My Life as Recorded by Mommy

Today I took Daddy and aunt Kristen on shopping extravaganza. Daddy didn't know that it was going to be so much fun, so I had to demonstrate in the shoe store. You see, I like pretty shoes. I tried on six pairs before I found the perfect pair to match my fashion sense and my extra wide footsies. Running, dumping (jumping), showing off my cuteness impressed my Daddy very much. I'm sure he thought that shopping was about buying things. Now he knows its all about deciding, re-deciding, and showing everyone how special I am.

Next we found a Gymboree store. I thought gyms were for climbing and trampolining and gymnastics. Not this gym! It was about hats, and dresses! While I was distracted by the hair clips Daddy was transfixed by the deals. It was odd because I don't even like hair products, but THESE were especially cute and I handed them to daddy to buy for me. Fortunately Daddy found something better. A gorgeous wool plaid dress with a velvet sash and satin underskirt. After we bought it we tried it on and aunt Kristen twirled around with me and I felt like such a grown up! Daddy was gushing over how extra cute I was. I had to tell him. I knew he wasn't prepared but he had to hear it right this moment. I looked him straight in the eye, smiled broadly and said it. Princess.

Daddy looked like he stopped breathing for about five seconds. Then acted like he didn't hear me, and said 'What?!'

So I said it again. Princess.

I'm in North Carolina for Thanksgiving, and I make everybody laugh with my gremlin voice and funny faces. I am a natural performer!

We are on a trip, and although I am trying to be my usual sugar-plum toddler self, I am finding it a bit challenging right now. I just haven't been sleeping well. I am not used to sleeping in a room with other people, so I find it hard to adjust. Last night I was up until ten (even though I was put into bed before eight). Then I was up bright and early today and only napped for about twenty minutes. By the end of the day, my eyes were red with big shadows under them but I still found it hard to go to sleep again!

So I feel tired and disagreeable during the day. However, I am still trying my best to enjoy my trip. I had a great time today playing with the toys at Aunt SaraLynn's library (I wish our library had toys as well as books!). I also went on a walk, ate tons and tons of food to try to give myself some energy, and amused people with my silly voice routine. That's where I call out 'Beejamin, Beejamin' in my normal voice and then lower my voice and call out in a raspy monster voice 'BEEJAMEEEN!' I generally do it with my brother's name but I can also do it with other names too, and it makes everyone laugh!

Aunt SaraLynn has a dog named Britney Spears, who I call 'Bittnee' but she annoys me because she tries to give me doggie kisses on my face and hair. I coped by demanding to be held for most of the day. As I said, I am trying to be as agreeable as possible. I tried to listen to mommy and daddy when they attempted to explain things to me. 'OOH, I see!' has become a new favourite expression.

I say lots of things, and when I mispronounce the words a bit it can be especially adorable to grown-ups. Here are some of mommy's favourites:

Ban-knee: Band-aid (I got my first one tonight, and it had Curious George on it)
Bee-jha-meen: Benjamin
Gank goo: Thank you (just like my brother says it)
Scoo-zee: Excuse me, for after I go--
Boot: Toot (but also how I say word for 'boots' and 'touque')
Boop: Poop (I inform people when it's in my diaper)
Heh-whoa: Hello (still one of my three all-time favourite words, the others being:)
Mine: MINE!, and
No: NO!
Woo-she: Sushi, Benjamin's and my favourite food
Wishie: The meat inside sushi
Iggoo-Piggoo: Iggle-Piggle, a character in the In the Night Garden book mommy got me
Bumpy Woad: Bumpy road, the kind I like to pretend that my baby's stroller or my toy car is one
How 'bout DIS one, Mommy?: What I ask, accompanied by pointing, when I need to know more vocabulary
Weed it!: My command when I find a story that I need to hear
Soo-soo: My lost soother, which I am grieving

So my soo-soos are no more. I used to have millions of them, and now mommy says I am too big for soo-soos. To prove her point, she pointed out that most people/critters go to sleep without a soo-soo. Benjamin, mommy, daddy, Evie, my bunny, my dollies, the characters in my In the Night Garden book (of which Iggle-Piggle is my favourite because his name is just so much fun to say!). I do see her point, but sometimes I still get sad, and I look at her with a serious expression in my big brown eyes, and say, 'No soo-soo' just to be sure that it really is the case that my soo-soos are gone for good. All in all, I am adjusting, although I have required some odd things to substitute for the soo-soo. Yesterday I needed the picture of Iggle-Piggle. At naptime today, I needed to sleep with my dollie's stroller in the bed with me. And tonight I needed to stroke the little Curious George band-aid that covered a cut on my finger until I fell asleep.

