The Salvateenies: More emerging language

Auntie Lee Ann babysat on Wednesday while Daddy went to the A's game. When I checked in, she said everyone was doing well and that Caroline was talking a lot, but she (Auntie) had no idea what she (Caroline) was saying.

I guess it just takes practice - it makes perfect sense to me! Or maybe I'm just filling in the blanks with my own imagination.

The truth is, Caroline has turned into something of a myna bird. She likes copying exactly what you say, but with a matter-of-factness that makes you think it was her idea all along. When she sees her shoes and insists on wearing them, I ask, "Do you want your pretty shoes?" and she answers, "Pretty shoes! Pretty Shoes!" She is obsessed with her "pretty shoes", so that's not a big surprise, I guess. After she's worn them around the house for a while (and trust me, you haven't lived until you've danced with a toddler wearing a pink flowered onesie and black mary janes), she decides she wants to go barefoot again and announces, "Mommy - shoes all done! All done shoes - shoes no more, ok, mommy? No more shoes?" Makes sense to me!

Daniel, who was talking up a storm a while back, took a brief hiatus, it seems, from chattering and now is back. A few days ago, he was sitting in his high chair - everyone was barefoot and he kept pointing at the floor, saying, "Sheeyoos? Sheeyoos?" I couldn't understand it - Daniel doesn't usually care about shoes unless he knows we're going out. But there he was, pointing at the floor, his mantra in place. I tried reasoning with him. "No, honey, you don't need your shoes. We're staying home - no shoes!"

Yep, no dice. He pointed right back at the mat on the floor. "Sheeyoos?" But then he pointed at the table and repeated, "sheeyoos?" And then he pointed to the kitchen and to his tray, "sheeyoos?" And all of a sudden it dawned on me. "CHEERIOS" He was asking for Cheerios. When I brought them out, he clapped and smiled, obviously proud that Mommy had FINALLY figured out what he meant.

Caroline doesn't limit who she talks to. She talks to her brothers (calling them both by their names, but also calling them "baby" pretty often), and she talks to us and to Uncle Kelly and Auntie Lee Ann. When Grandpa showed her pictures of her birthday party, she pointed and exclaimed, "Happy day! Happy day!" The other night she had a nightmare and woke up calling for me, saying, "Mommy! Tell them go away. Make them stop!" Perhaps she was dreaming of her brothers getting back at her for all the times she's knocked them over?

Today she was talking to someone new. She grabbed an old cordless phone, punched a few buttons, put it to her ear and demanded, "Abby? Da-da-da-calala-da-data! No! Da da da la da! Good bye!" Then she punched another button and forcefully put the phone back down on the floor. When I told Joe about it, he said she and Abby had been having this angry exchange for much of the day. I don't know who Abby is, but Caroline is NOT happy with her, that much is clear.

And now for the pictures to catch us up for the past month: