Tiny Talk Saturday

Well I've given up trying to post Katie's funny sayings on Tuesdays like my friend Mary does. Instead, you'll get my stories while my preggie memory is still fresh, and when I have time to type them up! :-)

Today Katie and I were cleaning out the room that will become her "Big Girl Room" (actually I was cleaning; she was pulling things out of the closet). One of the things she pulled out of the closet was the top half of my gift wrap organizer (which is basically a big container that holds all your gift wrap rolls; the top pops open to allow you to store scissors, tape, etc). Here's what the top looks like:

While I cleaned, I noticed the distinctive smell of a dirty diaper, and I mentioned it to Katie. She started banging on the organizer top like a drum and saying "Pie! Pie!" I figured her actions were unrelated to our conversation, until she sat on the open organizer top and continued to say "Pie! Pie!" And suddenly I knew what she was telling me. She thought she was sitting on a potty! LOL!

I give all the credit to Katie's new DVD "Elmo's Potty Time" (thank you for the Christmas present, Stephen and Lindsey!). Katie's been watching it off and on for a month now, and now proudly talks about "pee pee", "poo poo" and "doo". It's a hysterical DVD to watch as an adult as well (at least the first time). There are songs about how everyone has accidents sometimes (my family uses that song to joke about our bouts with the stomach flu), and about how everyone uses the potty. There's also a segment where kids and Muppets discuss which words they use for pee pee and poo poo, which is where Katie is getting her new vocabulary.

Needless to say, I'm seizing this opportunity. I ordered the Baby Bjorn potty seat from Amazon tonight. Who knows, maybe we can start a bit of potty training before our son arrives -- he's due in 8 weeks.

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Another fun talking story:

One of Katie's favorite books these days is Dr. Seuss's Mr. Brown Can Moo, Can You? I had never heard of this book before my friend Beth gave it to us for my baby shower, but Katie adores it because it features the sounds that all kinds of things make -- and Katie has always chosen to refer to things (esp. animals) by the noises they make rather than by their actual names.

One of the sounds Mr. Brown makes is "Dibble dibble dibble dopp" to sound like the rain. Although I've pointed out rain to Katie before, there's been no recognition that she understood what it was. So last night we were reading Dr. Seuss's Green Eggs and Ham before bed, and Sam I Am asks, "Could you eat it [Green Eggs and Ham] in the rain?" Suddenly Katie started bouncing in my lap and saying, "Dobba dobba dobba".

She had been a bit distracted during our whole reading time, so I thought she was just goofing off. But then it hit me: She's making rain noises! And I said, "Katie, that's right! It's the rain!" And you should have seen the proud expression on her face when she realized that I understood her. She literally started leaping into the air from my lap and laughing. It was adorable.

And today when we got into the shower together (which we do almost every day now -- it allows me to use her naptimes for my own naps instead of for my showers), she again started her noise: "Dobba dobba dobba". What a smart girl -- she connected the water falling in the shower to the rain that falls. She is constantly astounding me with the connections she's making. I'm sure I don't notice or understand 95% of them, but it sure is a delight when I do.

Our 4th Tiny Talk Tuesday

Now 17 months old, Katie is talking more and more every week. Here's what she said this week:

"Beh-bee" = "Belly Button" (first said on Oct. 30) (thanks to my friend Katie for giving us the Belly Button Book -- you're right, Katie, it's been a big hit! Toddler Katie loves pointing at her belly button and exclaiming "Wuzzat???!!")

"Where's Mommy?" and "Where's Daddy?" (first said on Nov. 1 to Lindsey). My future sis-in-law Lindsey was watching Katie while I helped run the neighborhood block party, and Katie's way of thanking her was to share a few phrases that she'd never said before! Thanks again (and happy birthday), Lindsey!

"Grover" (first said on Nov. 3 to Grammy)

"Ah ee ah ee" -- This is Katie's version of reading. Whenever she sees letters anywhere, whether on my Wheaton College t-shirt or the words on our dishwasher, she tries to sound out the letters. Of course, she can't tell one letter from the other, but it's still cute. :-)

And a new fun activity today: Katie has been giving me "eskimo kisses" (aka rubbing her nose against mine). She discovered this trick totally on her own and thus thinks it's hysterical.

Happy Election Day!

Our 3rd Tiny Talk Tuesday

Katie is 17 months old this week and learning how to talk. Here are her new words this week:

"Mama" and "Dada" are quickly being replaced by "Mommy" and "Daddy" (starting 10/24, as first witnessed by my mom). My heart melts every time she says "Mommy." :-)

"Jay-Ja-Je Jee" is a favorite phrase. It's easily translated "Sesame Street".

Along the same lines, "Mamo" is now heard regularly -- that's "Elmo".

And when she sees Grover, the response is either "Gucci" or "Cookie" (her name for "Cookie Monster", who's also fuzzy and blue)

One of Katie's favorite foods is "cocker" -- a Ritz cracker.

