The things she says at 2 years and 8 months

Wanted to jot down some of the things Astrid is saying now (as it's constantly changing).

• "I want to see Papa's peter!" (peter = computer)
• "I have to go peep." (peep = short for pee pee)
• "What ya doin'?" (She always asks this of the other person she's speaking to on the phone.)
• "Icky mouth." (Said when I wet a tissue to wipe her face. Also "icky" in general when she gets kisses.)
• "Sorry, sorry, sorry" (She's quick to apologize about some things and stubborn like a bull about others.)
• "Let me kiss it." (We were in Target recently when Astrid ran the cart over my foot. She offered to kiss it, to make it better. Really sweet, but sorta embarrassing when you're standing in a store and your kid is down on the floor, repeatedly kissing your big toe.)
• "I have to call Lindsay now." (She tells me that she has to make a phone call to her friend. She's so phone crazy now, that I cringe at the thought of her future teenage phone obsession.)
• "I'm talking to Grandma." (Pretending to talk to Grandma on her cell phone.)
• "Mama where are you? There you are!" (She wants to know where I am at all times. Even when I'm in the shower and her dad is watching her she cries because she wants to be with me. Recently she laid down on the bathroom rug in front of the tub/shower, in the fetal position and waited for me.)
• "There it is! I got it!" (Whenever she finds something she's been looking for. All proud of herself.)
• "I can't find it. You found it?" (As you can see, we're constantly looking for things she misplaced like pieces of a puzzle, her blanket, toys, etc.)
• "Lemme do it. I'll do it. Lemme do it." (Said in rapid succession. She wants to be independent and put on her shoes, socks and clothes by herself.)
• "Look at me! Look at me!" (I first heard this said by a German kid..."Guck mal! Guck mal!" and now my own kid is saying it too in English. Something about this age when they want attention. It's super cute when she shouts this out when she's riding her tricycle.)
• "Sure." (I love it when I ask her to do something and she responds with "Sure" and promptly does it. It makes her sound so grown up and when we hear "Sure" we know there's no impending battle on our hands.)
• "I can't do it!" (The word "can't" has unfortunately entered her vocabulary. I keep reassuring her that she can, or that she only needs a little help.)
• "I need to go work." (We gave her the option of cooking or cleaning and she chose cooking.)
• "I need to go school." (She can't wait to go to school so she can play with the other kids and make more friends.)
• "Mama go work. Astrid go school." (We've been having a constant dialogue lately about me going back to work and Astrid going to school. I'm glad that she's showing that she understands what's going to happen once I start working again.)
• "No, it's mine." (I dislike hearing her say this, but it's the age. She gets very protective about another kid taking whatever she's playing with or eating. But in other circumstances she can be very generous with her belongings - especially with her friends and in a play group - so it just depends. In preschool she'll be forced to share so it'll be interesting to see how this stage will develop.)
• "Let's talk a little bit." (Every night at bedtime we talk about our day and what we did. She loves talking and she has the floor on this and 100% of my attention. If I let her she would talk all night. All I have to say to get her running towards her bedroom is, "Astrid don't you want to lay down and talk a little bit?")
• "Papa, can you hear me? I need to go pee pee." (Astrid shouts this every morning from her crib as soon as she wakes up. It's U.'s alarm clock to get Astrid, and her diaper has been consistently dry every morning.)
• "I want something else." (Not a picky eater, or picky in general, but she voices what she needs more and more, which is what I've been striving for. I keep telling her to use her words and not whine, so she can tell me what she wants.)
• "Hmmmm....let me think." (Cute to see that she consciously "thinks". She will stop and roll her eyes up and really "think" about it.)
• "I wanna see pictures Mom." (Still loves looking at photos of herself and her friends on my laptop.)
• "First?" (She understands sequence now and confirms with me if we are going to do something "first" before we do the next thing. For example: I need to wash the dishes first before I can play with her. Or she needs to eat her lunch first before she can have the animal crackers. Or we will go here first before we go there. Makes life a lot easier now that she understands this so she doesn't cry when she doesn't get instant gratification.)
• "Thanks!" (She started dropping "thank you", preferring to say "thanks" instead. Sounds so grown up.)
• "Put the robe on Mommy! I freezing!" (A request she makes every time she gets out of the bathtub. Sometimes it's accompanied by a very dramatic shiver like she's suffering from hypothermia and not in a warm house, after a warm bath. As soon as her robe is on, she's a perfectly happy kid again.)

The Birds and the Bees

A conversation the little one and I had today:

Me: "You don't need to wear diapers anymore at nap time, only when you go to sleep at night, because you're a big girl now."

Astrid: "I no big girl. I just girl."

Me: (laughing) "Yeah I know you're just a girl. Mommy's just a girl too."

Astrid: "Mommy no girl. Mommy woman."

Me: (shocked that she knows the difference) "That's right Mommy's a woman."

Astrid: "Papa man?"

Me: "Yep, Papa's a man."

Astrid: "No, Papa no man. He just Papa."

Me: (laughing) "Yes, Papa is Papa and he is a man."

