Around 12 months, Laurel would say 'hi' on the phone most of the time when prompted. A few months later, she stopped and would just breathe into the phone when I put the phone to her ear and asked her to talk. It was a little disappointing, but she yelled "Mommy!" into the phone when I called her from St. Louis during my trip, so we had hope. She's talked on the phone three times so far this week, saying lots of "mm-hmm"s, 'hi's, and a few other choice words (Elmo, frog, mom, no). I think she's starting to connect that talking on the phone makes the speaker on the other end get excited and say more to her.

She had a first today we all found funny: she closed herself into a baby-locked cabinet. Mom was in the kitchen and briefly went into another room to get something. (I was in earshot but didn't have a clear line of sight to Laurel.) Laurel climbed into one of the lower cabinets where we keep the Gladware and baking pans and pulled it shut. Just like when she climbs into her toybox, she got real quiet. We figured out she was in the cabinet because the door was wiggling. While we watched, it stopped, then opened again until the baby lock caught and Laurel reached up and opened it. I fear this may be her latest form of amusement since she figured out how to open the cabinet locks a few months ago.