Overheard

Clio: Mommy, can you help me get my castle off the shelf?

Me: Clio, you can do it

Clio: But I want you to do it.

Me: Why?

Clio: Because I would have to use my muscles, and I don't like that!

Found

Written on half a piece of scrap paper, found under my dresser as I pulled it out to move:

Clio, if you're going to wear your crocs to ride that tricycle, you need to wear the straps around your heel.

Okay, Mom. First I will just test them out without the straps, then I will put the straps on and ride my tricycle.

Likely dates from last spring/summer--amazing that I moved the piece of paper from Brooklyn to Boulder. Also amazzing that the innocent manipulation starts so young!

Overheard

"Elsie is my friend. We suck our thumbs and say "cody cody*" to Elsie's daddy, Martin."

"Now it's time to honk shoe."
Lies down in bed, gets under the covers
"Honk shoooooe. Honk shoooooe."

Upon watching Kayla's solo on So You Think You Can Dance:
"Mommy, where's her Prince?"

"Puppies, kittens, and rainbow ponies are my favorite."
Puppies, kittens, and rainbow ponies?
"Yes. And sharks."

* there seems to be a coded language at day care these days, largely comprised of the words "tootie" and "cody." As in, "see you later, tootie-cody."

Overheard

(after finding a stemless carnation on the street):

When I get home, my dad is going to smell this flower, and when he sees how good it smells, he will make a face like this (makes a face as if she has smelled something horrible.)

(Upon arriving home):

Dad! Smell this flower! It smells good! Make a face like this! (makes a face as if she has smelled something horrible.)

It's sunscreen season

Also known as "sun scream" and "summer cream" in the world according to Clio.

Overheard

Mommy, what does D-E-L-I spell?

Mom, my duck's name is Millia.
Millie?
No, Millia. Say like this: Mih
Mih
Lee
Lee
Uh
Uh
That's right, mom. My duck's name is Baby Millia Duck.

On waterballoons:
And it will be terribly so fun to go outside and break them and watch the splash, right mom?

Overheard

Upon encountering the insane lines at the Costco check out (about 20 people deep):

Oh my gosh, Mommy. Right? Oh. My. Gosh.

Oh My gosh is right; sure is a traffic jam today.

I love traffic!

Really? You love traffic? You must not be my child, then.

I hate traffic! I said I hate traffic.

Overheard

Mommy, I see a cloud that looks just like the moon. It's round, like an "O" with two eyes and a nose and a mouth. It doesn't say anything, but turns around and around and around.

Overheard

Clio, what would you like to do now?

Ummm.... ummmm.... ummmm... PRESENTS!

Overheard

Mommy, I farted.
You did? What do you say?
I like farting in my big girl underpants.

I was looking for a simple, "Excuse me," but okay, that will do.

Maybe

Maybe is Clio's new favorite word. She doesn't quite get the proper application of the term though- instead of perhaps yes, perhaps no, it's more like maybe if I ask using "maybe," I'll get a yes. For example, yesterday Clio came down from her nap, cozied up to me on the couch, and said, "maybe I'd like to watch a little Dora now?" And maybe she did.

Sneaky and effective.

Overheard

Mommy, I want a snack
Okay, Clio. Let me put you down so I can make it.
Don't put me down!
Well, I'm holding you with two hands. How can I make a snack with no hands?
Maybe your shoulders can make my snack.

Overheard

Mommy, I want to sit in your lap.
Eleri is in my lap. Why don't you sit in Daddy's Chair?
I'll sit on Daddy's lap.
Well, Daddy's not here.
I want to sit on Daddy's ears.
Daddy's ears are not here, either.
I want to sit on Daddy's eyes.
Daddy's eyes are with Daddy in Illinois.
I want to sit on Daddy's chest.
(and so forth, down to the toes)

Mommy, we went through all of Daddy's choices!

Overheard

Clio: "Go like this" (makes a scrunched up sour face)
Mommy makes the face
Clio: "It's sour?"
Mommy: (playing along), "yes, it's really sour!"
Clio: "Oh, mine's not too sour."

