'sup and other phrases

Abigail has been saying so many new words and phrases it's hard to keep up.  "What's up pussycat," a top favorite at the moment.  She walks into our lobby and says it to our doormen, she'll say it to a store owner and she'll say it to us as a greeting in the morning when we slide open her door.

"Whoa boy," is another exclaimation she uses when something is difficult or really interesting.  She learned that one from Grandma.

And you'd never forget to "Shake your booty!" if you spend any time with this dancing machine.

Maybe you'd like to have a "slice of pizza?"  Abigail sure does.

And have we mentioned she's starting to use the potty?!  We are so proud of her whether she makes it into the potty or just about makes it...she's trying really hard.

Also we've been delighted as she sings, "itsy bitsy spider...up....spout!  Down, plop!  Wash...the spider out."  And then goes straight into:  "Row, row, row...boat...dream."  And, "head, shoulders, knees, toes, knees, eyes, mouth, head, shoulder!"  Or, "wheels...bus!"  She'll also say "Frank" when she's singing these songs, he's her music teacher at day care.  She also sings, "where is pointer?"  What's even more fantastic is that she's is so thoroughly delighted with herself as she sings these songs and does the hand gestures.

She'll ask us to "sing song?" which could mean singing Yellow Bus or Staying Alive.  Or, if she's brushing her teeth it means, (to the tune The Farmer in the Dell), "I love to brush my teeth.  I love to brush my teeth.  Up and down and all around, I love to brush my teeth."

Oh and blue is the new yellow.  Usually she'll answer the question, "what color is_____?" and whatever it is, it'll be blue.  Then she'll say "silly goose" because she knows it's wrong.

She'll be two in just about a month and half--it's true what they say.  Time does fly by.

Amazed

We're constantly amazed by Abigail and what a wonderful person she's turning into. She says new words and does new things every day. And, she gets happier every day too.  Here's a sampling:

She loves listening the classic disco song--"Ha Ha" or as the rest of the world calls it, "Staying Alive," by the Bee Gees.  She'll dance to it, saying "booty" and encourages herself as she moves by saying, "Go girl!"

She loves going out into our hallway and running "FASTER!" Her arm is extended out behind her, to help her move so unbelievably fast! You might even see her doing the crab walk.

"Fluffily" may be one of our most favorite words she says. Fink the cat is fluffily!

"I sorry" is one of her favorite phrases. She picked up those words from daycare. She also learned "hit" and "push" too. She's not actually doing those things, she just likes to talk about them. When we tell her no, we don't hit. She asks, "why?" We let her know that hurting people isn't acceptable. I'm sorry.

When she says "heavy," she says it in her lowest, heftiest voice.

She likes to do things for her"self." It could be feeding herself, it could be fixing the door she likes to pull off from her toy schoolbus or her attempts to put on her own shoes, she announces she does it, "self!"

She loves to put on our shoes and march with them on. She sometimes says "dinosaur" when she says she's marching, just like in the song, "We are the Dinosaurs."

She likes water (or as she says it, "wadur") but chances on she'd prefer Seeeelzter. She loving refers to the bubbly water with that elongated "eeeeee" most time she sips or slurps it from a straw, from her "pup" (cup).

She counts to 10. 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7 8 - 9 - 10 - Tennie - Twelvie. And, she says "1-2-3-FAST" and then runs.

And, she's now full of hugs for us and says "love you!"

I did it!

Abigail is saying many two or three word sentences! Like,
"I did it!"
"Made it!"
"Next to me." (as in sit next to me!)
"No more."
And, it's not a sentence but fart and burp have come into her vocabulary! Farting and burping too! We're so proud.

She saw a Hershey's kiss and said "drey" as in dreidel--pretty clever, huh? "Nora"--for Menorah! Everyday is something new--she's amazing!

Words, words, words

"Tick-tock, tick-tock," starts Abigail and then we finish with "I'm a little coo-coo clock, tick-tock, tick-tock, now I'm striking one o'clock!" It's a song she learned in swim class and jumps into the water when the clock strikes whatever o'clock. But even when she's landside, she still likes the song. Though, "Taxi" is still a huge favorite.