And she can also say "bubble". Bathtime is so much more fun with bubble bath, even though Katie won't stop trying to eat the bubbles, so she doesn't get the privilege very often.

And this isn't a new word, but just an FYI: Katie's new favorite book is Goodnight Moon. It's so fun to see her enjoying the same things I did as a kid!

Our 2nd Tiny Talk Tuesday

Since I listed a bunch of Katie's new words last week, I'll list just the new words Katie has said this week.

1. "Hi" and "Buh-Bye".

The cutest example was when Katie's betrothed Kai was crying in his highchair, and I leaned Katie in to kiss his head and try to cheer him up. She got right into his face, started waving, and said, "Hi! Hi! Hi! Hi!" Kai, who seems to be crushing on Katie as well, immediately cheered up.

2. "Pooh" (as in "Winnie the...") (first said 10/17)

Winnie the Pooh is everywhere in our house, and now she's referring to him by name.

3. "Two" (first said 10/18)

Katie was trying to get into a bottle of floor cleaner and I was giving her a countdown of one-two-three to encourage her to walk away before I had to intervene. I started the countdown: "One". She immediately replied, "Two!" That was her first time saying "two" in context of counting, and of course I couldn't be mad as she showed off her new word. I did, however, still remove her from the floor cleaner. :-)

4. "Bee" (first said 10/18)

We've been reading the Dr. Seuss book, "Mr. Brown Can Moo, Can You?" before bed a lot recently. After Mr. Brown moos like a cow on the first page, he buzzes like a bee on the second page. Katie had buzzed once, but yesterday as she was picking up her bath toys and making animal sounds for each, she picked up the bee and said, "Bee." Good for her. Maybe we'll finally embark on a trend of saying the animals' names instead of just the sounds they make.

5. "Puppy" (first said 10/19)

Speaking of the animal name trend, another of Katie's new words is "puppy." No longer does every dog have to be "Bella." Unfortunately, I discovered this new word while trying to sit quietly with Katie during our evening church service this past Sunday. I handed her the "Puppy Love" book in the pew, hoping that she'd "read" it quietly while I listened to the sermon. Opposite reaction -- she started screaming "Puppy!!! over and over again in excitement. We exited shortly thereafter. :-)

(Others' Tiny Talk Tuesday posts are here.)

Our First Tiny Talk Tuesday

This is my first shot at Tiny Talk Tuesday, a blog event my friend Mary started to record the funny things her kids say every week. Since Katie's saying more and more words all the time, I decided it was time to join in!

Full sentences Katie (age 16 months) has said:

"She says moo." (response to the question "What does the cow say?")

"Whazdat?" and "Whoozdat?" (she asks this of everything she does not know the name of -- she is one curious child!)

"Bad Bella!!" (she says this constantly, whether or not our dog Bella is being bad and sometimes when Bella is miles away from us) (she also says this when trying to say "banana")

"It's a Bella" and "It's a baby." See video below as she marvels over the little plastic babies that I got as part of a twin baby shower favor.

Other words she says on her own now, besides the ones I mentioned in July:

"Shoe"
"Eye"
"No" (for both "no" and "nose")
"Mow" (for "mouth")
"Yes"
"Cookie" (for both "cookie" and "Cookie Monster")
"Wheeeee!"
"Bella" (she calls all dogs "Bella" now)
"Dank you!"
"Ow ow ow!" (as she hits Mommy -- we'll have to work on curbing that one)

Animal Noises she's improved upon:

Cow -- "Mooooo" (it's the first animal noise that she's really mastered in terms of both inflection and pronunciation)

Elephant -- "Brbrbrbrbrbrb!" (High-pitched motorcycle noise while she lifts her arm like a trunk -- it actually is the best elephant noise I've heard a child make)

Chicken -- "bak bak" (refers both to the animal and to the food. At least twice a week I have to go through the drive-thru, and all I have to do is ask Katie if she wants some "bak bak" -- chicken nuggets -- and I have one happy little girl)

Wolf -- "HOOOO-oooo!" as she points her mouth up to the sky

Tiny Talk example of the week: The word "Wheeeee!"

Katie's just learned the expression "wheeeee!" We use it when pushing her around the room on her fire truck or when pushing her in the swing or when going down the slide.

She had never used it in observation before, but we were watching a classic Sesame Street segment of gibbons swinging from rung to rung in a zoo. Since gibbons are similar to monkeys, I expected Katie to start making her monkey noise "Ay yi yi yi" (see this post to find out why that's the noise a monkey makes). Instead, as the gibbon swung from rung to rung, Katie started cheering it on: "Wheee! Wheee! Wheee!"

And tonight I was checking email while Katie was absorbed in watching Sesame Street behind me. Suddenly I heard her saying "wheeee!" and there were no gibbons swinging this time. She had climbed up on the coffeetable, and was using her "wheeee" to describe the adventure she was having. Note to self: Listen carefully for "wheee"s whenever Katie's out of sight. :-)