In other news, we went to a sushi restaurant downtown tonight. 'Wooshi' I told mommy with a solemn expression as we sat down and got ready to order. My brother and I each ate most of a sushi roll, and then we got red bean ice cream and orange slices on little plastic swords that mommy made us leave behind at the restaurant. After we ate, we walked around window shopping. At one little produce store, we saw an exciting sight! A kitty cat! No sooner had I spotted him and gotten a good look than that kitty cat ran off into the store! 'Gitty gat GONE!' I said to mommy and daddy with a look of disbelief. They confirmed that the kitty had indeed gone into the store, probably to find his bed and go to sleep. 'OH!' I said as I peered into the store. And then, 'Meow?' I uttered into the open doorway. But the kitty did not reappear and Benjamin and I consoled ourselves by playing a jumping bean game down the sidewalk all the way back to our car. Then on the ride home I alternated saying two things: 'Gitty gat GONE!' and 'Meow'.

Hmmm. Something's going on. All my soothers have the tips cut off. Weird, but that doesn't stop me from keeping them in my mouth.

The park, the zoo, the drop-in centre.  Mommy is finally getting herself in gear with me and taking me interesting places even when my brother is in school (last year we spent those mornings grocery shopping, doing laundry, or cooking). 

I am a busy little girl, and I never want to leave the places we go.  (And lately I haven't been leaving without a little something to say about it.)  I am also a studious little girl.  At the zoo, I didn't get tired of looking at any animal.  Benjamin would want to move on, and mommy would make him stay a little longer because I was still watching intently.  Finally she would have to tell me that it was time to move on to another animal, and I was generally agreeable, but that doesn't mean I couldn't have stayed for another ten minutes.  We looked at wolves, polar bears, owls, elephants, giraffes, gorillas and bats.  I could say all their names and their sounds (where applicable).  I could even tell you what a polar bear likes to eat ('wishies').  I was most impressed by the fact that the polar bears also enjoy playing with balls, like I do, and the gorilla mommy who had a new baby gorilla.

I can kick a ball along the laneway in the back like a soccer player already.  I love to do that while my brother rides his tricycle all around me.  I especially love to kick the ball in puddles and then splash into the puddle to get it!

Ask me a question and I stroke my chin and say 'ummmm' while I ponder my answer.  I am simply too adorable for words!!!

'Here y'go' is one of my favourite new phrases.  It has multiple applications, from giving a sweet (but snotty) kiss to my daddy to depositing chewed up apple peel into mommy's hand to put in the trash for me.

I went to school with Benjamin today, which is one of my favourite things to do.  I painted a pumpkin, played in 'gook' (coloured cornstarch and water), fought with my brother, listened to stories, played baby dolls, ate snack, kicked balls around with the big kids, and collected pine cones and leaves in a little red bucket (my bucket, as I clearly told any big kid who tried to take it from me).  When outside play time was over, mommy said I had to give my little bucket back to the teachers, but I could only agree to that after selecting my favourite two pine cones from inside.  One for me and one for my big brother.  After picking one out for him, I ran off to find him, calling, 'Bee-ja-meen' which is how I say his name.

My brother often tells me what to do when we play, but I don't so much mind that because he is a big kid and he teaches me a lot.  My mommy is just impressed with how well I keep up and follow his lead in play.  Today we were playing with some coloured blocks.  Benjamin had decided that the red blocks were meat, the yellow blocks cheese, and the blue blocks were water.  He handed me a blue block and said, 'Here, Zanna, drink this!'  I made a pretend eating noise.  He corrected me by telling me to make a slurping sound instead, and without a moment's hesitation, I did so.  He was pleased with me and we continued our pretend snack.  I just like it that he includes me in so much stuff now!

