Things We Say

Natalie and Abby say the cutest things. They have a few phrases they repeat a lot.

I'm sorry - I'm not really sure why they say this. I hear them saying it to their babies. Ex: "Here Baby Bean...I'm sorry..." I'm not sure they are actually apologizing for anything or just repeating a phrase they hear. They also say it to each other during their play. They are less enthusiastic about saying it to each other when they actually do something they need to apologize for!

I miss(ed) you (mommy, daddy, abby, nannie, baby bean, mouse, etc.) This is a new phrase - popping up in just the last few days. I'm not sure exactly where they picked this up. It seemed to start after they were at Ya-Ya's and Grandpa's last weekend. Perhaps they picked it up from hearing us tell them we missed them. Today, after PT, Abby took her car mouse, gave it a big hug and said, I missed you, Mouse.

She/he/it's so cute - This especially comes from Abby. I think this is a combination of me saying things are cute and the Wonder Pets. There are a few episodes, particularly the "Save the Kitten" episode where one of them says, "she's so cute..."

"mommy, mommy" - this is not actually about me - but what one animal (the baby) says to another (the mommy). If they have a pair of animals (two sheep, two pigs, two cows, etc), one is also a mommy and one is a baby. Natalie likes to take her kitties and play mommy and baby. She has one large mommy black and white stuffed cat (Abby has a gray one) and then several little stuffed kitties. She also has a larger "mommy Elmo" (a plush Elmo from Grammy) and a Daddy Elmo (A tickle-me-elmo from Aunt Joyce) and then the two plush Elmo's I bought for them serve as the babies.

Come on Mommy/Daddy/Abby - This is usually from Natalie. She will hold out her hand and say, "come on mommy" and want to take me to see something or do something. She says it to Abby a lot too. The response she gets is Okay, I'm coming Nannie.

I love you, too or even just I love you - Hearing your child say this to you is the most amazing thing in the world. They are starting to say it more and more and very often in response to us saying it to them.

What's that, Mommy - *sigh* this is said nearly every other minute. It's their version of "why?" They even say what's that to things they can easily identify. I think they are just saying it out of habit at this point.

Abby, are you okay - Natalie is so incredibly concerned about Abby. If she coughs, she'll ask, are you okay, Abby. Abby will say, yes, or I'm okay. Natalie will then say, ok. Abby sometimes checks on Natalie, but usually it's Natalie to Abby. Today, during a diaper change I was just wiping the tinkle off of Abby while she was standing. She was fussing about it and Natalie came over and said, it's okay, Abby, I hold you - and she held her hands while I did it. She is such the caretaker.

Excuse me, Abby/Nannie/Mommy/Daddy - manners are just so cute coming from little people. They use this quite appropriately too. When they want you to move or get past you, they sweetly say, excuse me please...

Bless you - again - cute little manners - if someone sneezes, they'll say bless you mommy. Once I heard Abby sneeze and then to herself she said, bless me :-)

please (pease), thank you (tank you), and no thank you- the girls use these phrases all the time and appropriately. They direct them to us, each other and to grandparents, aunts, etc. We are actually pretty proud of this.

Last (that I can think of), but not the least important, by any means...

more Wonder Pets, I want Wonder Pets, Wooooonder Peeeeets... sadly, this becomes the refrain if they watch one or two episodes and we then turn it off. This, we are NOT so proud of. They are far too addicted to Wonder Pets. We are ashamed. But, I have to say, it does have its merits. They are learning to identify a number of animals. If they see an animal seen on Wonder Pets they will say, wonder pets save the baby .... So, we then test their memory and talk about how they saved the animal, etc. They remember quite a bit. It also enhances their imaginative play. They take their little animals, like a large stuffed kitty and a smaller stuffed kitty, and have the mommy say, thank you wonder pets for saving my baby or I missed you baby. It's really fun to watch and listen to them play.

These are just a few of the most repeated phrases. They are both talking more and more. Natalie has especially come out of her shell. She talks all.the.time. She narrates what she is doing a lot and describes what she sees. She also speaks in really complex, long sentences. For instance, the other day she saw a picture of a dolphin and she said, the Wonder Pets save the baby dolphin in the water in the net. The problem is, I can't always understand what she is saying. Sometimes, I can piece a few words together or use context clues, but sometimes - not. Abby is a little easier to understand, but not always. Obviously, their diction is the focus of their speech therapy. In fact, we are trying to get an extra day each week added so they will have it twice a week.

I keep trying to capture some of this cuteness on video, but it's really hard. By then time I grab the camera, they've stopped or gone on to something else. I'll keep trying though!