Today, while at IKEA, Gracen got to choose something special to buy with a little bit of birthday money she received in the mail. Her choice? Several items for her tickle trunk, including this lion hat and nose/mouth piece.
While wearing her new lion costume in the the checkout line…
Gracen: Grae Grae lion! ROAR! (giggles) Grae Grae trickin’ people.
♥
On the car ride home, just after picking up Papa from work tonight…
Papa: How did you get so beautiful?
Gracen: Mama do it.
Best words all day, Grae. You certainly know the way to Mama’s heart. ☺
♥
As we’re doing our nap time routine today…
Gracen: Mama, no sleeping. Grae Grae do work.
Mama: You have work to do, Grae?
Gracen: Ya.
Mama: What kind of work do you have to do?
Gracen: Button glueing… Put stickers on paper…
Mama: Oh ya?
Gracen: Read da books… Play puzzles…
I couldn’t agree more (well except maybe on the not needing a nap bit). There’s definitely some very important work going on around here….
♥
There are so many little things that Miss G says and does that I want to never forget. Right now she’s got so many funny little sayings happening. These are some of my favourites…
When she drops her baby, steps on a book, spills something, etc…
“Sorry ’bout that, Mama.” (Or, “Sorry ’bout that, Grae Grae” when you do something she feels you should apologize for.)
At random times throughout the day when she’s feeling excited…
“Wannaplay wannaplay wannaplay!”
When I ask her to do something…
“Okey dohee, Mama. Okey dohee.”
Throughout the day…
“Oh nana, what’s name?” (her version of Karmin’s cover of What’s my name?)
When referring to the closet book nook I made for her recently…
“Mook-a-nook”
When referring to something she’s already eaten…
“In da bel-buh. In da bel-buh!” (meaning ‘in the bellybutton’ – her way of saying in her belly.)
♥
As we’re walking our bikes along Georgia street this morning…
Gracen: (pointing to the backs of the busses we pass by) Bus’ bum! Bus’ bum!
♥
While getting getting ready for bed tonight…
Papa: Grae, can you say I love Papa?
Gracen: I… love… Papa!
Papa: Can you say Mama is stinky?
Gracen: Mama… izzzz… stinky!
Mama: Nooooo! Mama’s not stinky!
Gracen: (sticking out her tush and pointing at it with both hands) Grae Grae’s bum stinky!!!
♥
Headed out the door on our first Mama and Grae only States trip.
As we exited off of the highway and got onto the country-esque 8th Avenue…
Gracen: Grae Grae see horsey?
Mama: Maybe, Love. You’ll really have to watch out your windows to try to see a horsey.
Gracen: See moo?
Mama: I don’t know if we’ll see a cow, Grae. We’re almost at the border crossing now.
Gracen: Horsey, noooo. Moo, noooo. Grae Grae see baby llama? Yaaaaaah. See baby llama, pleasch, Mama??
Mama: (giggling) Sweetie, I don’t think we’re going to see a horse, cow, or baby llama today. We’ll be sure to stop and see the llamas when we go back to Manmaw’s this weekend, okay?
As we waited in line at the border crossing…
Gracen: (getting antsy while strapped into her carseat without the car moving)
Mama: Don’t worry, Grae. We just have to talk to the man at the booth and then we’ll be on our way again. (Not sure why I assumed it would be a male border crossing guard, but I did.)
Gracen: See man?
Mama: Yes, Lovey. We need to see the man to show him our passports.
Gracen: Man black man?
Mama: Hmm… I don’t know what colour the man will be, Grae.
Gracen: Papa man?
Mama: Yes, Papa is a man.
Gracen: Papa orange-y man!
As we were heading into the washroom area in Target and a large, moustached, motorbiking looking man was exiting…
Gracen: (pointing very obviously at the man) BIG MAN PEE PEE?
Never a dull moment with this little lady…
♥
Photo taken with Instagram. Find me under jkossowan.
On the way to the store for a highly anticipated sticker stock-up…
Gracen: Mama pick stick-er, noooo. Grae Grae pick stick-er, yaaaaaah!
Point taken, Grae. You’re a big girl and you want to do it all by yourself. Don’t worry, Mama understands.
♥
Tonight, just before bedtime…
Mama: Okay, Lovey. Our minute is up. It’s time to get ready for bed.
Grae: No sank-oo, Mama. No sank-oo, sleep. More play, pleeaasch, Mama. Okay?
Well at least she’s polite.
♥
This morning as I snuck a quick second to read an email…
Gracen: Mama new ca-puty!
Mama: (confused)
Gracen: (pointing to the new laptop Brad got me for my birthday) Mama new ca-puty!
Mama: Ya, that’s right, Grae. Mama has a new computer.
Gracen: Papa buy.
Mama: That’s, right. Papa bought it for me. Wasn’t that soooo nice of him?
Grae: (pointing to my old laptop) Mama TWO ca-puty.
♥
On the drive over to Maple Grove Pool this afternoon…
Gracen: Grae Grae eat ning-a-ning-a-ning (her new and slightly crazy word for ‘banana’)?
Mama: Yup. You can eat your banana on the grass when we get to the pool.
Gracen: In pool?
Mama: No, lovey, we can’t eat our bananas in the pool, but we can eat them on the grass beside the pool.
Gracen: Mama, no eat in pool. No, no, Mama. No eat in pool.
Mama: That’s right, Lulu. We’re not allowed to eat in the pool.
I absolutely adore the little conversations that take place throughout our days together.
♥
Tonight, as we’re chatting while getting her ready for bed…
Mama: Grae, are you a big girl or a little girl?
Gracen: Grae Grae HAPPY girl!
♥
At random times throughout the day (with a little punch of enthusiasm in her voice and the tiniest of smirks upon her face):
“Booyah, Papa!”
♥
Just after coming our of the Kits Beach washroom…
Gracen: (while pointing down the walking path towards Starbucks) Mama, hot tea?
Mama: No thanks, Grae. Mama doesn’t want hot tea right now.
Gracen: (gently nods her head a few times as if to sympathize with my response, then blurts out) Grae Grae, yes hot milk!
She then gave one deliberate nod in agreement with herself, swiftly turned her little body towards the coffee shop, and jetted down the path towards her hot milk.
♥
Watching Gracen (and kids in general) pick up language is nothing short of fascinating. In the past couple of months, she’s begun learning and using new words at an explosive rate. I try to keep track of them by quickly punching them into my iPhone Notes app once they become part of her regular everyday chatter, but I’m nearly at the point giving up that endeavour. With well over 200 words in play and my mommy brain factored in, it’s just becoming too difficult for my scattered brain to keep track of what’s old and what’s new.
What I’m finding more fascinating than new words, however, is the little phrases she’s recently begun putting together. She’s been using pairs of words for a while now (“more please”, “tea pot”, “Mama Papa Bubba” – her name for our family, hence the blog name), but she’s just really started to string multiple words together to convey meaning and describe the world around her. She doesn’t have all of the pronouns needed to properly link her words and she sometimes pauses for more than a usual amount of time between words, so the result is adorably awkward little sentences.
Here are two from tonight…
Upon noticing a man in a blue turban walking down the street:
“Mama – blue hat on hair!” (while pointing of course)
After I told her that we were skipping bath time tonight and getting ready for bed right away instead:
“Mama-Papa-Bubba-allllll-sleep!”
♥
And on a completely different note, guess what I spied while brushing Miss G’s teeth tonight… Yup, two big bottom molars forcing their way up through her gums. Hello again, teething.