C has me laughing most of the time, even when I'm trying really really hard to have my stern Mommy face because what she said was inappropriate, no matter how hilarious it sounded in her little voice. So, here are a few of my favorites from my funny little two and half year old.
She knows too much...
The other day, we were running late for school and I sped up to make it through a yellow light. C promptly said, "Mommy, why are you going faster? Yellow means slow down!"
Big Sister
C talks to my belly a lot. She has chats with her baby brother (when she remembers he's in there and not just a bump impeding on her lap space). Overheard the other day:
"Baby, come out and play with Catherine."
"You hear me?"
<looks up at me>
"Mommy, I want to touch baby."
<hands on my belly>
"Hi, baby. I love you, baby."
<lays head on my belly>
Formal Greeting
We've been working on introductions and phone etiquette lately.
Overheard at the park:
<Arm outstretched, in handshake form, to a little boy>
"Hi, may name's Catherine. You want to play with Catherine?"
She also uses this method with family, friends, and toys.
Playtime
Playing with toys:
"I sorry, friends. It be okay. I take you home."
"I kiss you. It's all better."
<While pretending her toys are on a rocket (blanket)>
"One, two, three, blast off! To the moon!"
When frustrated
"It's too small. It's too big. I can't do it!"
And just some of my favorite Catherine-isms
"I so excited!"
"It's gonna be so fun!"
"It's gonna be so yummy!"
"Mommy, I love this book."
"I made it. You like it?"
"Great job! Thank you for helping!"
"What's wrong? Are you sad? Just be happy!"
"I do it myself."
"Don't throw ball. We don't throw balls. That's not nice."
The other night, C and I were pulling into the lake house for the weekend when she said, "Mommy, shhhhhh."
Me: (whispering) What is it?
C: It's a dinosaur.
Me: Wow! Where is it?
C: It's in the trees. Don't worry. It's hiding.
Her imagination is in full swing these days and I am loving it. She lives in a magical world where everything talks and everything is real.
While I cooked dinner the other night, I overheard her playing in the living room and walked in to find her enacting a scene with finger puppets. She had a princess puppet upside down in a rhythm instrument saying "help me, help me!" Then, the knight (which she calls a "prince") said, "to the rescue!" and got her out. Then, they kissed.
Sometimes, her imagination is too close to reality. Today, while playing in her baby pool on the deck, she said, "look, Mommy, a mouse!" I freaked out and ran over to see what she was talking about. I asked her where it was and she pointed in the pool and said, "right there. See? It's swimming."
She often reads books to her stuffed animals; her babies cry and need bottles; her trains get encouragement as they crest the mountain ("Great job! You did it!"). Everyone dances. Everything has feelings. Everyone has a name (thought most of them are Catherine).
C has a new expression and it is cracking me up. She says, "hooray!" with her hands raised over her head Rocky-style whenever something excites her. More often than not, it's food related.
"Hooray! French fries! I love French fries!"
"Hooray! Breakfast time!"
"Hooray! Banks eat!"
"Hooray! Baseball!"
I have no clue where she learned this expression. It's not one I typically use (Hooray! Nap time?); but it is so funny to watch her get so excited over the tiniest things, little arms raised in jubilation.
Remember those old Chewy Granola Bar commercials from the nineties? It was a series of kids repeating things their parents probably wished they didn't like "my sister dresses like a floozy" and "my daddy lost his paycheck at the race track."
Then, the narrator's voice would say, "does your kid need a chewy granola bar?" and showed all of the kids chewing instead of talking.
I think about that commercial a lot lately.
Like last week when I drove through Starbucks on our way to a play date and she raised her hands above her head and cheered "hooray! french fries! I love french fries!" because, apparently, fries magically appear through all windows while in the car (and obviously more often than they should).
So after handing her chocolate milk and explaining that they don't have french fries, which was not met with understanding, I drove next door and got Chick-fil-A fries at 10:30 am.
Or the other day when I told her she was being too bossy and she looked at me and said, "I bossy."
I know this will only get worse. She already repeats everything we say and mimics everything we do. There is nothing like a toddler to keep you in check.
It's unseasonably cold outside and rainy and gross, so we are winding down from a fun weekend with a little Cinderella. C is holding her baby Cinderella, in a complete Disney-induced trance.
Then, I hear her talking to her baby.
"Calm down, Cinderella. You okay? You alright? You sweepy?"
