My son, Harry

I picked up my parents this morning from their Alaskan cruise and on the way back home my mom, bless her heart, had to squeeze into the back seat between The Diva and Pukey Pukerson (did I mention Carter doesn't do well on car rides?) Thankfully, neither of them were exhibiting said qualities at the moment...

So, Carter asked Grandma to tell him a funny story. She said, "one day your mommy came to me and said 'you're going to be a grandma.' I said, noooooo, I'm too young to be a grandma! Then later she came to me and said, 'it's going to be a boy,' and I said 'what? I don't know what to do with a little boy!' Do you know who that little boy turned out to be???"

Carter's response (giggling): "Harry Johnson???"

Ummm....?

Walk softly, carry a big stick

Although she has made great strides lately, B has always had a bit of a problem getting certain words and sounds out. One sound in particular that has been tripping her up is her /s/ sound. So for the purposes of authenticity (not to mention propriety) I need you, dear reader(s?) to play along. Over the course of the following vignette, would you be so kind as to replace the letters "st" with the /d/ sound anytime Bella is speaking? Just play along. It will be fun.

The other day, Dave took Carter to soccer practice at his school and in the meantime, he and Bella went to play on the playground along with some other parents and soccer siblings. And this, my friend(s), is where our story unfolds.

B: Daddy! Look at me, I've got a stick!!
D: I'm sorry - you've got a what?
B: A stick! A stick! I've got a stick!
D: ...
B: I've got a big, BIG stick! I'm going to draw in the sand with my great big stick!!!

Well, come on. Let's be honest. What else would you do with a big stick?

Goolay Goo

...or is it spelled Goulez Gous? I'm not sure. Either way, it is the new term du jour at our house. Bella was standing in front of the refrigerator, pointing frantically saying "I want goolay goo!" Totally perplexed, I let her say it about 20 more times, thinking I would eventually figure out what in the world she wanted. I couldn't. So, I moved on to the next step: guessing. I started pointing to things.

Do you want milk?
No
Do you want cheese?
No
carrots?
NOOO!

I was getting nowhere, fast. Finally, I figured out that "goo" must refer to some type of juice. (If you're at all familiar with Bella-speak, you'll understand that this is not much of a leap)

Do you want apple juice??? (I'm getting frantic now because she's getting more and more agitated by the second)
NO, MOMMY, NOOOOO!!!!
Finally, I spotted it: there in the door, a container of ORANGE juice.

Is this what you want???
Yeah! Yay goolay goo!!!

I poured her a cup of goolay goo. She took a long sip, wiped her mouth with the back of her hand and said "Ahhhhhhhhh....I LOVE goolay goo!" (a moment highly reminiscent of my last post)

So that's our new word here. We use it all the time now. I find myself looking for excuses to work it into everyday conversation. You should try it. It's the coolest new word since 'fetch'. (I know, I know. Stop trying to make 'fetch' happen.)

I'm thinking this one might just catch on though.

The Sweet Tooth Conquers All

We have been trying to get Bella to say I love you for a long time now. It always comes out "I....you!" Lately, we've evolved a little bit. I tell her "I love you, Bella." She replies "I you too Mommy." Getting closer...

And then the other day we introduced something completely new to her: jelly beans. She popped one in her mouth, her eyes got really big and she looked at me and said "I LOVE jelly beans!"

Really?!

You can't say I love you, but you can say I love jelly beans.

I see how it is.