Conversations with M

Our girl has always been expressive—she's a big fan of her own homemade sign language—but she is definitely finding her voice. And she understands everything, even if she won't try to say it. I laughed the other day when I was telling Josh something that she had expressed to me; we were talking about how she understands pretty complex ideas, and I turned to her and said, "Do you understand complex ideas?" She nodded solemnly.

Things she says clearly:
No-no-no-no-no!
Yeah
A doggy!
A car!
Daddy
Mommy
Pease (meaning please, but this is rare—she usually signs it; it's one of her two ASL signs, please and milk)
bath
kitty
water
duck/quack (Sometimes it's hard to tell which one she's saying, but you know what she means.)
moma (This means movie. She used to say moomee, but it's evolved.)
paci (meaning pacifier)
A baby!
church
Jesus
ball
outside
bird
stairs
diaper
treat
Me too!
My turn!
aNAno (caps for emphasis—this is "another," which she uses to say another and again)
toes
She has also been known to say Grandma and Grandpa (and our family's variants), Anna, and Joslyn, and she says Ginger very clearly—Ginger is Grandma and Grandpa's dog, whom M loves.

Things I'm starting to realize she's saying (not quite clear yet):
Read it
apple
picture
computer
ri der (right there)
shoes
jelly bean
get in
light

Recently...

M (to Daddy): Want to! (points to him, points to herself)
Mommy: You want Daddy to hold you?
M: Yeah.

M finds a DVD with a lady wearing a dress on the cover. She points to the dress.
Mommy: Is she wearing an orange dress?
M nods emphatically and starts pulling at her pajama shirt.
Mommy: Would you like to wear a dress?
M (nodding): Church!
Mommy: Do you like to go to church?
M: Yeah! (points to the door)
Mommy: There won't be anyone at church today—should we go on Sunday?
M nods and points to me.
Mommy: Do you want me to go to church too?
M: Yeah!

We went to her closet to find a dress to wear; no matter what other dresses I suggest, she always wants to wear her Easter dress, dark blue with bright flowers all over it. (Would it make me a terrible mom to forget to wash it this time, so that she can wear something else to church this weekend?)

M is pulling on her almost-too-small and definitely-too-warm snow boots, which she loves because she can put them on all the way all by herself.
Mommy: Sweetheart, can you wear some different shoes today?
M: I wik dis.
Mommy: I know you like those, love—
M (brightly): Yeah!

When you add all of this (and more that I'm not remembering right this second) to her already expressive gesture/sign language, it makes her a really good communicator. If she wants to go somewhere, she points or uses a word, and when you acknowledge it, she points to herself. (If we're in the backyard, she'll point to the pool and say, "Water!" I'll repeat it—"Water?" And then she nods and points to herself. "Would you like to swim in the water?" "Yeah!" We have different versions of this particular conversation very often—the girl is part fish.)



Somehow she is becoming a real toddler, not just a baby toddler. I really appreciate that when I ask her if she is my baby, she promptly answers yes. :-)