I'm gushing

Once again our Hanukkah celebration pictures and stories will have to wait while I gush over Jordan. She is just too cute for words. I can not believe how big she is getting. Today, for example, while we were at the gym she decided to climb on the beam. She pulled herself up to standing, using the bars on the side, held her arms out to balance herself and took two steps on the beam and then fell off. I scooped her up and held her hand and she walked the rest of the beam. She was so proud of herself and I was just thrilled!
She is talking with more purpose. She stands at the gate and screams "Mommy, Mommy" or screams "Daddy" if she sees him. This would be much cuter if she said our names instead of shrieked our names! Today she was ransacking the laundry room and came out with a bag of dehydrated apples (a favorite snack for all three girls) and handed it to me. I put it on the table and walked away, thinking nothing of it. A few minutes later I was carrying her by the table and she pointed to the bag of fruit and said "apple". She wanted that bag of fruit and she let me know about it.
She says "Bye-bye" to the dogs when she leaves the house. She hands me her shoes and says "shoe" when I am putting the big girls shoes on. She does not speak on command, however which is extremely frustrating. Tonight after dinner I tried to get her to say apple for Matt and instead we heard a chorus of "apple, apple, apple, apple" from the big girls which Jordan just thought was hysterical.
Jordan's laugh is enough to melt your heart and take the edge off a bad mood. Her laugh starts deep in her belly and just pours out of every pore in her body, her eyes light up and her face just sucks you in because her smile has taken over her entire face. Her laugh is even enough to send the big girls into fits of laughter. Can you tell I like her?
I like her even though for the past few days she has been shrieking at the top of her lungs every time I put her down. I like her even though I have changed at least seven really-really poopy diapers in the last thirty six hours. I like her even though her temper is bad and she gets really frustrated and screams. I like her even though she is teething and miserable because she is so darn cute and she loves me, but not as much as I love her! I think we will keep her.