Cool things about Joanna

If I actually wrote down ALL the cool things about Joanna, you'd never be able to leave your computer because of all the reading, so this is a partial list. Joanna's doing so many new neat things that I feel I need to record some.

• She says "yeah" for yes; she also nods yes.
• She has just started saying "no," and it is rearing it's ugly head. I'm very happy for her to assert her independence, otherwise she won't grow, learn, etc., but hearing "no" from that tiny person is hard! We've had to start rephrasing things. Instead of "Do you want to take a bath?" we say, "It's bathtime!" and stuff like that.
• She's still a rotten napper, but occasionally I get a good one out of her. It usually involves her starting a nap in bed, then finishing it on Gran or Daddy. Today she took a Gran snap and I believe she slept for 1 1/2 hours. Whoa, what a difference in my child this afternoon! She's a new woman after all that sleep!
• She's starting to put words together into little sentences (or I guess she's been doing it for a while, but I'm noticing it more). She'll say "Where's Daddy?" and "Daddy bye-bye."
• She's OBSESSED with babies. She loves looking at babies, baby dolls, pictures of babies, etc. She also loves kissing my belly (the baby). If she tries to kiss your belly, I'm sorry. She's one; this kind of thing is confusing. :)
• She's also OBSESSED with balls. She loves just having them and pointing them out. She's starting to "toss" them and roll them. We're not exactly sports-oriented around here. I love it when she sees all kinds of things that look like balls but are not. I see an acorn squash or a pumpkin and think "squash." She says "bah!" She calls any round thing she sees "bah!"
• We were outside on the deck last Saturday watching Daddy mow the lawn. She was being so good to stay on the deck with me and just entertain herself. She grabbed the top of a little acorn and a tiny twig. She used the twig to "stir" in the acorn top bowl and offered me a bite. She's so brilliant! She pretends with food in her little kitchen, but this is the first time I've seen her take two very non-food things and relate it. What an imagination that girl has!
• Some new words (some of these may have been on the last list; I'm not cross-checking): juice, shoes, teeth, rain (we said this one a lot today), cheese, owie, boo-boo, no, and please.
• Joanna LOVES giving kisses. Anytime we say "bye-bye" or "night night," it's time for a round of kissing. That little puckered up face is so precious!

I know there are more, but I need to put my sweet noodle to bed!