no voice

Selah got up here all by herself, and was pretending to write.

Selah and her friend Caleb. I enjoyed
taking care of you little C! Come over anytime!

Selah likes to point out body parts. She is looking
at her belly button in this picture.

One of many attempts to find the perfect Christmas card picture.
This isn't the one we decided on, but I thought it was cute.

So, every year I seem to get a case of Laryngitis. My voice box swells after a cold and I lose my voice for a few days. We jokingly refer to it as Dan's peace and quiet time. This has been by far the most difficult time, because I cannot talk to Selah. Thankfully Dan stayed home yesterday to help with Selah. I didn't want her to be scared by me not talking to her. And she was a bit confused. She would come to me and say 'up', and then when I picked her up she would look at me with a confused look, pound my chest and say 'mama'. Dan just kept saying, "mama is ok." Selah is just learning to communicate herself. Because her vocabulary is limited to 15 or so words she often has to find other ways to communicate her wants and needs. That is what I had to learn to do as well. So all day long was basically one big game of charades.
I must say, though, that my stress level dropped infinately because I was not talking. I did not have to worry about telling Selah no or come here dozens of times. Also, Dan had fun poking fun at me and I haven't seen him that goofy in a long time. I simply sat back and observed my little family. God knew my heart was feeling overwhelmed with life's many responsibilities, and I think this time I have with no voice has been a learning experience. Every moment is a learning experience.
In other news, last weekend we cut down our Christmas tree out at Dan's aunt and uncle's in La Center, WA. We decorated it that night once our wee one went to bed. For the most part Selah has left the actual tree alone, but she likes to steal the ornaments. So, only the upper half of our tree is decorated. I also tried to put wrapped presents under the tree, just to see if she would leave them alone...I should have known. The moment she saw them she was stacking them and hauling them off into the kitchen. So, at least she is interested in the shiny paper and bows. It is going to be such a fun Christmas!