Astrid's loves

Astrid: "I love him." (referring to Papa)

Astrid: "Chicken and noodles? I love it."

Astrid: "Mommy?" I love you."

Astrid: "Mommy? I so happy. I love Peekaboo Playland. I love to jump."

So U. and I are up there with chicken, noodles, Peekaboo Playland, and jumping. Life is good.

Things she says at 2 1/2 years old

kay-cakes (pancakes - U. makes homemade German pancakes with jam which Astrid loves.)

I wake up already. (It's funny when she she says it hours after she's woken up; as if it took her that long to fully wake up. Not so funny when she says it to mean she doesn't want to go to sleep.)

Astrid's house. (I remind her that it's "our" house, to which she responds - "Our house? Mama, Papa, Astrid?" But then minutes later she's back to announcing that it's "Astrid's house.")

Neighbors sleeping? In crib? (One night I was explaining to her that it was dark outside which meant it was sleep time, and she asked me if the neighbors were sleeping too. Our next door neighbor is 95 years old, so it's not a stretch to think that she's probably in bed by 7:30 or 8:00 every night. So I said, "Yes, the neighbors are sleeping." Then Astrid asked me if they were sleeping in their crib. I had to chuckle picturing our adult neighbors curled up in the fetal position in cribs like the Cheech & Chong movie. But I knew what she meant so I said, "Yes, they're sleeping in their beds.")

Mama's gym clothes (She likes to point out when I'm wearing my workout outfit.)

This one okay. (We allow Astrid to watch Sesame Street in the morning, but occasionally it'll be too early for Sesame Street, or on the weekends it's in Spanish and we have to search around for another kid appropriate show. She'll let us know when there's one she wants to watch by announcing "This one okay!" Rude awakening when we say "No, this one's not okay".)

Mama tired? Astrid tired too! (Usually followed by a yawn. It does no good to say it, but I say it anyway - "You should sleep longer and then you wouldn't be tired.")

So cute. (She uses it to describe baby animals, dolls, and babies in general. Today she kissed a baby boy's foot and said "So cute!")

Too spicy (Either posed as a question before she tries something new, or a statement in which case she'll spit it out and refuse to eat it. Tonight however she had curry for the first time, which I diluted to make it less spicy for her. After tasting it she announced "Not too spicy. Yummy.")

I close my eyes little bit. (Sometimes said when we're driving back from my parents' place and she wants me to know that she's going to close her eyes and get a cat nap in.)

I wanna see Mama. (After she wakes up in the morning, she comes to my room and watches Sesame Street while lying with me in bed. That way I can get a few winks in. She doesn't mind me closing my eyes, but she wants me facing her so she can see my face. If I get uncomfortable lying on my right side for too long and turn over she'll tap me on my back and say "I wanna see Mama!" so that I'll turn back around. Although the other day after lying with my back towards her for awhile, I turned back over thinking that she'd want to see my face and she said, "It's okay mom. Turn over and close eyes. Go sleep.")

Where Astrid glasses? (Astrid sees me wearing glasses and wants to know where hers are. I remind her that she has sunglasses, but she knows they're not the same as the ones I wear inside the house. When I get out of bed in the morning the first thing I do is reach for my glasses on my nightstand - but being fascinated with my glasses - she'll run over and get them for me - and she's always trying to snake them off the bathroom counter to play with. I have to make sure they're always out of reach. I don't understand the fascination with them, and also with my contact lens case, but I just hope she never has to wear glasses.)

Honey! (When calling for U. Obviously it's because she's heard me calling U. honey, but it's still hilarious.)

I'm okay now. (Said after any fall. I love this about her - that she'll pick herself up, dust herself off, and move on. Sometimes I still have to make sure she's really okay because she's so quick to announce that she's okay. Also said after she's been cleaned up, after a scare, and when she has everything she needs.)

Am I walking my dog or my kid?

While walking the dog this evening, Astrid did a peculiar thing. This was after several (around 50) reiterations and reassurances that in fact yes our dog was going to go to the bathroom. As our dog was looking for the perfect spot to do her business, Astrid suddenly ducked into a foot long crevice in a wall as we were walking by it. At first I thought she was just hiding from mommy so I asked her what she was doing.

Me: "Astrid what are you doing in there?"
Astrid: "I go bathroom."

Me: "Come on out. You're not a dog. You can't go to the bathroom in there."
Astrid: "Okay Mommy."

She came right out without any questions.

Oh and on the latter part, I have to confess that I taught her to respond to me with "Yes, Mommy" or “Okay Mommy.” The first time U. heard Astrid say it back to me he almost fell out of his chair and said, "Oh boy." But hey it works!

Uh Oh Duckie Fall Down

I bought Astrid this new blanket recently to replace her old baby blanket (that has holes and stains). See that duckie on the top, next to the hem, that's upside down and partially cut off? Astrid pointed to that duck and said, "Uh oh. Duckie fall down." It's so cute to get a peek into the thoughts of my 2 year old toddler. It made me think of Piaget and his stages of cognitive development.