Aba and yes, even Abbi, are names Abigail has referred to herself as. Aba is fine we suppose but she still very much is not an Abbi in our eyes. Occasionally we are now Poppy and Mommy, though Papa and Mama are still used quite frequently. She has so many new words but "No," is definitely a favorite, "more" is a close second. But "happy!" has been coming into play, just in time for Thanksgiving! "Push," "pull," "stroller," "leaves," and "touch," which she uses when she wants to touch just about everything she comes into contact with (including the ceiling when she says how "tall" she is!). She knows a lot of her body parts: "tooshie," "cheeks," "chin," "toes," "two," (the answer to the question: how many hands do you have?). She's starting to recognize when she "poops" and "pees." So much so that we're reading up on potty training and already have a little toilet she likes to sit on. Woo-hoo! She says, "bow," when she wants her hair out of her face or she wants to have clip bow placed on her "nose," "toes," or "finger." She loves to stir a cup and say "tea!" And when her food is too hot, she blows it cool.

She loves so many books now, Bear Snores On, being a fave right now. A bear (a word she says too) hibernates while friends have a snuggly, warm party. "Cuddled in a heap, with his eyes shut tight..." and Abigail closes her eyes tight! While she still loves to be read to, she's very content to sit by her bookshelf and read.

She loves knocking on her tray or on doors and saying "door," or even "open" when she's had enough of something and she's ready to go. (very subtle)

She says "A," "O," "D," and "J" and likes when we write it with the jumbo crayons she likes to draw with.

She says "cheese stick" and has a special dance for it. She still loves to dance any chance she gets. "Dance" and "music" being some other high frequency words. Cars blaring their music--dance on the street. Music at the playground--bounce (another word she can say) up and down. She's constantly on the move, still rearranging furniture and now being able to say, "chair."

Any time we pass a subway station she says, "down." She loves taking the train too, she applauds when one glides into a station. She knows and says that Mama goes "down" to go to work. Even refers to it when she reads Pigeon Loves Things that Go, there's a train page and she says "Down. Mama."

Need a "tissue?" She's got you covered.

She's starting to get a hang of the idea that when she points to herself she says "me" instead of "you," a very tricky concept.

If she's a picture of a caterpillar anywhere she immediately says "pop!" in reference The Very Hungry Caterpillar.

And Papa's face is "scratchy," in case you were wondering. She got that word from Pat the Bunny.


She's met mama's pals Cuddles and Sweet Patch (attempting to say both names). And she named her baby giraffe LuLu and the big giraffe is LuLu's "Mama!"

She loves looking up to see a "cloud," perhaps a "plane," a twinkling "star" and the "moon."

Some seasonal words: "witch," "pumpkin," and "turkey." We have no doubt the word latkes will be on their way shortly.

Oooh and "challah!" is not only fun to eat but fun to say as well!

We are constantly amazed by her and how fast she's growing. We don't have a baby anymore.

Yellow

Our little lady loves to say colors.  Yellow and purple were her first ones but now bown (brown), reed red, geen (green), have all come into the mix.  Yellow is by far her favorite--and was a bee for Halloween.

She loves singing "Taxi," a song she learned at Music for Aardvarks.  She loves to sing it and dance a choreographed arm movement she's created.  Her hand is held out and she dips up and down.  It's quite adorable.

Each day she's learning new things and saying new words.  Time is just flying.

Abigail Ettinger, Artist

Now on exhibit on Abigail's bedroom wall.  Original drawing by the young Brooklyn artist, Abigail Ettinger - mixed colored crayons on yellow construction paper.

Abigail seems very proud of her latest creation.  Jonathan held down the paper while Abigail chose each crayon to draw with, one by one, or sometimes five by five.  The drawing was finished when Abigail raised her arms and said "Done."

She loves to see her original creation hanging on her wall, and today placed another drawing on the shelf beneath this one while proudly looking up at this drawing.  We're pretty proud too!

Quite good for an 18-month old.

We've had quite the roller coaster ride since we last posted.  Amanda is back at school teaching Kindergarten, Jonathan is home watching our girl.  Our lives were tossed up in the air and rearranged into a new normal.  Then, Amanda's Grandma passed away, something we did not expect to happen as rapidly as it did, and we had to change yet again.  Her death is a huge loss to our family but, of course, life goes on.  Grandma's spirit lives on.  Always.

Abigail continues to amaze us everyday.  Today she pointed to and said, "tooshie."  She knows where her tooshie is!  She likes to read along to books she loves.  Mr. Brown Can Moo, Can You? is one of her favorites.  She says buzz, buzz; she ticks and tocks like a clock, and hoos like an owl.  There's another book too, Moo, Baa, La, La, La, that she will quote from all day long.  If you hear her saying, "lalala," she wants you to continue with rest of the story which is "No, no, you say that isn't right.  The pigs say day oink all day and night."  Then she looks very pleased with herself.

Here's a video of her running at the Botanic Garden...afternoon out with Papa.