Copycat

Lily has picked up some of Michael’s and my speech patterns, and it’s hilarious to hear our words come out of her mouth. I wish I had some of them on video, but I don’t yet.  When you ask her if she wants to do something (like read a book), she will often say, “Oh yes! I would LOVE to read a book!”  It may not sound funny in type, but the way she says it is just so sweet, and I hope I can record it before Michael and I forget how she says it.

Just after her birthday, we were playing with some dolls and Lily says, speaking for her doll, “Oh, wow!  My hair looks glorious!”  We always tell her her hair is glorious, and apparently she has added this to her vernacular.  The other day we were checking out at a store and she starts re-arranging my hair, telling the cashier that she was making mommy’s hair “glorious.”  I wasn’t so keen on a complete make-over in public, but she has also made my hair “glorious” at home, and it’s something to behold.  I should hire her out for proms and weddings, because I looked awesome.  (On a side note, she really is a sweetheart, because my hair looks like a hot mess when I get out of the shower, and she always tells me my hair looks beautiful when it’s a wet, tangly disaster.  Sweet baby.)

A few days later, we were building with blocks and I was handing her more and more blocks for her towers.  She got overwhelmed with too many of them, and told me, “That’s enough, sweetie Mommy.”  She has referred to me several times as “Sweetie Mommy,” and it cracks me up.

She has also started to do voices for her characters more often, and also just does silly voices at random times.  Last week, the caregiver at the gym nursery said she was admiring Lily’s shoes and told her she had big feet, and Lily responded in a deep, gravelly voice: “LIKE A MONSTER!”  We’ve never said that about her feet, of course, but the voices just crack me up! 

She also does awesome sound effects for everything.  We have a sometimes-enforced “rule” that Mommy and Daddy can’t be things without faces when we’re playing talk.  That sounds complicated, but Lily tends to horde the best toys.  Although she wants nothing more than for Michael and I to play talk with her, she doesn’t really want to share her favorite figures, so Michael and I get stuck being Plex (the robot from Yo Gabba Gabba who is her least favorite) or some other non-favored toys.  She has sometimes tried to make us be toys representing inanimate objects (like chairs or see saws) so that she doesn’t have to share the good stuff.  Stinker.  So, Michael and I came up with a rule that our characters have to at least have faces.  I mean if we’re all being rocks or blocks or something pretend, that’s fine, but she can’t just make us talk for her character’s furniture. 

Is she sounding like a complete tyrant yet?  Because she really isn’t, I promise.  She is just creative at finding ways to get others to play with her without really sharing very well.

Hmmm…still sounding like a tyrant.

Just trust me…she really is a dear.

Anyway, she generally respects our “must-have-a-face” rule, and will even sometimes accommodate our “oh-for-the-love-of-Pete-I-don’t-want-to-be-Plex-again” requests.

The other day, though, she got a little gleam in her eye as we were playing talk.  She picked up the fake candle that was part of our play scenario and confiscated whatever figure I had been animating.  Then she very matter-of-factly made a sound effect “chpt!” (or something like that) as she pretended to put something on the candle.  Then she said, “I put a face on it.  Now Mommy can be the candle!”

Slow clap, Lily.  Slow clap.

What’s in a name?

First off, I would love to post tons of pictures I owe you, but I quite literally almost burned up my computer while editing pictures last night, and I’m loathe to over-tax the poor thing before my new cooling-mat arrives. 

Yikes.

So instead, I’ll share a few stories of late regarding the names Lily has given new toys and pets.

My dear 2-year-old is, of course, only 2, and so her experience in being allowed to provide things with names was limited for a great long while by her inability to…well…talk.  Thus you get the ridiculous naming of her lovey provided by Michael and me at Lily’s tender age of 6 months.  Her suggestions at the time sounded something like “gah” or “bah,” so we relied on our own resources to come up with Anabelle (named after my childhood imaginary friend who happened to live in the mirror) Persephone (sounded appropriately ridiculous) Kittykins (well, the lovey is a cat, after all).  Absurd, but sleep deprivation and being thrust into the world of drool-filled parenthood causes your sense of humor to fall several rungs on the ladder of sophistication.  Am I right?  Am I?  Is this thing on?

As Lily has gotten older, we have allowed her more liberty to name her own toys.  I distinctly remember asking her what she wanted to name a small orange cat figure I gave her, and she wanted to name it “Floor.” 

Yes, “Floor.”

A few months later, she got a small, pink caterpillar toy.  Her name for it?  “Blue.”  This is in spite of the fact that she knew her colors at this point, and would tell you that “Blue” was pink.

A few months ago, Lily got a pink flamingo that she named “Zumi” (after my dad and stepmother’s dog).  Getting better, right?  At least it’s more of a name than “Blue” or “Floor.”

A few weeks ago, Michael brought home a stuffed Hello Kitty for Lily.  She promptly named it “Mr. Stefaniekins.”

Seriously?

Mr. Stefaniekins?

So yesterday, I told Lily that we were going to be getting two new goldfish for our patio pond. 

It was with great trepidation that I asked her what we should name these fish (who I would have to refer to by name a couple of times per day for the next - hopefully! - few years).

Based on her prior performance, I was expecting “Mommy and Daddy” or “grass and bucket” or “Mr. Penelope-Pants and Dr. Rabbit-Placemat-Head.”

Lily’s instant response?

“Paul and Judy.”

Seriously?

Well, that works for me.  She named them, I would assume, after the characters from the book “Pat the Bunny.”  I know we haven’t read that book in about a month, so I was also impressed it came to mind so quickly given that the book has nothing to do with fish. 

We are now the proud new owners of Paul (a robust-looking orange goldfish) and Judy (a not-so-robust-looking white and orange goldfish who I have already noticed swims like her tail is broken, which surely can’t be a good sign).

Now if I can only convince Lily that Paul and Judy do not want to be held, patted, or in any way snuggled.  As the lady at Petsmart was bagging the fish, Lily kept putting up her hands saying, “I can hold them in my hands!”  I think the lady was seriously questioning our fitness as fish-parents, and I can’t say that I blame her. 

We’re one feeding in, and we already have one sweater soaked to the elbows from Lily’s attempts to coax Paul and Judy to come and get their food.

Wish us luck!

Oh, and Judy.  Definitely wish her luck.  I’m afraid the poor dear is going to need it.