Nellisms, vol. 6: The Bedtime Edition

Some impromptu pictures taken in an undershirt with the most charming bedhead imaginable seem like they'd go nicely with a little Bedtime Edition of Nellisms.  I call these Portraits Over a Bowl of Oatmeal.

Upon waking up with a wrinkle from the sheets imprinted in her arm:

Nell: "Oh look, there's a crack in my arm!"

***

When we got a massive toddler- sized zip-up sleep sack at our favorite thrift store and let Nell sleep in it one night at her request:

"I just think I could use that pwetty nice swaddle for alway and evah!"

***

At bedtime:

Sarah: "Are you happy or sad?"

Nell: "I'm a little bit sad but a little bit happy."

Sarah: "What are you sad about?"

Nell: "I'm sad that Daddy leaved to go downstairs."

Sarah: "What are you happy about?"

Nell: "I'm happy that I have you upstairs to stay and snuggle a minute!"

At bedtime again:

Sarah: "I can stay for one more minute but then I need to go downstairs."

Nell: "No, stay all of the minutes!"

***

At bedtime yet again, putting her arms tightly around my neck and interlocking her fingers:

"You're clicked in!  You can't go anywhere!  You have to stay with me!"

When reading from The Jesus Storybook Bible about God creating light when there was just darkness:

Nell: "When it's dark, God should have gone inside where it's light!  And put his padamas on and bwush his teeth and get weady for bed!"

***

Lying in bed at night, talking to herself (pretending to talk on the phone):

"Umm okay, can you just maybe pick me up somekin [something] on your way home?  Yeah?  Ok thank you!  But DON'T GO INTO MR. MCGREGOR'S GARDEN!"

***

Lying in bed at night:

"I want a bagel right now in my bed."

***

At night tucking her into bed and snuggling with her for a minute:
Sarah: What was your favorite thing we did today?
Nell: Go to church!
Sarah: We didn't go to church today, silly!  Today wasn't Sunday!
Nell: I goed to my pretend church.
Sarah: Did you sing some good songs there?
Nell: No, we didn't sing songs.  We ate tockolate.  At my pretend church we eat tockolate!

Snuggling in her bed one evening, her face inches from mine:

Nell: "I like your teeth; they're shiny!" *pause*  "But... yeah... your face is a little bit squishy."

Sarah: "What does that even mean?"

Nell: "It just means God made your face a little squishy!"

***

Sarah: "I need to go downstairs now to nurse Marie before she goes to bed."

Nell: "Well, maybe Daddy can just nurse her with his nostrils."

Sarah: "One more minute and then I need to go downstairs, okay?"
Nell: "No little Mama, stay forever!!" *sobs* "Why? Why? Whyyy?!"

***

Snuggling for a minute before tucking into bed:
Nell: "Mama someday when I'm big can I drive a car all by myself and wear big shoes and drive?  How will you feel about that?"

***

...How will I feel about that?  I think I need a few more years of bedtime snuggles and morning bedheads before I can even think about drivers licenses.

Nellisms, vol. 5

Nathan said last night, "If Nell's personality were to freeze at age three, it wouldn't be the worst thing," and I can't help agreeing -- for the most part.   Some of the whininess of Age Three I could do without, to be sure, but there is so much about this age that is tremendously fun that the whining pales in comparison.

She thinks that "How do you know that?" is a general-purpose exclamation of surprise, since I suppose she hears me say it in response to her in that fashion.  So if you tell Nell anything that makes her surprised and happy, you're likely to hear in response, "OH!  How do YOU know that?!"

For a long time she would put the emphasis on the word "Lullaby" at the end, because when you sing the Brahms Lullaby (which she loves), the emphasis sort of comes out that way in the music, so every night she would ask to listen to the LullaBY.  This one is slipping away now, sort of like how she's suddenly pronouncing "violin" correctly instead of "vileein."

But thank goodness she still says "ephelant" and asks if we can exercise and do "dumping dacks" together.

Sarah: "Do you need to go potty?"
Nell: "Not right now I think I'm just all set for right now thank you."

***

Nell: "Do we have any peanut butter?"
Sarah: "Yes!"
Nell: "Do we have any almond butter?"
Sarah: "Yes!"
Nell: "Do we have any Ree-Ree butter?"
Sarah: ".... ??"

***

Sarah: "Do you want to listen to music?"

Nell: "Sure! Maybe Brahms and then Bach."

