Verbal Diarrhea

Now Elizabeth is (surprise for those who know us well - not) already a pretty verbal toddler. But of course, up until recently, it has been babble and not real words. But the word explosion has begun folks, BIG TIME. I'm not kidding, it was like one day she could say Mama, Dada and down and now she can say SOOOO much. The best part is when you try to get her to say something new and she studies your mouth REALLY hard trying to figure out how to form her lips around the word.

So that I wouldn't forget, I wanted to make sure I captured some of her earliest words from her first "word explosion" and especially not forget some of her better mispronunciations. To date, this is what our little angel (sarcasm) is saying

Mommy - this one rocks because it is said in two distinct syllables with a lovely pause in between as though she is doing it for emphasis, so it comes out MOMMM... MEEEEE. Of course, check back in with me in a few months for as all mothers know, you're dying for them to say this and then you're dying for them to STOP.

Daddy - this one is not two distinct syllables, but the dragged out end in her scratchy little voice is adorable. I love hearing Dadeeeeeeeeee.

Sasha - this is our youngest dog and the favorite of the kids. Like Mommy, this comes out in two distinct syllables with a pause in the middle, so you hear SAH.... SHAAAAAAA

William - I love this one because of course she cannot say it properly yet so it either comes out "Wowwoum" or "wowow".

Sit Down - I guess we must say this to our dogs A LOT becuase William also learned this one early. Her pronunciation is off right now, but she does actually use it as a command. In fact, Elizabeth can often be heard combining this with Sasha so we hear "Sa-Shah! Tsit Dow"

Doggie - This one comes out Dahyeee

Hi Dad - Apparently wanting to stay true to her Irish roots, this is often pronounced as "Hi Da"

Go - Taught her this one today and it sounds more like "DOOOH"

Wow - this one comes out as a perfect little "WOW" always said as though she is surprised or impressed

Yay - also perfectly pronounced and always very emphatic

Ow - One of my favorites because it's often said in an offhand manner like when one says "ow" under their breath when they bump into something

Up - also said for the first time today, can sound like "Uh" or "Uht"

Yukon - our other dog and the name she has the most trouble with, so she decided to make it a derivative of the dog's name she CAN say and just calls him "yasha"

Uh Oh - one of my all time favorites coming from babies as their little voices just sound so cute when they drop something and say "uh ooooohhhhh" (Elizabeth drags out that last part).

Lola - this is Filipino for grandmother (my step-mom is from the Philippines) and comes out more as luh-laaaa rather than LOW-LAH, but it works

Tante - this is aunt in Dutch and what she calls my sister only it comes out as tuhtah

Pop Pop - this is Mike's dad and she says it fast as all one word "poppop"

Bye Bye - said perfectly as we would pronounce it or sometimes it's just BYYYYYYE

Hi - this ones sounds like HYEEEEEEEEEE

Water - for some reason gets pronounced "wah-eee"

Otherwise, there are a few things where she cannot say the words so instead she makes the sound. Those are:

For cat she tries to say "meow meow" which comes out more like "mnow mnow"

For chicken she says "bah bah" or "bop bop" which is supposed to be the "bock bock" sound of a chicken clucking

For sheep she says "BAAAAAAAH"

For cow she says "mmmmmnnnn" or "eeeeeeeeew" which is her way of saying "moo"

For horse she says "aaaaayyyy" which is supposed to be "neigh"

The rest of her babbling is either random or we've yet to translate it, so tune in for more. The biggest mystery right now is what sounds like "MYEE", but I think is supposed to be "milk" because she usually says it while standing in the open refrigerator looking up at her milk cup.