Clio Encounters Christmas Decor (while dressed for Halloween)

We have a neighbor who decorates her front "yard" and chain-link fence for every season or holiday: red, white, and blue pinwheels for the 4th of July, pastel eggs for Easter, cornucopias for thanksgiving, you get the idea. Tonight on our way home from Titi's house, we came upon the winter/Christmas-scape, including a faded plastic Santa, some little skiiers, lots of lights, and a snowman that plays some kind of christmas carol. Clio stopped in her tracks, made the face that made Macauly Culkin famous in Home Alone (that perfect "O" mouth- don't tell me I'm alone in thinking this is one of the all-time great Christmas movies), and said, "I hear.... I hear.... I hear Santa snoring!"

And to add to the irresistible scene, this is what she was wearing (topped by her gold satin parka, of course.)

Delicious.

Why didn't I see this one coming?

Now Eleri is throwing up.

Between my bed rest and all these kid sick days, I'm pretty sure I'm out of time off this year, despite having taken nothing resembling a vacation.

Have I mentioned that Clio often asks, "Mommy, why you say [sigh]?"

Sigh.

The blind leading the blind

Walking home from day care tonight, Clio asked if there were any clouds, I said there were, but explained that it was too dark to really see them. She stopped, looked up, and said, "we have to turn on the light to see the clouds?"

And then I tried to explain why we can't "turn on" the sun.

Clio's New Favorite Thing

"Spicy Water"

aka

Seltzer.

She likes to drink it, sure, but what really makes it a favorite is how fun it is to try to catch the bubbles in the glass.

Things We Didn't Know Clio Knew

Snapshots:

Yesterday at lunch Clio tapped her glass against Dave's and said, "Cheers!"

Last weekend in Manhattan Clio went up to a placard on the street in front of a design store, and read out the letters "D-E-S-I-R-O-N" which is in fact the name of the store.

Last night she was choosing a barette, and after saying she'd like orange, she reconsidered: "Actually, I'd like the pink one."

A few weeks ago at the local playground I was hanging out with a Mexican woman while her son and Clio took turns on the slide; after a while, she turned to me and said, "She speaks Spanish?" and I said something about Clio's daycare and how we weren't sure how much she knew. The woman said, "well, she just told me she was going to go down the slide again."

Who's My Big Talker?

Clio is a big talker. This isn't news. But it's funny now to look back on the word lists we kept when her vocabulary was first developing- they seem so, I don't know, quaint. My Aunt Molly recently told me that at this age, toddlers are learning about 15 new words a day, and Clio seems to prove this as she repeats everything back to us, and comes out with words we had no idea she knew. Like "enormous" or "favorite" or "bannister."

The other day she looked at me and said, "My name is Clio." I agreed that it was, and then she said. "My name is Peterson." Also true, but neither Dave nor I taught her this.

She's also connecting words to real-world experiences. Last night, she heard a noise out the window and I said, it sounds like someone's motorcycle. She looked at me and said, "Daddy's motorcycle?"

Most exciting, though, is watching her piece together concepts through language, like the concept of time. Lately, she'll say things like "I painted this picture last morning," or "see you next day!" (One of my Aunt Missy's favorites from her kids was "nexterday"). She's also working on ideas of scale and physical relationship, so we're seeing a lot of experimentation with prepositions, like "the magnet is on the refrigerator behind us." She still insists that the itsy-bitsy spider goes "up to the sun" though, so it's not quite all clear to her yet.

One thing is clear to me: we need to start watching our mouths- and our actions. Last week when I drove her to school and had very bad luck with traffic, reckless drivers, and parking, this could be heard from the back seat:

"Mommy, why you say 'Oh my god'?"
"Mommy, why you go like this?" (making the motion of hitting the steering wheel).

It's also time to start writing down some of the funny things Clio says, because god knows I can't remember anything anymore. I asked Lizzie how she keeps track of her daughter's stories for "Laila Quotes," a regular feature on her blog The Hewitt Chronicles, ans she said she spends a lot of time calling herself and leaving messages. Great idea (if only we had a cell phone.) Keep an eye out in the future- if I can get it together, I will blatantly rip off this idea and share Clio Quotes.