Our 2 1/2-Year-Old World Traveler

Rebekah is growing up quickly these days! She seems to be learning new things every day, and is constantly growing in maturity and understanding of the world around her. Although it is hard to believe that she is already nearing age 3, we often have to remind ourselves that she IS only two! Sometimes she sounds like such a little adult that we can't help but laugh and shake our heads.

Rebekah has done very well transitioning from a "settled" lifestyle in the city of her birth to a transient lifestyle in a country that is foreign to her. It has definitely been unsettling and sometimes stressful, but she takes it all in stride.

Rebekah with some of her best friends in India

Rebekah does miss her friends, but she is also enjoying making lots of new friends. Usually she is just happy if she has someone to play with - whether she knows them or not! Thankfully, she has not minded being in a different church almost every week, and almost seems excited about going to a "new" church and making new friends. We have tried to make this whole experience a fun adventure for her, and so far she seems to see it as such. Since we have been in the States, she has gotten to do many new fun things. She is a brave little gal who seems to be pretty much up for anything....but we'll save that for another post. =)

Rebekah has really enjoyed spending time with family - some family members that she hadn't seen since she was tiny, and some that she had never met. There is a lot of love in her tiny body, and she is more than willing to pour it out on anyone who wants it. If you are willing to read a story to her or play a game with her, she will be your good friend in less than 10 minutes!

At the park with cousin Kylie


Splashing with cousin Eirena

Helping Grandpa Chuck vaccuum

Rebekah loves helping with things as much as ever, if not more. She is getting better at it too, which is nice for Mommy. =) She knows how to set the table, and usually (although not always!) puts the silverware in the proper places. She loves to help sweep the floor, although she has a ways to go before she is proficient at that. She is also learning how to entertain her brother, which is a good thing too! When we were traveling cross-country, she discovered that if she growled at Daniel when he got fussy, he would laugh. That, of course, made her laugh too. I think she is getting a little impatient for Daniel to hurry and grow up so he can play with her more. She has lots of plans for all the things she is going to teach him. Currently she is trying to teach him how to crawl, how to say "please" in sign language, and how to say "ma-ma" (since he says "da-da" constantly these days!)

Other recent Bekah achievements.... She has been almost completely potty trained for several months now. It is a wonderful thing! We had a slight setback when Daniel was born, but not as much as I had expected. Now she almost never has accidents during the day (maybe one a month or less), and she stays dry about 80% of the time at night. We were a little concerned about how she would do traveling cross-country and not being able to just drop everything and "go potty," but she did very well. There were a few times when we wondered if she was beginning to use the potty as a ploy to stop and get out of the van though!

Being around so many different people here in the States has helped Rebekah develop her ever-expanding vocabulary. She has also picked up several new expressions from various people - such as "Oh my!" and others that aren't coming to mind at the moment. She speaks in very complete sentences, but is still working on her grammar and pronounciation.

I realized recently that she has forgotten most of her letters and numbers - since with all of the comotion of life, we haven't gone over the letters lately. So she's gradually picking those things up again. She's learning what is her "left" and "right," and has just recently started learning about rhyming words. She is still our highly organized little girl, and keeps her things as organized as our uprooted life will allow. =) She is an incredibly slooow eater at times, and really doesn't seem to care much one way or another about food - except for breakfast food. She will sometimes eat as many as 5 pancakes or 3 bowls of oatmeal! But of course then she hardly eats the rest of the day. =)
Rebekah is quite the character, and keeps life busy, but also fun and interesting! Watching her explore and enjoy all of the new "worlds" she is experiencing gives us a better appreciation for them as well. We thank God for the precious, hilarious, flexible, friendly (etc., etc.) little girl the Lord has entrusted to us!