However, he is absolutely non-stop with the talking. He is like a parrot, and we have started calling him Echo Roughen, because he repeats EVERYTHING we say, even the four letter words. I think it is fair to say that he's a sponge, picking up everything around him whether we want him to or not.
He is also FULL of questions & semi-brilliant (ha) observations. He always wants to be in-the-know. Below is a sampling of the questions that he's always asking, and statements he makes frequently:
{ Warning: this is probably the most boring post to read, but allows me to capture some things that I want to make sure to remember later in life. So... please excuse the blatant self-indulgence... }
- Mama, what's that? Often he is pointing at some piece of construction equipment that he's caught sight of outside of the car window on the way to/from work/school. I call them all bulldozers, but he has recently been taught that there are many other things on a construction site. Excavators, back hoes, track hoes, front-end loaders, fork lifts, cement mixers, and more. There goes my answer of "Those are bulldozers. Look at all those bulldozers." He now answers, "No Mama, that's a mixer" Touche, buddy.
- Go Outside? Tripp is an outside child. He loves to be outside playing in the yard, trying to ride his tricycle, pushing around his trucks, and most recently, splashing around in this tiny little inflatable pool we bought for the beach, but have become those
rednecksneighbors who inflated it in our front yard, for all the world to see, while our child, donning only a swim diaper, had a ball splish-splashing. As long as he's happy... - No, Mama. Let Tripp Do It. This one gets me every time. Whether I am loading the dishwasher, buckling his car seat belt, cleaning the refrigerator, taking out the trash, pouring his "wawa," or folding laundry, Tripp is insistent that he is allowed to help. The first time I heard this, I thought it was cute and endearing, thinking of how independent our child is becoming and how much of a little helper he can be. One half gallon of spilled milk quickly nipped that in the bud and now "letting Tripp do it" (whatever it is) is always accompanied with some hesitation on my part.
- Haff to be careful. I guess we say this a lot... typically, we say this when Tripp is doing something for which he needs to exercise caution (obviously). Now, he repeats this for many things from drinking out of a "real" (read: non-sippy) cup to climbing onto the tricycle that he cannot yet pedal.
- Haff to be nice to <fill in any of his school friends' names>. I assume that his teachers are always telling him that he has to be nice to so-and-so. He has been bitten 4 times, but has bitten 3 of his "friends" from school. Therefore, on the way to school each day, we review the importance of being nice (i.e. no biting, kicking, pinching, or hitting) to all of his friends at school. C'est la vie.
- Watch Choo-Choo Train Show? The Elmo obsession has officially turned into a Thomas the Train obsession, which was actually one of Tripp's 2013 resolutions! We LOVE Thomas the Train (a.k.a. the "choo-choo train show") and are starting to really like Bob the Builder (a.k.a. the "bulldozer show") too. He gets to watch one of these in the morning, mostly as a distraction while mom and dad prepare for the day ahead. Like most anything, a little TV in moderation can't hurt, right?
- Ready to E-Eat. This comes out when he's hungry. Pretty straightforward, but I'm afraid I'll forget that "eat" was once a 2 syllable word, so I wanted to capture in this here blog how he's saying it now.
- Where'd <insert anything> go? The kid is obsessed with where everyone and everything is going. When anyone leaves the room he wants to know where they're going. When anything goes out of sight, such as a passing school bus, fire truck, ambulance, or aforementioned bulldozer, he wants to know where it went or where it is going. He doesn't miss much.
- Mama/Dada, Do Dis. He says this when he's doing something that he wants us to mimic. Typically, it's splashing in the water or something equally as messy or destructive... but if he can convince one of us to "do dis" then I guess he feels like it's a good thing.
- Turn 'round, Mama. I get this most afternoons while trying to navigate Atlanta 5 o'clock rush hour traffic, usually when he wants me to look at one of his many car toys. It's difficult to explain to an almost 2 year old that turning around will put us in significant danger.
- Not Nice, Mama. I don't like it. According to his teachers, there's either a song or a book that they sing or read in class that has this line in it... so they have told me that it's just something he picked up there. The first time I heard the "I Don't Like It" part, it was definitely cause for pause. He says it very clearly, slowly, and articulately. Strange.
Lucky.
You.
Enjoy your weekend!
Meg
