Gratitude > Complaining

As the NATO Summit winds up or down (depending on your perspective) in Chicago... we have seen and heard a lot of complaining on the streets, in the news, from businesses, protesters, police, commuters, etc. Inside the four walls of our home, we are grateful for health, happiness and two new words for Ani.

"Up!"... said with joy and assertiveness but mostly wonder and the spark of understanding that words = power. Adom swears she has been saying this for weeks but I have my suspicions as Ani and I hang out quite a bit. Timing aside, it is amazing to add another word to her ever growing spoken repertoire.

*book*... quietly signed with a focused face... first on her hands and then on the object in question: Where the Wild Things Are has been heavy in rotation with a smattering of Tintin: The Blue Lotus and A Guide to Biltmore Estate in the mix.

At the risk of sounding like Hamlet... "words, words, words" as of today:

Spoken                                            Signed  

daddy (dah-ee)                                more

dog (dee)                                        milk

cat (ki-ee)                                       all done

bear (behr)                                      eat

baby (bay)                                       sleep

mommy (mumah)                             diaper (modified)

bye (by-ee)                                      bye

hi (high)                                           please

where (whee-r)                                thank you

why (why-ee)                                   telephone

Katie (Kay-dee)                                water

happy (hop-ee)                                 book

up (up)   

yes (u-yah)

I would maintain that thanks are the highest form of thought, and that gratitude is happiness doubled by wonder.  

~G.K. Chesterton