.  Azhzhus.  Azhzhzus.”

Now there’s not a day goes by that she doesn’t bring up these two, and always in combination with each other–even though it’s only rarely she sees them together.  Yesterday we were in the grocery store and there was a very blond boy about the same size as Nolan.  “No-no-no?  No-no-no?” she asked questioningly.  And then “Azhzhus.”  Not really to me, just to herself.  She was just remembering her friends.

Nolan and Azure with Elizabeth

Thanksgiving Feast

Carnivorous Girl

I sure do love Thanksgiving.  It was my least favorite holiday growing up, but that was before I got to do the cooking!  The traditional meal still isn’t my all-time favorite for flavor, but the pleasures of serving up a feast make up for the moderation in my enjoyment of the actual food.  Besides, stuffing and cranberry sauce might not thrill me, but who isn’t ecstatic about pie?

I went almost completely local for my dishes this year.  The turkey was a pastured heritage bird from a local meat farm, and boy was it flavorful (although I might have slightly overcooked it.)  The dark meat was phenomenal.  The squash in the soup appetizer, the potatoes, the vegetables in the stuffing, the kale, the apples and pumpkin in the pies, were all either from my CSA or the farmer’s market.  The cranberries were from Wisconsin–what can you do.  It was really satisfying to know where everything came from as we sat down to eat it; it made the holiday even more meaningful for me.

But let’s be honest.  The food and all the celebration were only icing on my thanksgiving cake.  There’s no day goes by that I don’t realize, again, how lucky I am–that I don’t feel thankful for the comfort, joy, and richness of my life.  I never did anything to deserve it; there’s nothing I can do now to earn it; but I will revel in it, and be grateful for it.