She then rocks her and gently places her down in front of her, covers her with a blanket, and pats her.
C is a chatterbox, but there are some choice phrases of hers right now I just don't want to forget. She calls her blankie her "gwankie" Banks is often "Biiiiiiiiinks" If she wants you to do something or play with her, she grabs your hand, leads you and says, "Come. I help you." If she wants to "help you," chances are pretty high you will be crawling into a tent, a cardboard box, or into a ball pit. When she gets excited, she says our names in triplicate. ("Daddy, Daddy, Daddy!") If you are sleeping or laying down, she will say, "Are you okay? Are you alright? Are you sad?" Obviously, sleeping is frowned upon. She says she "loves" a lot of things (I love baseball; I love cheese), but just told me "Oh, Mommy, I love you" for the first time last night. Finally! (Sometimes, it comes out "wove") "Thank you" is "Tank you"; "Please" is "peease" If she doesn't want to do something (finish dinner, take a bath, have her diaper changed), she throws her hands up in the air and says, "all done" or "all clean." They are interchangeable. For some reason, every meal is "breakfast". She says, "Yay! It's breakfast time!" and climbs into her booster seat for every meal. Whenever she feeds her babies or animals, it is always "breakfast time". She has gotten really good at stalling at bed time. The other night, I was rocking her to sleep at my parents' house and she cried out for my mom ("CiCiiiiiiiiiiiiii") like she would save her. Then, she cried, "I need to plaaaaay." If Husband is home, she yells for him over and over again as I take her upstairs for a bath. Where did she learn this? She loves to name body parts while pointing to them on herself and everyone else. Her favorites are eyes, lips, cheeks, nose, chin, hair, ears, hands, feet, and brows. When she points to them, she says "this is..." If she wants something, she tells you what it is while pointing ("This is pickle," while pointing to the fridge). I started giving her a Hershey's kiss after bad tasting medicine. She now knows how to unwrap one all by herself. She loves chocolate and calls it "cwocolate." She is really into hair and eye color right now. She knows that she and I have brown hair and blue eyes and that Husband's hair is "black" (even tough it's dark brown), but she can't figure out his eyes. They're hazel. It's confusing. I'm sure there are many more, but these are some of my favorite Catherine-isms right now!
C finally had her two year old check up last week and it could not have gone better. She is 36.5" long (95th percentile) and weighs 29 lbs, 8oz (75th percentile). So, she's tall. Her parents are 5'8" and 6'4". What are the odds? She wears a size 7.5 or 8 shoe and size 2T in most clothes (3T in pants for length). She's in a size 5 diaper. If she could only save one thing from a house fire, it would be her blanky (which she lovingly calls her "gwanky"). We don't dare go anywhere without it.
I feel like she is changing and learning at warp speed these days. She really is turning into a little girl. We kicked the beloved sippy cup to the curb a few weeks ago. I'm not gonna lie, it was brutal. She basically used it like a paci full of milk. But, now, she's a big girl who prefers water (milk just isn't the same from a straw) from her cool new cup.
She has a new found love of dinosaurs. She got a pair of dinosaurs a few weeks ago and hasn't put them down since. They go on adventures. They sleep with her. Their names are Mommy and Daddy and they mostly kiss a lot. When they aren't kissing, they are "stomping."
She is also obsessed with a book series about dinosaurs. We read them every night. She also likes to play with them and read them to her babies. We left them at my parents' house (because she hid them in a cookie tin) and they had to overnight them to us because she spent the past two nights crying at bedtime and saying, "oh no, dinosaurs!"
Other than dinosaurs, she loves her babies. She has a few, but plays with three all the time. Two are Disney Princess babies (Snow White and Cinderella) and the third is a Madame Alexander baby she got for her birthday and has lovingly named "Pink." She loves to push them in their stroller and feed them and tell them to sleep. She also likes to throw them on the floor and sit in their stroller.
She has become quite the movie buff lately. She is obsessed with Finding Nemo and Tangled. She asks to "watch Memo?" or "watch Punzel?" every day. Movies are pretty much my answer to cooking dinner without her attached to my leg or on my hip (which sometimes happens anyway).
She has become a much better eater lately, almost eating anything I give her. She will at least try most things. Now, she gives me things and says, "try this, Mommy." Her favorite foods are still cheese, grapes, bananas ("manas"), pickles, and french fries. She actually cheers and says "yay, french fries" whenever she gets them. She's also been on an applesauce kick lately, but mostly because those squeeze packs are so so convenient!
