Language Development

Mommy:
You are 2 years and 5 months old. Lately you have been saying many more nonsense words and stringing sounds together. I thought it odd at first but then daddy noticed you were using words that people were saying in the current conversation along with your babbling. We realized you are just practicing talking at the same speed and rhythm as the adults around you. You are trying to join the conversation.

Example:
Caleb was talking about Africa and the Dutch during dinner. You spoke up something similar to, "And the Dutch [a string of phonemes that sound like words] Woody, Jessie, and Slinky Dog." You said it very matter-of-fact, as though it made perfect sense.

Christmas Ornaments

Mommy:
Nana and Papa took us shopping for some Christmas ornaments at Kohls. We were picking out ornaments. You were standing near me, like four feet away. I was putting back an ornament or trying to find one on the display hook. I heard you say, "Football!" and some other word that wasn't very clear to me. Then, I heard breaking. I looked over and you were standing shocked, looking at broken football ornament around your feet. I think the unclear word was something like "throw." Yeah, you spiked the football ornament.

Bathroom Antics

Mommy:
You happened to see daddy peeing standing up. You told him, "I hang my butt." By this you apparently meant you hang your butt in the toilet instead of standing.

The next time you finished going to the bathroom you told me, "I hung my butt."

Understanding Plurals

Mommy:
I've been keeping munchies in the car to appease my random pregnant hunger urges. This particular day I had BBQ chips. I gave you a chip. Shortly after you asked, "Can I have some chips?" I answered, "Sure, you can have a chip." To which you replied, "No, chips."

Finding Nemo

Mommy:
You are currently obsessed with Toy Story 3. You wear a cowboy hat around your neck and claim to be Jessie, not Sarah. When people try to talk to you, your obsession becomes obvious by the direction you take the conversation. You have assigned different family members their own Toy Story character. I am Slinky Dog even though I tried and tried to get you to call me Bo Peep. You call your dad Buzz Lightyear.

When you wake up in the morning you ask for breakfast and to watch Toy Story 3. I've been trying to sway you to watch something else to sort of mix-up your repertoire. You decided to watch Finding Nemo after I had recommended it a few days in a row. You had seen it a couple times when Jenna lived with us after you met Crush at Disneyland.

I quickly learned that you were now in a different stage of your understanding of movies. As soon as Nemo was taken away by the underwater diver, you burst into tears wanting to know where Nemo was and what was happening. I began watching the movie from a totally different perspective. Then the sharks show up before we know what is happening to Nemo and that also made you cry, twice (the sight of the sharks and then when Marlin is trying to escape and the underwater mines explode). When Dori was stung by the jellyfish and then lying on the turtle's shell, you cried again. You were very anxious about where all the characters were throughout the movie. At the end of the movie the teacher stingray swims away with the students on his back and this made you cry because you didn't understand where Nemo was being taken.

I snuggled on the couch with you during the movie and tried to explain what was happening. It didn't seem to help too much. When the movie ended you said, "I just like Toy Story because it is fun." I asked how Finding Nemo made you feel and you said, "Sad."