Mary Alice "woves" horses

(While riding her black stick-horse joyfully around the house.)

"I wove my bwack booty!"

And I love her adorable toddler articulation development! I am gonna miss all the surprise words she comes up with when she can start enunciating.

Guess we will have to look to Henry for those kicks and giggles, then.

Things kids say

Thomas:

When Thomas woke his Aunt Sue up at 5:45 a.m. the other morning, she very graciously told him it was WAY to early to be up because - look- the sun wasn't even up yet. So, it was probably a good idea to go back to bed for while longer. To which he replied "Sue, I don't need to have the sun. I can see in the dark. I'm nocturnal."

Mary Alice:

Ever wonder what you sound like to your children? Every once in a while, I hear our phrases repeated out of the children's mouths and I am either horrified or amused. Sometimes both. The other day, as Mary Alice was playing with her Legos, Henry was tearing apart her Lego train as quickly as she could build it. In her frustration, she turned to him and said in exasperation,

"Dang it, child!"

I couldn't stop laughing. From one child to another. It certainly does highlight how much she looks at him as a baby, as compared to her mature 2 years and 9 months. She loves nothing more than mothering him and he is usually fairly patient about it. But I sure do hope we don't always sound that frustrated to her.

Callin' out the older brother

Dinner time is always an adventure at our house - and tonight was no exception. The only difference tonight was that during Thomas' nightly ritual of loudly wailing his hatred of whatever meal is put before him, Mary Alice piped up with,

"You're a cry baby, Thomas."

Funny - definitely. But what makes this so unusual is that Mary Alice is only 2, is not yet out of diapers, and usually talks in a language no one understands but herself. She is definitely not in a position to be calling out the brother who is twice her age. But there it was, clear as a bell, and it made Thomas hopin' mad.

And I think it did him some good. She may reap the wrath of a belittled older brother's pride tomorrow, but bless her heart - she bought us a quiet meal and a clean plate.

Learning to talk

Mary Alice has been talking for a whole year now - and she has quite a lot to say. Trouble is, we can't always understand her. And some times she doesn't quite understand us.

For instance, when I asked her what her name was the other day, she responded

"Ayice." (Translation... Alice)

"No," I said... "MARY Alice."

"Oh... Mawy Ayice."

"Good job" says Mom. "What's his name?" (pointing to Tom.)

"Mawy Thomas."



And the current favorite "embarass the mom" game played by her aunts involves asking her to say "Dumptruck."
(She drops the 'p' and can't quite get her tongue around the 'tr' sound.)
Then she looks quizzically at her crazy aunts, who have erupted in rioutous fits, and walks off.