During our trip to Mackinac, Christian had Julianna duty at virtually every meal. Since she’s such a Daddy’s girl, he worked hard on “milk” and “water,” and about a week ago, it took. She’s so stubborn about it! With me, anyway–for Christian she’s miss sunny smile. With me, it’s “Reaaarrh! Reaarrh!” throughout the meal, while I try to figure out what Her Majesty desires. Sometimes it’s obvious. She’s learned to communicate via two sounds– “Reeaaaarh!” means NO! and “Uh?” means YES! But the most hilarious mode of communication is The Stare. She will contort herself into some ghastly position, get completely silent, completely still, and stare, unblinking, expressionless, at whatever it is she wants. Usually it’s something as close as her cup, but occasionally it’s a real guessing game, as she’s staring at something on Alex’s plate. 
In case you haven’t noticed, communication centers around sustenance.
Anyway, it’s pretty exciting to see her understanding language and starting to try to respond in kind. Everyone who sees her is positive about how well she’s doing, so we have high hopes for her. Gerti, our PT, says that’s a good thing, because kids will only live up to the level of your expectations.
