I. Want. Candy.

Back from spring break, and happily reunited with my computer. We had a fine week of pillow fort building, movie watching, and candy eating with the cousins. We even managed a few games of "beach ball" baseball (it saves on the broken windows) with Paige as a spirited cheerleader, and Aiden and Brighton stealing as many bases as they could. And then came the highlight of the week: Keelie's first real sentence.

While Mindy and I were filling Easter eggs in preparation for Saturday's afternoon Easter egg hunt, Keelie ambled into the kitchen, stopped next to where I stood surrounded by candy, and slowly, deliberately said: "I want candy." As I stood there dumb-struck, astounded at what I had just heard, she went on. "Can I have some?" she asked. What could I say but, "I'll be. It's an Easter miracle!" before handing over the jelly beans and Swedish fish.

Of course she's spoken before--she's been using words pretty well for almost a year now. But not like this. Her "sentences" usually sound more like: "Candy, pwease," or, "Have some? More?" This was different--clear, understandable, and phrased as a complete sentence.

I spent the rest of the weekend trying to bribe her with candy for a repeat performance, but to no avail; she's a one-chance kind of gal. If you miss the show the first time around, you never know when you'll have that chance to see (or hear) it again.