Catchin' Up with Sadie Lou

At 15 months old...

+ She has 12 teeth in, with three more almost ready to break through.

+ A trail of toys and items from the cupboards follows her everywhere she goes.

+ She still willingly and easily goes down for naps and bedtime. First we snuggle for a minute and sing Dona Nobis Pacem. Then we lay her in the crib, whereupon her right thumb immediately settles into her mouth. Finally, we stroke her cheek for a minute and say goodnight. Her sweet brown eyes follow us out of the room.

+ When she wants water, she madly scrounges around in the drawer looking for the parts of a sippy cup. When she finds the matching parts she chases me down and pushes the cup into my leg.

+ She gets really excited when I hold her up to see the dresses hanging in her closet. She reaches for them, and if I give her a choice between two, she will always pick one.

+ She offers up her feet, arms, or legs when getting dressed.

+ She LOVES playing in the sandbox. She digs, eats the sand, plays with the hose, pets the dog, and must be carefully watched or she will attempt to climb the hill in the backyard. She also picks fruit - both unripe off the tree and rotting on the ground - and will eat it. One must keep a close eye on her!

+ She will climb on and unload anything.

+ She LOVES her big brother. She dove into her car seat this morning because she could see Benjamin in the car already, and she was shouting, "Bee-Jee! Bee-Jee!"

+ She has discovered "playing" the piano. Her other musical interests include running through the house with a shaker in each hand.

+ The rocking horse is a favorite, even if her feet don't reach the footholds. She is also excited to "ride" the tricycle despite her short legs.

+ Our girl LOVES to eat. It doesn't matter if she was just released from her high chair and has a full belly - if she sees you eating food, and you decide not to share with her (as she frantically attempts to grab the food from your hand), she WILL throw a tantrum.

+ She likes to play So Big!, and she will bring a book to you to read to her. She still gets over-the-top excited to see Buckley in the mornings.

+ Tummy zerbers make her laugh hysterically. She's also very into her bellybutton right now.

+ She has started pointing at and learning body parts - nose, eyes, teeth, mouth, hair, and tummy are her favorites right now.

+ She understands what you tell her and will usually follow directions: Close the door, please. Put the sticks down and you can pick up the teapot better. Put the horsie in the basket. Bring me the book.  That sort of thing.

+ Her current list of words:

   Mama, Papa
   Tsssadie! (Sadie)
   Bee-Jee (Benjamin)
   Buh-bee (Buckley)
   dog
   arf-arf (what the doggie says)
   hi, hey
   nana (banana)
   wa-wa (water)
   dow (down)
   dia-poh  (diaper)
   baby
   jeeeeee (cheese)
   haw (hot)
   boo! (peek-a-boo)
   wan diss (Want this. or Want this?)
   soos (shoes)
   ffffffffooooo (food)
   ho-ho-ho-ho-ho and da-dee-da-da (her version of singing in a high voice)

   And she will repeat most things that you say to her - such that someone babysitting her was impressed that she knew "potato," but I'm guessing she just repeated what was said to her.

Thursday Morning Play

Benjamin has turned his balance bike upside down. He is spinning the front wheel and saying:

"I'm driving in my race car to New York. I'm driving fast in my race car. I'm driving fast to New York."

More Benjaminisms

When going over a hump and then dip in the road:

"Whoa. My tummy is dizzy!"

*        *        *        *        *        *        *        *

Referring to the delicate plants in the garden such as dill and fennel:

"Mama, those are fancy plants."


*        *        *        *        *        *        *        *


Driving on the freeway, we pass some tall buildings:

LP: Mama, are those tall buildings sssssssky ssssssscrapers?

Mama:  Yes! They are.

LP:  Do ssssssskyscrapers ssssssscrape the ssssssssky?


Mama: It looks like they do because they are so tall.

LP:  Those tall buildingsssss are ssssssky ssssssscrapers because they ssssscrape the sssssky!

Quotable: Mad Guys Rescue the Day

LP:  I'm a mad guy. Mad guys rescue the day.

Mama:  Like, save the day?