She hates bugs in all forms, whether real or even just in picture books, and the worst is when we come to the page in her Little Golden Book about God that has -- "OH NO!  Two bugs!  Two!!  OH NO!"

***

Shortly before turning three, she began to notice and enjoy rhymes, but without knowing what they were called at first, she would proclaim, "Oh Mama!  Please matches cheese!" or, "Play matches today!"

***

Her imaginative play is often with her play kitchen and/or her baby dolls.  And recently she sighed, sat down in her small armchair, and announced, "I'm just gonna open my bweast and nurse my baby now, okay?"

When she was singing in a particularly, shall we say, piercing voice one day:
Sarah: "Nell, do you think you could find your most beautiful singing voice to use?"
Nell: "Well I can't use that voice because I'm already usin' this voice.  And this is really hard music.  Okay?"

***

Singing improvisatorily one afternoon:

"Mama has big knives!  Mama has big knives!  But I caaaan't tooooouuuuch theeeemmm!"

***

Whenever she's trying to remember a song, she'll usually say, "Mama, where's The Happy Farmer?" or "Where's Jesus Loves Me?" or whatever other current favorite she's fishing around in her memory for.  Or occasionally, "Mama, help my mouth to sing it!"  I love that.

Upon hearing her Aunt Hannah telling me about how she stepped on a sliver of glass:
Nell: *dramatic sigh*  "I know, I know, everything is horrible."

***

Strapping her tiny violin case onto her back:
Nell: "I'm just really tired but I have to go play a concert."

***

Playing peekaboo with Ree:

Nell: *sigh*  "You do it now Mama; I need a break."

***

Sneezing:

Nell: "That was me! Whoa!  I blessed!"

Sarah: "How old will you be next year?"
Nell: "Four.  And I'll be big to the sky and fly with my happy wings!"

***

"Maybe when I'm four I can drink wine."

Sarah: "I love you, Nell."

Nell: "I love Daddy."

Sarah: "Well then.  Thanks."

***

Seeing a picture of Nathan:

Nell: "Oh, that's Daddy!  My cute Daddy!"

Talking to herself in her car seat:

"I'm sooooo fun to play with.  And I have a good heart."

***

"Mama, did you know what?  Dogs don't wear underwear."

***

Sitting in the kiddie pool: 

"I'm swimming in the water on my bum!"

***

Nell: "Mama, could I please have an orange that is... an orange... an orange that is that one kind..."  *hums "O My Darlin' Clementine"*

Sarah: "Oh! A clementine!"

Nell: "Yes yes could I please have a darlin' Clementine!"
{I thought that was very resourceful of her to communicate the word she had forgotten through humming.}

***

Nell: "I'm hungry."

Sarah: "Would you like me to cut up an apple for you?"

Nell: "Well, what about some tocklate instead." (chocolate)

***

Sarah: "Nell, could you please pick up your socks and put them in the dirty laundry?"

Nell: "Weeeellll... maybe you could just do it."

"Nell, make a silly sad face!"

"Nell, make a silly grumpy face!"

Nellisms, vol. 4

I've had a growing collection of quotable quotes from this girlie for a while now, and it would be a travesty not to inflict them on you.

Nell these days.  She likes playing her "villeein," jumping around like crazy, and her favorite number is "six ellellen."  The fact that she calls cornflakes "snowflakes" is indicative that the deprived child has had cold cereal all of a half dozen times in her life.  And when we had ice cream recently, she nearly lost her mind with excitement, jumping up and down and exclaiming about how we had also had ice cream ON HER BIRTHDAY!!!  Which was last May.  Further proof of deprivation, but also of how frighteningly remarkable her memory is.

One snowy morning back in February:
Sarah: "I'm going to make some hot chocolate!  And Aunt Hannah is going to drink some with us; it'll be a hot chocolate party!"
Nell: "And Uncle Andrew, too?"
Aunt Hannah: "Actually, Uncle Andrew doesn't like chocolate."
Nell: "Oh okay, so he will just have hot."

* * *

After spilling some water at the dinner table:
Nell: "I swallowed mine water onto my lap."

* * *

After coughing:
Nell: "Poor Nell.  She's so sick."

After Marie coughed:
Nell {condescendingly}: "Mawee we always cough in our elbows all wiiiight?"

* * *

Sarah: "I need you to sing more quietly, because Marie is sleeping."

Nell: "I'm singin' loudly!"