She is busy. She is two. She loves to run and hop and bounce and spin all day long. She jumps from blocks to puzzles to dress up to balls to her play kitchen and back again. She loves to play outside, mostly on her slide. She has the sweetest heart and gives the best hugs ever.
She's honestly so much fun. I love watching her imagination at work and having conversations with her in the car. I love listening to her sing her favorite songs or walk through room identifying everything she sees. This age is magical. And just when I think I couldn't possibly love her any more, I do.
Tonight, as I read Love You Forever to C while rocking her back and forth, back and forth, back and forth, until her eyes grew heavy, I had a flash back to over two years ago. As my belly grew and due date neared, I would often spend the evening reading that very same book to her. I would sit in the glider in her nursery, admiring the chandelier Husband and I had just installed, and rock back and forth, back and forth, back and forth, while reading to her, wondering what it would be like to hold her in my arms.
Fast forward over two years and I am holding a tired toddler in my arms. Her eyes flutter as she fights the inevitable, a night of heavy sleep following a day of running and jumping and giggling with a friend. Two years have passed since her birth and I am still in awe every single day of her existence.
I still smile as I watch her sleep. I still tip toe into her room late at night and hold my hand just above her nose to make sure she is breathing. After two years, I still pinch myself every day to make sure I'm not dreaming. Our baby is here with us and she is amazing.
At two years old, she is doing and saying so many things. We have a tiny person walking around with us in the morning, chatting while we get ready. There are opinions about shoes and clothes and acceptable breakfast options. She tells us when she wants us with her by grabbing our hand and saying, "come"; and calls herself "super Catherine" while jumping up and down on our bed. She sometimes wakes up in the middle of the night just to talk to us.
Her vocabulary really has blossomed into that of a conversationalist. Most of the time, we can actually understand what she's saying and carry on a conversation with her. She says too much to list it all, but these are some of my favorite Catherine-isms right now:
"All done" and "all clean." She uses these appropriately (at dinner or bath time) but also when she just doesn't want to do something (as soon as she gets in the bath).
"I scared" or "scary monster" - We're not sure she's afraid of monsters because she loves the movie Monsters, Inc. But, she says this a lot whenever something is an odd shape.
She turns this ballerina over and calls it a "scary monster"
"Oh no! Gwankie!" (Translation: blankie) Whenever she realizes she doesn't have her blankie with her - usually when she's tired.
"This is..." - She uses this to ask for something she wants while pointing to it (milk, Elmo, slide). It is usually followed by a "peease" (please).
"Yay! I dancing!"
"Biiiiiiiinks (Banks)! Puppy come!"
She counts to 13, knows all of her colors, and sings all day long. She strings together Twinkle Twinkle, Baa Baa Black Sheep, Row Row Row Your Boat, and Wheels on the Bus into a never-ending sing-a-long. She loves animals - every single one of them. She grooms her stuffed animals before bed. Banks is still her best friend. She won't go to bed unless he is in the room.
Even though she has a pile of books, she chooses the same ones to read every night before bed - The Cow Loves Cookies and Smooch Your Pooch. Lately, Pete the Cat has made it into the mix a few times, but only as an addition, never a replacement. We sing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star together before bed. Sometimes she lets me sing with her. Sometimes she tells me, "shhhh, stop it. Night night."
Her favorite shows are still Sesame Street ("Elmo") and Winnie the Pooh ("Watch Pooh"). Her favorite movies are Finding Nemo ("Memo"), Happy Feet, Monsters Inc ("Scary Monsters"), and Cars. If she wants to watch something and thinks you don't hear her, (ie: we don't turn it on) she starts naming all the characters for clarification. She will point to my iPad and say, "this is Pooh" because we use it in the car.
She plays contently with stuffed animals, dolls, and babies, rocking them, wrapping them in blankets, and telling them goodnight. She kisses and hugs them. She also throws them on the floor. I'm not quite sure what to think about that! Sometimes she calls one stuffed animal "Mommy" and one "Daddy" and makes them kiss. She loves princesses and calls any female on tv or in a movie a princess.
She loves making music and dancing. She loves the loudest instruments most, favoring the drums and the cymbals. Coincidentally, we have recently learned that Banks is terrified of cymbals.
