Doodle-isms

Doodlebug (3) spent the weekend with me, due to an extended 10th anniversary celebration of Dilly and Baby Boy.  Yep, they hve been married 10 years and still crazy in luv.  Or just crazy, not sure.

He made arrangements for the kids to be taken care of so Dilly could meet him on the road where he is setting up for his new gig.  He's working with a carpentry stage crew for a theatrical show on national tour.  Anyway, she got a  4 day vacay from childcare and I got the 3-year-old for the weekend.

Some things were frustating - she still has problems communicating.  I mean, she's 3, her language patterns are still going to be a little bit confusing.  But so many things happened that I want to remember and cherish. So...

Here are a few Doodle-isms from this weekend:
1. If you leave cookie dough or peanut butter unattended, the mess that results is your own fault
2. If it gets very quiet, she is either into something or asleep. Guess which happened most often
3. If she says "NUFFIN'!" she is definitely doing something she shouldn't
4. If she comes running in saying "I sorry I sorry", it's probably way too late
5. She can eat her weight in grilled cheese, bacon, and chocolate chip cookies. Fortunately, she's only about 25 pounds.
6. Her active imagination: a baby bed became Ariel's ocean and a pier for fishing, Minnie Mouse got told "Don't you MAMA me!"
7. If something meets her approval, she declares it "Perfick!" (where did she get that?)
8. She matches tone perfectly - she could sing with every TV theme song and commercial in tune, and even "beeped" in tune with the microwave.
9. She loves to cuddle on my lap and sing songs with hand motions, over and over again. Bunny FooFoo, anyone?
 

There are probably dozens more - everything this weekend happened so fast, I can't remember them all. 

 

I just want to remember that I love this little girl - she's not an angel but infinitely more interesting.

Bubbles

[insert absolutely adorable picture of grandkids chasing bubbles.  I can't find it]



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"No!" the Duchess cried out loudly.  "No! Don't get the bubbles off! Nooooooo! Not with the tickle water!"

I went to see why the bathroom sounded like a Fourth of July battle at Water World.  

Oh.  Bathtime.

'Tickle water' is the handheld shower head.

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"Bobbooo!  Bobboooo!"

18-month-old Oots pronounces 'bubbles' like 'bob-boo' and of course wants to hold the bubble stick himself.   He earnestly pumps the bubble wand in the bubble cup and, with more enthusiasm than accuracy, attempts to create bubbles. 

He doesn't like it when someone else blows the bubbles.

Much like his mother, not a follower, not a chaser of other people's bubbles, but determined to make his own.

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Words of... wisdom? encouragement? something anyway - from the five-year-old Duchess.

"Good job on the bubbles, Lovey," she stated solemnly as she watched the sink fill with hot water and bubbles, getting ready to wash dishes.

She was right. I did do a good job.

Learning to talk

I love the babies.  Even the one who is 10 years old. But the most fun are the ones just learning to communicate.

19-month-old Lucky relating a conversation, an argument it seems, between "Mama" and "Rora", gestulating, turning from side to side, facial expressions, full on drama:

"Rora, Mama, Daddy, bitabitabita ahoppa DOWN... Rora Mama MAMA RORA animita baortisor OH NO atipado..." and so it goes. 

Enunciating her words - those words in her own language - so carefully.  I can hear bits and pieces of words and phrases that I know she has overheard. She doesn't know what they mean, not really, but she has heard them enough to try to repeat them. 

At the end of the story, she looks up expectantly, waiting for ... what?  Applause?  Comments?  Not sure. But I responded, wide-eyed, and interested, "And then what?" only to receive a slightly disparaging look indicating that I have somehow missed the point.

Just a couple of short months ago, I could respond with a breathless, "Really?!?" to which she would reply, firmly, "Yeth!"  It would make me laugh, and she was sure I was in complete agreement with her.  Now that her stories have gotten more complex,  she quietly demands more understanding, and is frustrated that I don't understand all of her attempts at language.

I know I will love communicating with her, and knowing what she wants, and hearing her stories.  But I know I'm going to miss that innocent baby language that is all her own.