Today, as I was changing Lu'au's diaper, she started chatting about various things. She said something about "the Lion in the jungle", probably in reference to her favorite song, The Lion Sleeps Tonight. She then said something about Jesus and the jungle. She said "Jesus live in jungle?" I then told her that Jesus lives all over - he lives in heaven, he lives in the jungle, he lives in our house. He also lives in our hearts if we love him.

Then she said something that I hope I remember forever. "Lu'au loves Jesus. Dadda loves Jesus. Mama loves Jesus." Yes, baby girl, you're right.

Almost two, going on... 12?

Yesterday I took Lu'au to a park and she was on the swings. Another child was being pushed in the swing next to us by her mother. The mother asked Lu'au how old she is now. I waited for Lu'au's typical response - "1, 1, 1, 1, 1!" that is accompanied by her gesturing "1" and shaking that 1 up and down.

This time was different - Lu'au paused and said confidently, "almost two."

In the words of Lu'au

We've been having a lot of fun as a little family. Lu'au is walking (running!) and learning to talk. It's exciting to be able to know what she thinks and to see her personality a little more clearly.

• She opens a basketball "egg" from Easter (it was for Daddy), and sees that it's empty, says sadly, "No chocolate. No chocolate."
• She says "cosas" and I can't figure out what she means until she says it again and adds "moo". Obviously, "Cow says moo"!
• She coughs and if I don't say anything to her afterwards, says to herself, "Bless you, Lu'au".