This picture is of the house we stayed at for six weeks this summer. Here is Kiddo with the dog, Allie. Today we stopped by the house to pick something up. I was hoping to leave Kiddo in the car while I ran in, but as soon as we pulled into the driveway she started saying "puppy. aah-eee. puppy. aah-ee." So she got to come in too, and remember that she has a healthy respect for Allie (in other words, she wouldn't touch her). This is in contrast to our visiting teaching appointment this afternoon, where Kiddo kept getting right close and personal with my friend's dog, who would have preferred that she didn't (the dog cared). Kiddo also got almost all of the dog toys out. I sigh as I say that she's inquisitive, and shows little restraint.But her vocabulary keeps growing, and helps us help her. Last night, I asked Kiddo to throw out her wet diaper. I ask her to do this after most of her diaper changes, and she's very willing and able to do so. I like to think she's taking some responsibility for herself. Last night though, instead of her usual "trash" chant, I heard "tilit." It only took me one moment to yell out her name, and chase her down to fish her diaper out of the toilet, which I suppose she thought would be more interesting than the trash.
Her new favorite song is "animal crackers in my soup" which we play for her on the computer. She'll walk up to one of us (usually me as my husband in mostly gone writing a dissertation) and say "soup." No matter what excuse I give her for not listening right now, she looks at me earnestly and replies "tay. [okay]" and walks straight to the computer to listen. Most of the time I give in, because then she entertains herself for a while.
Her response to many things is "tay." Often she will come up to me with a book, or a toy, or a request for a song, and then when I interpret her need she'll reply "tay." It always seems incongruous to me. It was her idea after all.
When she wants to sing, she comes up to me and starts repeating "about, about, about..." Because whenever she requests "song" I reply "about what" so now she skips the song request, and moves straight on to the about instruction. She has yet to learn how to communicate which song she's thinking of though. Maybe it's because most of the time she doesn't care.
And this is old (probably a whole month by now), but classic, and should always be remembered: We had recently taught her about taking turns, specifically with food. My husband walked out of store, got in the car and pulled out a lollipop (he somehow thought she wouldn't notice if he enjoyed in the front seat). Before too long I hear an insistent voice: tun. tun. tun. I looked at my husband and said, she'd like a turn with the lollipop too, it seems only right to share. So they did.