LP: Yeah.


*        *        *        *        *        *

LP:  Mama, let's go Nowhere today.

Mama:  OK. We will stay home.

LP:  No, let's go Nowhere!

Mama:  Love, we're not going anywhere. We're staying home.

LP: NO! Nowhere is a few streets away.

Mama:  That would be somewhere. Nowhere is not a place - it means not anywhere.

LP: NO!!! Nowhere is down the street!!!

Mama: If we go nowhere, we don't go anywhere.

LP:  Mama, I want to go somewhere. I want to go to NOWHERE!

Language Acquisition 101

Papa: (reflecting on his family)  I don't have a nephew.

Little P:  Why do you want to neff me?

More Conversations

This morning, talking to Mama...

Little P:  I'm a guy and you're a lady. Let me show you my awesome dance. (followed by much awesome dancing) 

*     *     *     *     *

Last week, Auntie Bek brought Little P one more present - a t-shirt that has a bike on it and says: This is how I roll. Apparently, Christmas has raised the expectations around here.

Auntie Bek:  Benjamin, I have a present for you.

Little P:  Really? What is it?

(Mama displays the t-shirt.)

Mama:  Look, it's a cool t-shirt with a bike on it.

Little P:  (silence)

Mama: What do we say to people who give us something nice?

Little P: Where's the other present?

*     *     *     *     *

A boy is a noise with dirt on it.

Someone has been playing in the dress-up box.

Anywhoo...

Little P:  OH!!!

Mama: (silently eating scrambled eggs)

Little P:  Mama, I said "oh!" because that bird outside is singing a lovely song for me.

*     *     *     *     *

Papa prepares to throw the Christmas tree off the balcony for trash pick-up.

Papa:  Say goodbye to the Christmas tree.

Little P:  Why?  Is it sick?

*     *     *     *     *

Little P finds a mini-flashlight in the car as he's climbing into his car seat.

Little P:  Mama, I can use this flashlight in the evening when it's dark out. It will show me the way.

*     *     *     *     *

As we're driving in the car. In the midst of getting to know a new birthmother and talking about his soon-to-arrive baby sister:

Little P:  Mama, do you have a baby growing in your uterus?

Mama:  No, love, I don't.

Little P:  (satisfied silence)


PHOTOS BELOW BY LITTLE P

How about them apples?

Last night, while walking through Target, Benjamin and I passed the lingerie section. In the front, bellied-up to the aisle, were rows upon rows of brightly colored brassieres. They came in extra large sizes with inch-thick padding stiff enough to withstand the poke of a small finger. They swayed on their slight hangers.

Benjamin was enthralled. Poking at them as I turned around to hurry him on his way, he announced in the most amazed voice as if this were the coolest discovery ever:

"Whoa, Mama!  Look at deez apples!  Whoa!" (gleeful giggles followed)

Overheard

THIS MORNING

LP:  Papa's like a snail.

Mama:  Why?

LP: Because I don't like snails.

Mama: ???

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THANKFULNESS

Teacher:  What are you thankful for?

LP: I thankful for the sun!

Teacher:  Are you thankful for Mommy and Daddy?

LP:  Yeah. And RACE CARS!

Teacher: What else are you thankful for?

LP:  I thankful for rice. And clouds.

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VISITING THE PHOTO LAB WHERE PAPA WORKS

LP:  Oh, wow!  We're in the factory! This is a cool factory. Look at it!

Overheard on the Phone

Little P loves to talk on the phone.  He asks to call Gramma. He asks to call Grandpa. And Papa. And Emma. And Auntie Bekah.  And Auntie Rosie. And sometimes Uncle Mike.

Today he wanted to talk to Cousin Amal.  The guy in the photo. The guy he used to see every day.

So hear is what I heard while eavesdropping on the other line. (Of course I had to record some of the conversation for your entertainment, dear readers!)

LP:  I want to talk to Amal.

Amal: (unintelligible noise as he gets on the phone)

Amal:  Hi?

LP: (silence - trying to figure out what is going on)

Mama:  Say "hi" to Amal.

LP:  Hi, Amal!

Amal:  Hi!

LP: The popcorn tastes good!  (He is eating popcorn.)

Amal:  My sister is Koa. My mom is Diana. My dad is Seth.

LP: Yeah!

Amal: Is this BJ?

Diana (Amal's mama):  No, it's Benjamin.

Amal:  Oh, I thought it was BJ.

LP: Yeah!

Mama:  Tell Amal that you are going to visit him on Saturday.

LP: Amal, I coming to see you on Saturday!

Amal: I have a big Transformer.  I can share it with you. It's big. He's a big guy.  I can share it with you.

LP:  (chewing popcorn)

Mama:  He just said he will share his Transformer with you. How nice!

LP: Yeah!  You share your Transformer!  Wif me!

Amal: (excitedly shares something that Mama totally cannot understand)

LP:  Yeah!

And so on...

P.S. As I write this, Little P is squirting excessive amounts of toothpaste on his tooth brush and sucking it off. I must log out now.

Backseat Commentator

So I'm really not a road-rage type of person, but I do make comments to people who pull jerk moves while driving.  Typically my comments sound like this:

"Move over, Grandma." (Someone, anyone, is driving too slowly.)

"C'mon, Grandpa!" (Someone is lurching or veering out of lane, does not know where he or she is going.)

"Nice blinker, Dude." (Dude pulled out or cut me off with no warning or blinker.)

I shouldn't be surprised, then, when this scenario occurs...

Driving down the freeway at a healthy 70 MPH, I came upon a sudden backlog of traffic.  I had to hit the brakes pretty hard to slow to a piddly 10 MPH.  From the back seat I hear a scratchy little boy voice shout:  "C'mon, Dude!"

I couldn't have said it better myself.

The Squirrel, er...Skunk

When Benjamin got up this morning, he looked out the french door to the patio and told The Papa that he saw a squirrel.  The Papa looked out and saw nothing. The Mama took Mr. Buckles outside to feed him, and Mr. Buckles discovered the "squirrel" nosing around in the food dish. Mr. Buckles, and the rest of The P-Pod, soon realized it was not a squirrel, but a skunk. Mr. Buckles took the brunt of this realization.

Here is Benjamin's recap of the event:

"There was a skunk, and he lifted his tail and squirted Buckley. It was stinky, yeah. Mr. Buckles stinks, yeah. He lifted his tail and spwayed stinky stuff on Buckley.  Skunks are dangerous. Skunks are dangerous to me. Yeah."

Now it's 5:30PM and The Mama is tired. Too tired to wash Mr. Buckles herself. It's a good thing PetSmart will deskunk a dog for $45.99.

A Typical Conversation - #3

LP:  Mama, I want MILK!

Mama:  Can you ask for it politely?

LP: Mama, please have milk?

Mama:  Sure.  (starts to pour some milk)

LP:  NO! I DON'T WANT IT!!  I DON'T WANT MILK!!!

Mama:  OK. (stops pouring and begins to put milk jug back in the fridge)

LP: WAAAAA!!!  MILK, MAMA, WAAA BLAHMAAA (continued unintelligible wailing and garbled words)

Mama: I'm sorry, I don't understand screaming. You'll have to use your words.

LP:  I want it, Mama.

Mama:  Oh, you want some milk?

LP:  Yeah.

Mama:  OK. Are you sure?

LP: Yeah.

Mama:  (pours milk and goes to set it on the table)

LP: NOOOOOOOOOOOO!  I don't want it!!!!

Mama:  (puts cup in fridge and leaves the room)

LP:  (wailing and gnashing of teeth) Mama! Mama!  I want mi-i-i-i-i-i-i-ilk!

This morning's insight

While lying around on Benjamin's floor at 7:30AM, making Duplo rockets launch off Mama's tummy, out of nowhere comes...

LP: Mama, you're not a pirate.  (pause)  You're Jessica.

Mama:  Yep.

LP:  And I'm Benjamin.

Mama: Yes, you are.

