more abbyisms

Just a quick list of a few things I want to remember.

1) Abby is becoming quite interactive when she watches some of her tv shows. Especially Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and Elmo's World on Sesame Street. She answers the questions they ask outloud, points to things they want her to find and finishes their catch phrases before they do. She dances to the songs, names the characters, and follows directions. When Elmo says jump, she jumps.

2) She's still in love with coloring. She's *pretty* good about keeping her drawings on paper, and she definitely knows better than to draw on other things. This is evidenced by catching her starting to draw on something she shouldn't. I'll see her and just say "Abby" and she immediately starts shaking her head and saying, "no, no, no - on paper peas" If she does color on something like the wall - she'll go get a wipe and try to clean it off.

3) She requires very little admonishment. If she does something wrong - like throwing toys down the stairs and I so much as say her name and frown - she hangs her head, looks really sad, and goes and sits in a corner. I'm usually having to coax her out and telling her that everything's ok. But she will continue to hang her head, avoid eye contact, and tears well up in her eyes until I'm able to pick her up and give her some kisses. Often, as soon as she does something she shouldn't, she says "no! no abby" before we even have to react. Yesterday, she was playing with her baby doll and she threw the baby across the room. She immediately said "no abby! Be nice! uh-oh baby" and went over to hug the baby until it was "All better"

4) She can now climb up on our bed by herself - which is pretty high up. Getting down is harder, but she's not afraid to try.

5) She has, at least for now, mostly stopped throwing food she doesn't want on the floor. Instead, she'll pick it up and give it to me saying "thank you!" until I take it.

6) She repeats anything she wants you to acknowledge until you acknowledge it. "Mama! Look! a dog! dog! a dog! a dog! dog dog dog! a dog! Mama, a DOG!..." She'll keep going long after the dog is gone until you say "Yes, I see, a dog"

7) She likes to watch the digital clock in her room. She'll say, "Oh, a six!" and then when it changes, "Oh, a seven!" We don't remember teaching her to recognize numbers, so I think all the credit goes to Sesame Street for that.

8) She has discovered stickers. We have a sheet of happy face stickers we got in the mail that she really likes. Before she watches any TV shows, she wants a sticker on each cheek.

9) When she does something funny or playful, she'll often stop and say "picture?" She'll wait for me to get my camera and say "picture peas" Once I take it, she'll ask, "Abby?" meaning, she wants to see herself on the camera. We've created a monster.

10) She also asks "Abby peas?" when she wants to look in the mirror. Often after putting stickers on her face.

11) Abby has a lot of words, but they are still mixed with a lot of babble. We can often understand every few words and can piece together what she's telling us. "Oh, a bus, dowebaago Beep Beep! anona Street! Owataga bye bye bus!"

12) She's decided that the best use for the empty phone jack in our living room is to hold crayons. But only the red ones.

13) She loves her alphabet flash cards, but sometimes she gets mixed up. She saw an H on a sign the other day and said, "oh, a hot dog!" much like she calls Y's "yo-yos"

14) She's a deal maker. When we shop, she gets crackers. I used to give her just one at a time, but now I'll often give her two so she can have one for each hand. So now when we're out and about, it goes like this:

A: cwacker peas!

L: ok, do you want one or two?

A: Two.

L: (gives her two crackers)

A: Three peas?

L: No, just two.

A: Four?

L: No, just two.

A: all right. dust two mama.

15) Abby copies a lot of what I say, and funnier, how I say it. There's one phrase that we couldn't quite figure out what it meant. She'd say "oh doy oh doy oh doy" and she always says it really fast. Well, then yesterday I was tickling her (without mercy) and she's pleading between breaths "all done? all done?!?!" So I finally let her go and said, "okokok" and she toddled off saying "ohdoy ohdoy ohdoy" in the exact same voice I had just used. I dunno, it made me laugh. But, that's the norm.

Alrighty, that's enough for now. You know I could go on for days, right? Till next time.

putting on her game (eh, sticker) face in prep for Saturday morning cartoons.