Hannah LOVES fish.

She learned the Chinese Mandarin word "yu" and the sign for "fish" in Dallas at a-ma and a-gong's during Christmas. She got to watch the aquarium tank everyday and would do the sign for fish with her hand. If she wasn't near the tank, all she'd have to do was say the word, do the sign, and then someone would take her to watch the fish.

It's been so exciting! She's done the sign for fish and said the word for 2 weeks now. I've been taking her to the state aquarium each week here since we've been back, and she just absolutely loves it! She's enthralled by the fish.

Looking around her room recently I realized we have a lot of "fish" decor and toys. There's an aquatic theme to a lot of things in Hannah's room. Her baby Einstein turtle has fish that go around and around (Her 1st favorite musical toy that would entertain her for hours. She could watch the fish go 'round for a long time.) Her IKEA sheets are of a coral reef theme with fish and sea creatures. She has IKEA aquatic finger puppets. She has some Fisher Price aquarium themed toys and crawl-through. A few books with fish in them.

Since learning "yu," Hannah's been more aware of fish everywhere. Each time she sees them, she signs for them and says the word. So fun! So we've decided to get Hannah an aquarium tank and some fish for her 1st birthday...which is not too far away...time passes so quickly!

We've been working on other signs and words. (eat, more, dog, mom, dad, bye/hi, give me/"gei" in chinese, come here, hold/hug/"bao") I'm not sure if "yu" fish is her first word, or if it's just her first consistent word. She's said "bao" or to hold/hug, "ma ma" and "ba ba"/"da da" before, but not as consistently. The fish sign has gotten a bit confused this past week b/c it sometimes looks like bye/bye and seems to have taken the meaning of "go outside" the last few days.

She's gotten pointing down now. And she'll point to where she wants to go. Yesterday she wanted to see the dog at our friend's house...and was insisting on going outside by pointing and signing.

Oh and I think she's finally getting over her virus/sickness. The past few days, she still has a runny nose, but it's not so cloudy, and her cough has subsided. Her appetite seems to have returned today (b/c she ate so much more than she has in a week). She was basically sick all through the holidays to when we got back. It seemed like it was one thing after another (since it lasted so long). We took the nebulizer up north visiting family...and then she was still runny and had a phlemy cough upon returning. But hopefully it's all over...and hopefully she will be well for at least a week or two!