"Mommy, getcha me!"

Sahara loves to play, especially games that require me doing the lion's share of the physical labor. She loves to be pulled around the living room while sitting on her pink blanket; she loves to be swung around in the air; she loves to stand on my shoulders and touch the ceiling. But her favorite game is called "getcha." It began as a basic game of chase wherein I would say something like, "Better watch out, I'm gona getcha." I would then growl and begin to crawl towards Sahara. Sahara would squeal with delight, run to Amy and climb her leg like an island native going for a coconut. At some point, Sahara took charge and stopped waiting for us to chase her. She now says (anywhere, any time), "Mommy (or daddy), getcha me", which is our signal to growl and come after her while she burrows her head deep into the chest of the other parent and hangs on with her boa constrictor grip, all the while shrieking with delight.

Sahara talks a lot now and we're really pleased with her progress. She's attentive when we teach her new words and ever curious about her world (and the world of big people). As her vocabulary expanded, one of the first non-noun words Sahara learned was "too." She still uses it all the time to indicate inclusiveness: "Mommy too." "Daddy too." "I want that too." No matter the activity, Sahara prefers to have all three of us included, and does her part to make sure that happens.