I like shoes and I have a lot of them.  But all of my shoes have come from friends of my mommy's whose little girls have outgrown them.  I still like them, but boy was I excited today when mommy took me to buy a brand new pair of rain boots!  I squealed, "Boots!" when I saw the selection.  Mommy first picked out a brown pair with Winnie the Pooh on them, and I was happy about those but then she asked me if I would rather have a pink pair.  "Yes, pink!" I happily agreed.  But when I tried on the pink pair, I didn't like them.  "Off!" I demanded.  Then I saw the perfect pair.  White boots with yellow ducks holding blue umbrellas!  Mommy put them on me, they fit perfectly, we bought them, and I spent the rest of the morning splashing in puddles to my heart's content without getting my feet wet!

This afternoon I decided I needed to go poop on the potty like my brother does.  (No, not pee, I wanted to poop!)  I sat on the potty and pushed and pushed and got out three toots which I was very proud of!  Then I wiped and flushed and washed.  I am quite content with my great accomplishment!

Okay, woah.  I am so excited that I can hardly collect my thoughts.  There is this place called the "zoo" that mommy and daddy took me and my brother to on the weekend.  I am always ready to go somewhere (in fact, when I detect that someone is about to leave, I run to the door saying "me coming!" and grab the shoes that I choose to wear that day--choosing just the right pair of shoes is something that is quite important to me), so I was happy enough to go.  When we got there, we first saw a big pool full of stingrays and sharks (I know which is which) that you could touch, and that was pretty cool.  But then.  Oh, but then!  Do you know what we saw next?  There we were, strolling along a path, Benjamin and I sitting side by side in our double stroller munching popcorn together when I saw a giraffe.  I sat bolt upright in my seat and yelled, "DRAFF! DRAFF! DRAFF!" as I pointed.  Then I started desperately grabbing at my seatbelt, "OUT!!", I demanded until mommy let me out.  I ran at full speed to the fence surrounding the giraffes, yelling "DRAFF" the whole time and then started trying to climb the fence.  Mommy and daddy had to tell me that I couldn't get any closer, but that I could watch the giraffes from where I was.  Since my brother was calmly telling me from his seat in the stroller that this was because the giraffes would eat me up if I got any closer, I accepted this, and stood by the fence transfixed (only occasionally pausing in my staring to turn to mommy and daddy and point and say again with wonder, "Draff!"  I stood there for quite a while before I could say good-bye to the giraffes.  I didn't even mind that my brother ate all my popcorn in the interim.

After that, I realized how cool the zoo is.  I couldn't get enough of running around from exhibit to exhibit, seeing zebras and bears and eagles and elk and swans and monkeys.  But nothing beat the giraffes!  I love giraffes.  (However, I should maybe mention that there were no bunnies at the zoo.  Because they might have been cooler than the giraffes.)

I sleep in a big girl bed now, and I have a newly redesigned big girl room, too!

Nowadays I can't see a bike, a doggie, or a hat--whether in a book or in real life--without commenting on it.  I also comment on emergency vehicles--whether I hear them or see them--and announce to the world that there is a 'whoa-whoa' (adapted from my brother's term 'woo-woo' which is an onomatopoeia, in case you were wondering).

Today's new trick is that I can answer the question, 'What is your name?' with a resounding, 'Zanna!'

Also, I was playing with a toy car that fell apart and I ran to mommy and daddy with the pieces and said, 'Break!'

I am no longer a baby at all.  These days, I get out my own toys (annoucing as I do so, 'Pway-doh!' or 'Dowwie!').  I speak clearly in two word phrases, like 'Get bunny!', 'Where Benjamin?', and 'What dat?'  I went to Benjamin's school with mommy today because it was her duty day, and I fit right in--following orders to stand in line, wash my hands, raise my hand for more snack, go to the carpet for circle time.  I cried and cried when I realized that I didn't get to stay with Benjamin and have lunch at school.  I have to wait a whole year before I can go there too!

I love toys.  I am very into things that I can push.  Much of my play time is spent pushing my dollies in their stroller or pushing Bunny and toy food around in our little shopping cart.  I also love play-doh and colouring, although I still eat a great deal of both play-doh and marker ink as I create my art!