A Typical Conversation - #2

LP:  Papa, I playing wif my Duklos!  Yeah, Papa! I made a rocket wif my Duklos!
 
Papa:  Your Duplos?

LP: Yeah, my Duklos!

Papa: Cool! Hey, Benjamin...those are DuPLOS.

LP: No!  They're DuKLOS!

Papa: Du-P-P-P-Plos.

LP: Du-K-K-K-Klos.

Papa:  OK.

Why and Why Not?

Until this week, Little P's favorite questions have included: "Wha's dat, Mama?" and "Wha's dat sound, Mama?"

A few days ago he asked me, "Why the sand in the shoes, Mama? Why?"  I was wondering when the "why" questions would surface. And now they have.  Just that once, but he knows what it means to ask why. It's not long now.

So, overheard in the bathtub tonight:


Why not, dinosaur? Why not?  Dinosaur, why not?
Do you want to swim with Benjamin? 
Do you want to swim, dinosaur?


Nope. (He spoke for the dinosaur.)



Why not, dinosaur? Why not want to swim?

The dinosaur had no further response.

Can't help himself...

Mama had baked brownies for a party hosted by The P-Pod this evening. The brownies were cut and sitting on a nice platter on the counter.
Little P got up from his nap. He entered the kitchen, spied the brownies, and immediately decided to sit on the stool adjacent to the platter.

LP:  Mama, what are these?

Mama: Those are brownies.

LP:  Mama, I just gonna smell the brownies. (big sniff, millimeters away from the brownies' edge)

Mama continues chopping vegetables.

LP: Mama, these smell delicious. (pointing at the brownies, then touching the brownies)

Mama: Benjamin, you can smell the brownies, but please don't touch them.

LP: (inhaling) Mmmm, Mama, these smell DELICIOUS.

Mama: Yes, Benjamin, they smell like chocolate.

LP: (nose is touching the brownies as he inhales) Mmmmm, the brownies smell like chocolate CAKE!

Mama: Please don't touch the brownies, even with your nose.

LP: (leans forward to smell again, nose and lips are now touching the brownies)

Mama: OK, that's enough. You need to move. Either get down or sit on the other stool.

LP moves to the other stool further away from the platter of brownies.

LP: Mmmm, I smell the chocolate brownies. (he leans toward the platter of brownies) They smell GOOD.

Of Course!

Little P picks up the rod that is in the track of the sliding glass door of Mama's bedroom. He then holds it up to the hanging plant in the corner. He starts waving it around amongst the leaves.

Mama: Hey, you can put the pole up there, but please don't hit the plant.

LP:  I not hitting the plant.

Mama:   Oh. What are you doing, then?

LP:  I picking adocados.

Note: Grandma has avocado trees on her property. One of their favorite pastimes is to go out with the picker (a wire basket on the end of a long expandable pole) and pick avocados.  Sometimes he brings home adocados that he has picked for Mama.

Comparisons

Benjamin is really into comparing things.  You can see him processing the characteristics of things, which he then likes to discuss. Some examples:

• Papa is big, and Benjamin is little. (pronounced li-doe)
• Benjamin is crying like a baby.
• That police car has a siren like a ambulance.
• The giraffe has a long neck. The elephant doesn't have a long neck. 
•  The cactus is sharp like a scissors.
• The blender is loud like a airplane!
• Benjamin has a penis like Buckley.

We'll stop there...

A Typical Conversation - #1

Benjamin is climbing the stairs. Mama is not worried. Benjamin begins to hang out through the bars. This worries Mama a bit.

Mama: Benjamin, you can keep climbing, but please don't hang your body out between the bars.

LP: (hangs just his head out between the bars)

Mama: Not even your head. Not any part of your body.

LP: (hangs just part of his head out between the bars)

Mama: Oh, dear. I'm afraid you need to come down from there.

LP: No way, Mama! No way!   (sits down on the step stubbornly)

Mama: Hmm...how sad. It looks like you might need a spanking to help you remember how to obey Mama.

LP: No way, Mama!   (rapidly scoots his way to the bottom of the stairs)