Talking up a Storm

I keep amazing Momma and Daddy with my growing vocabulary.  I learn lots of words at home and at school.  Even some phrases- my favorite being “I got it!”  Here are some words I’ve been throwing around the past couple of months:

waffle                 puppy            water              monkey
tofu                     turtle             beans              boots
cereal                 flowers          pizza                knock knock
apple juice        bath               boots               blankie
cracker               shower         shirt                 stuck
cookie                 towel            jeans                snow
coat                    mess              feet                  cold
toes                    owl                mouth              car
eyes                   colors            off                     outside
ear                     blocks           back                  book
couch                gate               goat                  shovel
chair                 frog                shark                dark
picture             yummy          stroller             bottle

And I’ve been starting to combine some of my words to make short sentences.  This helps me communicate to others what is mine and what I will allow them to have.  And also, to order Momma around.  For instance,

“Momma all done.” When she’s laying in bed but it’s time to get up, or when she’s been doing something besides paying attention to me.  Momma does not like this phrase.
“Momma cook.” When I’m hungry- also not a favorite.
“Daddy shovel” after the snow.
“Daddy’s shoes, Momma’s shoes, Liza’s shoes” so they understand not to wear my pink shoes.
“I got it!” and “I did it!” are useful for bringing attention to my toddler skills.
“Momma sit.” to get her to sit at my table and play blocks with me.
“Thank you Momma/Daddy” which earns me big time points.

No.

I’ve been practicing and perfecting it quietly in my carseat for some time, but now is the time to unleash my most powerful word yet… No.

I have two versions. One is quite casual, and I use it to answer almost any question that is asked of me.

Momma: “Liza, are you hungry?”
Me: “Nah.” (Though I’m clearly shoving crackers in my mouth.)

Daddy: “Liza, do you want to take a bath tonight?”
Me: “Nah.” (Even though he knows very well I jump at any chance for a bath.”)

It’s a good thing they know to ignore me while I perfect my use of this word, or I would never get cleaned or fed. I’m not sure why I like it so much. Perhaps because I hear Momma say it to Daddy so often.

I also have a more angry version of “No no no no no no no” which I scream from my crib when they refuse to take me out of it at 1:00am. It goes hand-in-hand with bink throwing.

Quite the Linguist

I’ve been working on my vocabulary a lot lately.  If you want to have a two-way conversation with me, it’s best that you ask me questions that I can answer with one of the following words:

ball
bubble
more, more
kitty
cheese
daddy
fish
mama

Or, I can do animal impressions for you.

woof
quack quack
moo
baaa
oo oo
woo hoo

Woo hoo is horse, silly.

This, That, and the Uh-oh

I’ve added a few words to my vocabulary (at least words that you people can understand).  My first word was “Hi” and I said that a lot for a while.  But that got old.  Now I like to point to things and say “this” or “that”.  It means that I have noticed something (and boy do I notice a lot) or I want something or I want you to tell me what something is.

And when I drop something I will say “Uh-oh”.  This is actually quite a verbal accomplishment as it is very hard to say word with two different sounding syllabals.  For this reason, Uh-oh was actaully “uh-uh” for a while.  But now I’ve mastered it, and I often drop things just so I can say “uh-oh”.

No, I have not said “Momma” or “Dada” yet.  The two of them say them often enough for the three of us.

Dinner Delights

I had a fabulous dinner this evening. Here’s the menu:

amous bouche
array of organic kamut puffs

appetizer
pile of organic black beans

salad
hand-grated cheddar cheese

main course
breaded tofu rectangles with cumin

vegetable
jar of organic spinach and potato

dessert
yogurt with swirl of peach puree

Now, if that seems like a lot, it is. But the important part is that much of it was finger food. Momma has been trying to get me off the jarred food, but I usually react to table food by shoving it away, throwing it on the floor, or throwing it up. I’m averse to texture and chunks of any kind. And so it’s a bit of a miracle that I ate such a variety, and with quite a bit of relish- pun intended. I rejected the tofu at first, but after the spinach I decided to give it a try and shoved it all in my mouth at once. The old girl (Momma) was so pleased she nearly peed her pants. (I peed my pants at least once during dinner, but that’s neither here nor there.)

But the food wasn’t the best part of dinner for me. What was the best was Momma let me feed myself with a spoon. I dipped it in the spinach jar and then put the (correct) end into my mouth. I did so well that she let me feed myself the yogurt too. She’s on cloud 9.

Well, have to go… apparently I need a bath.

My Favorite Things: Shoes

Oprah has her favorite things, and so I shall have mine.

I know that shoes belong on my feet. But like socks, they are much more fun off my feet. This video shows me taking part in my favorite shoe-related activity: walking around with them in my hands. I do this with socks on occasion too.

You’ll learn how to pick up shoes (one per hand is easiest), hear Momma interview me about my shoes, and see that while I know where the shoes go, I can’t quite get them on my feet yet.

Click her to View the video

Eight small steps…

I can walk! I’ve been taking a couple of steps here and there, but tonight I walked clear across two feet of hardwood floor and into Momma’s arms.

Peas & Carrots

Let me ask you this… when you’re eating your dinner does someone else hold your spoon for you? Does someone else control how much and how fast the food comes? I didn’t think so.

Momma, Daddy, Why don’t you let me feed myself? I don’t understand what the issue is. I’m perfectly capable. Can I hold the spoon all by myself? Yes. Can I get it in my mouth? Yes, of course, I can get anything in there. Do I end up getting much of the food on my face and highchair? Yes, but so what?

You’ll clean it up.

6 Months Old!

Wow, half a year already! But this birthday was bittersweet as it also meant a trip to the Dr. and more shots. And I got measured again and I’m still “off the charts” for height. My weight gain is slowing down though, so it looks like I’ll be tall and thin. I’ve plugged all the numbers into Excel and created a graphic to chart my progress.

My skills are improving too. Here’s what I’m doing:

• Sitting up on my own
• Army crawl
• Raspberries and Screeches
• Cat tail pull
• Momma hair pull
• Daddy poke-in-the-eye
• Toe suck
• Pulling toys out of box
• Charming anyone who comes near me with my (still toothless) smile

5 Months Old Today.

My, how time flies.  And how I’ve grown!  Going by my 4 month Dr. appointment, I must be a little over 16lbs and about 28 inches long.  (I can’t say “28 inches tall” because I can’t actually stand up on my own.  Yet.)

I’ve got some skills too.  I can roll any which way.  I can worm along the floor to get to a toy that someone has rudely placed just out of my reach.  Once I get to that toy I can pick it up, turn it around, switch it from one hand to the other, and put it in my mouth.  I can almost sit up on my own- but I usually fall forward after a few seconds. 

I can also mess with mommy’s sleep.  I used to sleep through the night like a good little baby.  But that got boring.  The other night I woke mommy up at 2am and demanded to be fed.  The night before I screamed for no good reason.  Last night I gave her a break and slept for a whopping 11 hours!  Just to tease her and make her think I’ve gone back to my good-baby ways.  Nah… I just might make a late night poopy diaper tonight and get daddy up too.