Mommy thinks it is amazing that I correctly identified Elmo in a toy I found at the park today (even though I have had no exposure to Elmo that she is aware of), but that is only because mommy has absolutely no idea whatsoever about how very, very observant I am!  So now Elmo is added to the words I say and use correctly!  I can also document my first use of prepositions today: 'out' and 'in'.

I picked up a big book today and handed it to mommy and said, 'Read it!'  I like to be read to, but I have conditions.  First of all, I don't share mommy when we're reading.  Benjamin is not allowed to sit in her lap or touch the book, but he may be nearby and I appreciate his witticisms and comments on the story.  I am particular about what book I want and how I want the book, mommy, and myself positioned for each individual story.  Sometimes I like to be in her lap, but that is generally just with nap and bedtime stories.  Otherwise, I prefer to be beside her, holding one side of the book while she holds the other.  Or I like to sit on the floor with the book on the floor in front of me and have mommy sit opposite me.  She has to read the book upside down then, but fortunately she had years of training which enabled her to be an expert at that.  I don't actually want the story read, of course;  I seek books for viewing entertainment and for vocabulary development.  So mommy tells me about each page and I then survey it to see what she missed.  Then I point to particular parts of the pictures that I want to know more about and say, 'dat' or 'dis'.  Today I opened up to the page in my word book that has the millions of little things and pointed to about a fourth of them.  Not randomly but specific objects that caught my eye.  I never repeated once!

This afternoon mommy asked me if I want to help her give Bunny a bath.  I nodded and said, 'Yes!' the way I do when I agree with something.  I then proceeded to march into my room, scoop Bunny out of my crib, trot down to the bathroom, and toss Bunny into the tub.  I turned to mommy with a triumphant smile!

Later mommy and I were colouring at the easel.  This is our conversation:

Me: (picking up the yellow marker and giving it to mommy)  Yellow!
Mommy:  You want me to use the yellow marker?  What do you want me to draw?
Me: (pointing to a spot on the easel paper)  Bee!
Mommy:  (while drawing the bee)  What does a bee say?
Me:  Bzzzzzzz.
Mommy:  Very good, Susannah!
Me:  (picking up the blue marker and giving it to mommy)  Boo!
Mommy:  What do you want me to draw with the blue marker?
Me:  (pointing to another spot on the easel)  Doggie!
Mommy:  (while drawing a doggie) What does the doggie say?
Me:  Oof oof!

And so it went.  I know three colours: green, yellow and blue.  I also know what I want, where I want it, and in what colour I want it.  You might call me an imperative child, but I prefer to consider myself confident and sure about things.

Some of my new cute mispronounced words:

Beebull:  people
Beaber:  beaver
Line:  lion
Ebie:  Evie, the dog
Brur:  Brother
Binge:  Benjamin
Wawer:  Water

Generally my speech is clear as a bell, though.  Yes, no, mine, mommy, daddy, doggie, cow . . . the list could go on, but my mommy isn't very good about writing them down and if she doesn't do that, her memory fails her.

In other news, finally, after months of working on it, all four of my molars have cut through.  I now have twelve teeth!  And they are sharpies, too!

Today mommy picked a couple dozen cherry tomatoes from her garden and put them on the deck while she went back to get some more.  I zeroed in on them as soon as I saw the juicy little things and before mommy could pick another dozen, I had eaten every last one of them.  Mmmmmm, tomatoes . . . I love them even when they are bland store bought things; when they are yummy ones ripe off the vine I never get tired of them.

I am continuing to develop my language.  My newest cool word is 'Bijman' which is my name for my crazy brother.  I can repeat almost any word, no matter how complex--or at least I make an effort to.  I am constantly striving to increase my vocabulary.  I point to every detail of the pictures in my book and either say the name of the object or ask mommy, 'dis?' so that she'll tell me what the name is.  Speaking of names, I also now recognize that the dog has one, which I can pronounce quite well, and my dollies have ones too.  My mommy's old doll is 'Emee' which I can say clear as a bell, and granny and Benjamin named my baby doll Posy today.  Benjamin was concerned that I was just calling her 'baby' while Emee had a real name, so he decided that she should be called Bogey.  Mommy vetoed that idea, fortunately, and decided that since I wasn't quite up to the task yet, granny should get to name her.  So Posy is her name now.