Funny Words

Recently, we've noticed Lainey really trying to communicate with people. She's trying to say new words more and more often. While she definitely speaks and talks with purpose, we still aren't quite sure what she's saying most of the time. Some words are clear while others are not. When we ask her a question and she actually gives us an answer that we understand, it surprises and delights us. She's becoming a little person! Just last night Ben asked her what animal she liked to find in the book Goodnight Moon and she actually said "mouse." Very true - she loves that mouse! What's interesting is that in some words, the letters are used appropriately and then in other words, they are not (like she can say the word "bow" but "baby" is still "dady"). Here are some funny words that she's started using lately...

1. "yah yoh" - yogurt
2. "Danta" - Santa
3. "Bebo" - Bevo
4. "nah" - milk
5. The words Daddy, blankie (her sleep sack), and baby all sound remarkably similar. You have to listen closely and see what she's referring to in order to determine what she wants.
6. "ama" - lemon (She still loves to eat lemons.)
7. She still refers to any kind of rocking chair/rocking movement as "auk doo." So she'll point to rocking chairs and say "auk doo, auk doo, auk doo."
8. "Buh" is her cousin Brooke

Other facts to note at this time:

• Lainey still refers to anything "yucky" (cleaning supplies, dirty diapers) by making a funny guttural noise. It's so funny to hear her do this - it sounds as though she's trying to clear her throat!
• She's started chewing on her binkies. This is a slightly frustrating habit for me as a mom and I'm not quite sure how to tackle this problem. She'll chew on her binkies and create small holes in them...therefore ruining the purpose of the binky. While it might be a good time to wean her a bit from the binky, I'm not quite sure how to do that. I do know that I don't want to keep buying new binkies (too expensive). Maybe we'll just reserve a couple of good binkies for naptime and bedtime, and then give her the ones with holes in them at other times. Maybe she'll find that chewing binks is not a good thing!
• Instead of placing Lainey in a closed room for time out, we've adopted the "sit down in one spot" method. This is working for now! Whenever the undesirable behavior happens, we tell her "no" and immediately make her sit down on her bottom (wherever we happen to be in the house) for about a minute. She usually cries. Then we let her get up, give us a hug, and say she's sorry. Well, she can't say she's sorry but maybe someday she will. :) We haven't had to do a time out in public yet - I'm not quite sure how that would work. :)
• Lainey has started galloping when she gets excited. It's kinda like she's skipping across the floor. She's fast!

Happy New Year, everyone!