Reeisms

Now that this little two-year-old is running around talking so much, I think she's ready for a spotlight of her own when it comes to recording the things she says.  Maybe not so much with the funny, full, complex sentences yet, but still plenty of sweet things to remember.

And actually, it's amazing that she's jumped from piecing together two or three words at the beginning of the summer to the full sentences she uses now.  She didn't talk as much earlier on as Nell did, but now it seems as if she was just biding her time until she felt like she had the whole language thing figured out.



She hates going to sleep at night {and staying asleep is a concept foreign to her, it would seem... yes, we are losing our minds slightly, thank you for asking}, hates the Big Bad Wolf and other frightening fairy tale characters, and will often leave simple carbs behind on her plate in favor of gobbling up brussels sprouts, broccoli, peas, grapes, strawberries, or clementines.  {And she can eat five or six clementines in one sitting for a snack!}

She loves spinning and dancing around, whether indoors or out, and is quite fond of "doing bayey" (ballet) in the living room along with her big sister.

{photos from back in late August}

Over the summer she said "nummies" when she wanted food, and coughed with a particular sort of desperation anytime she wanted water.  (Dramatic?  Yes.)  There was something particularly cute about seeing her walk around the house wearing my "fip fops" on her feet, a grin always on her face.  And sometimes when I would ask her to do something, she'd look at me impishly and declare, "No obey!"  And when she was impressed by something big, her attempt at saying "Big big big," her eyes always wide, would be "buh buh buh!!!"

Her language skills have grown by leaps and bounds in the past couple of months, though, and now she will utter sentences like, "Mommy, I hungee!  I want food!  I want water!  Can I have a snack please?"

She loves dressing herself in anything and everything available (nothing is off limits, not even dirty laundry!), but shows a particular affinity for shoes.

She loves joining Nell and me on the couch for a good book, some nursery rhymes, or best of all, a songbook, but is sometimes apt to decide to "read" or sing it all by herself, turning to me with her finger on her lips and saying, "No, no, shhh shhh Mama.  Mine!"  To her credit, she's has a good repertoire of songs, with a few favorites of mine being "Oh my dahin Tementine" and "Tendew fwephew, tendew fwephew, yet me hep you count youw sheep..."

When she saw me enjoying the treat of a root beer float one summer afternoon:
"Mommy!  Ice cream soup!"

She refers to all bugs as "bumblebees," and is usually terrified of them.

Roosters are "cockadoos," and monkeys are still "hoohoohahas," even though she's perfectly capable of saying rooster and monkey at this point.  She is particularly excited by cows, but says "moo" anytime she sees a picture of a horse, too.

Ree counts to ten with great enthusiasm, will proudly tell anyone who asks that she is "Two!" -- and has asked me several times if we can name the new baby "Two."  She talks with great excitement about the "new baby! new baby!" Only time will tell if she remains as enthusiastic when life turns upside-down come mid-March.

If you ask her when the new baby will be born, she'll usually reply, "Ummm, in twenty minutes."

We had a slightly traumatic encounter with heavy machinery unexpectedly clearing trees near our house one morning in preparation for a new development going in behind us (sigh), and Ree brings this up every couple of days, quivering a bit, a frightened look on her face: "Big big digger!  I scared!  A big big digger!  Cut down frees!"  Then she rallies, smiles, and reassures herself, "All done cut da free!"  And life goes on.  But if you ask her what she's scared of, diggers and bumblebees will probably top the list.  Although at bedtime she's been known to mention sharks and whales as fearsome creatures likely to be lurking in the shadows, as well.

During a brief bout with a stomach bug, after what was probably the first puking episode she remembers having, she looked at me with surprise and declared, "My tummy was coughing!"

A few of my absolute favorites of her words:
"Yook!" (Look!  Uttered approximately five hundred times a day, of course.)
"Otay!" (Okay!)
"I weddy!" (I'm ready!)
"A yibidit more?" ({Can I have} a little bit more?)
"Pea-unts" (Peanuts)
"Heyyo!" (Hello!)

Her L's are mostly Y's, but while she'll shout "Heyyo!" to her little friend "Yucy," Lucy's sister is, inexplicably, "Lili," with both L's clearly pronounced, which I find fascinating.

And to finish up with a bit of evidence of her ever-expanding language abilities...

When I put on a flannel shirt one morning:
"Oh Mommy!  Peedy! (pretty) I like your dess (dress) so much Mommy!"
{I guess I keep the standards low around here...?}

While I was helping Nell with one of her Bible verses for AWANA:
Nell: "Can you say it too, Mawie?"
Ree: "No.  I'm just a little baby.  A teeny tiny baby."

Barging in one morning for that oh-so-necessary hello while I was showering:
"Mommy!" (Eyes wide, clearly impressed.)  "Wow!  You have a big big bum!"
{Two things one can apparently not have as a mother of young children: privacy, and self esteem!}

As I was putting on my black heels -- a clear sign that I was going to play a concert:
"No Mama!  Don't go! Tay here!  Why are you wearing concert shoes?  Tay here!"

Walking up to me while I was making dinner:
"I just need a hug wight now."

Screaming inconsolably in the middle of the night:
Me: "Ree, can you tell me what's wrong?"
Ree: "I just yove you and I just want you and I just need you."

Aww.  What a sweetie.  Still, I'd prefer if she'd sleep at night and give me loving affirmations during the daylight hours.