She likes to cook in her play kitchen. This mostly involves "mixing" and "stirring" until everything ends up on the floor. She recently discovered play-doh and makes a lot of "pasta" (aka monsters or worms). She likes to color, but loves to paint; and bath crayons just made bath time way more fun.
She would play outside all day if we let her, rain or shine. Bubbles, sidewalk chalk, swings, slides, and just running around, throwing sticks to Banks. Luckily, she has her new swing set to entertain her! Sliding is her favorite.
She is the sweetest, funniest, smartest little girl and I simply can't believe it's been two years since she entered our world and we were forever changed.
I only hope she knows how much she is loved and that we are thankful for her every moment of every day.
Happy birthday, Angel. You make me happy every day.
Sometimes I have to stop doing for a minute and just watch my child's imagination explode before me. It's amazing, really. I fear that while these sweet little moments are fresh in my mind now, I won't remember them later. In a few months, she will be doing so much more. Her language skills will improve and her imaginary playtime will develop into something new and altogether just as amazing. But, for the sake of my fleeting memory that is threatened daily by Elmo and sleep deprivation, these are some of my favorites at 23 months:
She plays with her food. As in, she takes a bite of a pancake, cocks her head and looks at it, then exclaims an animal she now sees ("a donkey! Hee haw") while she makes it trot across the table.
She is an excellent cook. She cooks play-doh meals and presents them to me. They are typically cookies, cakes, pancakes, or pasta. No surprise there. When she takes something out of the "oven," she uses an oven mitt and tells me it's hot. Then she takes a fork and takes pretend bites with me while saying, "yummm."
She also makes food for Banks. He's not very good at pretend eating though.
She doesn't like to color in the lines. She likes a blank canvas. I only figured this out this week. I love coloring. I owned coloring books far before she was born, so I did not understand why she wouldn't sit and color with me. Then, I gave her a blank piece of paper and she was in her element. She scribbles on the page and tells me it's a blue puppy or a black sheep. She draws a squiggle and proudly exclaims, "C!" "More paper?" she asks. She will paint and color as long as I keep the paper coming, just as long as it doesn't have lines!
She loves dancing. She has lots of signature moves, but she recently gave one a new name. She has a Disney princess castle and when you turn a pedestal, the princesses twirl. So now, whenever she twirls, she says, "I dancing princess."
She likes to make her toys dance together. Often, I will find her humming while a hippo dances with Snow White. Sometimes they kiss and hug too.
It's no secret I take tons of pictures of her. Last night, I looked over while I was cooking dinner and she was squatting with a magnet up to her face, her eyes squinted, saying "cheese" as she pretended to take pictures.
My little corner of the world is certainly entertaining these days. It's magical, really. I wonder, if I spend enough time on her level, will I see the world like she does?
In the past week, I think C has gone from saying twenty words to two hundred. It's as if she has been storing them away until she could use them properly, stringing them into tiny toddler phrases like "I stuck," "It's my puppy," "It's all gone! More peease (please)," and "Shhhh. Night, night, puppy."
She is getting really good at her colors, surprises me with letters of the alphabet we have yet to practice, and counts to nine (give or take a couple numbers). She tells me what she wants (and what she doesn't) with confidence. Her favorite snacks right now are oranges, pickles, cheese, or goldfish ("fishies") and she points to where they are stored and politely asks for them with a "peeeease" (please).
She sings "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" all day long.
She is obsessed with animals and can identify oh so many as well as tell you their respective sounds. I can't even name all of them, but some of her favorites are puppies, cats, bunnies, cows, donkeys, horses, pigs, ducks, geese, elephants, lions, bears, birds, penguins, dolphins, and monkeys. She now requests to sleep with all of her "puppies" and has a crib full of her friends every night. She has started instructing Banks to do tricks. She often tells him to "come" and pats the floor next to her. She tells him to "sit" and "shake" and "eat, eat" for treats. Sometimes he listens.
Role play is new to our little world and C now takes care of her baby dolls and all of her stuffed animals. She lines them up and feeds them "apples" and "milk" and narrates while doing so. She tucks them in and says, "shhhh, night, night." She kisses and hugs them and then brings them to me to kiss and hug. She got a Disney princess castle for Christmas and loves to play with her princesses and tell me "princess" as she points to each one. We call Daddy at work and she excitedly tells him about playing with princesses and balls and puppies and blocks, kisses the phone, and tells him "bye" or "night, night."
I've been talking to this little girl her entire life. It's nice to finally hear her sweet voice talk back.
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