She's singing!

Rachel really is singing. Here is the proof:

I was lying in bed this morning after forcing myself to sleep past 8 a.m., when I heard Rachel's little voice from her room over the CD of ocean music we play so that we don't jolt awake at her every sound. "The wheels on the bus go round and round, round and round, round and round/The wheels on the bus go round and round/All day long..." she sang. It was as if she was trying to keep herself company before Mommy came in!

Is there anything, and I mean ANYTHING, sweeter than listening to a 2 1/2 year old sing to herself?

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She has learned a classic French song called "Aloutte" about plucking a bird (yeah, the imagery isn't the best) and listening to her try to pronounce the French with the accent is hilarious. Other times, she sings "The ABC Song" except she substitutes the word, "Mommy." So it goes, "Mommy Mommy Mommy Mommy Mommy Mommy Mommy Mommy...." etc. And then I'll start singing "Rachel Rachel Rachel Rachel..." to the same tune, and then I'll stop us and say, "let's sing it TOGETHER" and the car is filled with our voices singing Mommy/Rachel...it's a great way to commute every morning!

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Tonight I had gotten to the end of "Hush Little Baby (The Mockingbird Song)", her new fave that she wants me to sing over and over and over again...and I got to the line, "If that horse and cart fall down..." and I would have gone on to, "you'll be the sweetest little RACHEL in town!" except she beat me to it.

"You'll be the sweetest little MOMMY in town," she said.
"You'll be the sweetest little RACHEL in town," she said afterward. Then:
"You'll be the sweetest little DADDY in town."
"You'll be the sweetest little CRAIG in town!" (Craig is my new renter; he returned from a weekend away with his girlfriend and Rachel greeted him so cheerfully: "Hi, Craig! I have a Jamberry book!")

Now do you see why I'm so lucky??