Sarah: "I know you are.  Could you please singly softly?"

Nell: "But loud is part of the song!!"

Upon examination of the small hole into which Mr. Potato Head's shoes can be inserted:
Nell: "Look Mama!  It's Mr. Potato Head's bottom.  See?  Oops!  Oh no, Mr. Potato Head, you're peein' on me!"
Sarah: {not sure whether to laugh openly or to quietly encourage imaginative play; ended up laughing.}

She is so polite sometimes it's almost weird.

One morning at breakfast:
Nathan: "Did you help Mama make these pancakes?"
Nell: "Yes I deed! ("did")"
Nathan: "Thank you, they're so yummy."
Nell: "Oh thank you Daddy.  You make me so happy."

At lunch:
Sarah: "Would you like some olives with your lunch?"
Nell: "Yes pease that would be lovely."

At dinner:
Nell: "What's this Mama?"
Sarah: "Those are brussels sprouts.  They're sort of like teeny tiny balls of lettuce."
Nell {eats one}: "Oh, I love it! Thank you so so much!"

But there was also this:

On St. Patrick's Day:
Nell: "What is this stuff called?"
Sarah: "That's sauerkraut."
Nell: "Well I don't like this sauercrap."

One night when Nathan walked in the door:
"Oh Daddy yay you are home!  I love you so much in my heart and in my life!"

One night when I had tucked her in bed and lay down beside her for a minute:
"I love you Mama.  I love your heart."

And earlier tonight at dinner:
"I love your hair, Mama.  I love your cheeks.  I love your ears.  I love your eyes.  I love your nose.  I love your eyebrows."

* * *

About ten times a day:
Sarah: "Why are you fussing right now?"
Nell: "Because I love you."
Sarah: Maybe you could find another way to show it?

While I was getting dressed:
Nell: "Oh wow Mommy you are so big.  Wow wow wow."
Sarah: ...

* * *

After she ended up sleeping in bed with us for the third night in a row due to sleeping miserably because of a cold:
Sarah {tired, very tired, slightly exasperated}: "Tomorrow night you need to sleep in your own bed again, do you understand?  This is the last night we're doing this, okay, Nell?"
Nell {snuggled close, her face inches from mine, smiling sweetly}: "Are you so so happy Mama?"
Sarah: "......You're pretty good at understanding emotions, but you're not at one hundred percent yet."

A dozen times a day, while approaching Marie with a stethoscope or other doctor's device:
Nell {ominously}: "Okay Mawie, this is not fun for you."
Marie: {blank stare}

When Nell says "monitor," it comes out sounding like "matador," so "Where is the baby monitor?" is "Where is the baby matador?"  And I usually reply, "Where IS the baby matador?"  Because that is something I would like to see.

* * *

To Marie, after a failed nap attempt:
Nell: "My goodness baby Wee you won't sleep you silly baby!  Yeah Mawie yeah!!  Stay awake forever!!"

* * *

After a sweet sisterly encounter with Ree:
Nell: "She loves me!  She loves me so much!  She was sa-milin' at me!  She's my girlie!"

Out of the blue:
Nell: "I'm strong in my life and in Jesus."

* * *

Sarah: "Nell, you are a sweet girl."
Nell: "No, I'm so so so tewwible!"

Nellisms, vol. 3

This kiddo keeps racking up the hilarious statements, so clearly, it's time to document them once again.  Photos were taken back in December.  (Thank you, Captain Obvious... I know.)

Uncle Andrew: Come here! Let me squish your belly!
Nell: No... let ME! (proceeds to squish her own belly)

* * *

Evidence that her negotiation skills are ever improving:

Nell: Can I have a cookie please, Mommy?
Sarah: Yes, you'll get to have a cookie after dinner.
Nell: But could I have a bite now please?
Sarah: After dinner.
Nell: Okay, just a teeny weeny bite?
Sarah: After dinner!
Nell: Okay, could I have just a neeeeble? ('nibble')

* * *

Sarah: Please don't kick.
Nell: I wasn't kickin', I was flappin' mine toes.

* * *

Narrating her activities to Ree:

Nell: I'm eating applesauce, Mawee.
Ree: ...
Nell: In my monkey pouch.  Mmm.
Ree: ...
Nell: Applesauce, Baby Wee.  See?  Applesauce.
Ree: ...
Nell: Wee!  HELLO.  TALK!

{wondering why she wasn't getting much feedback, I suppose.}

* * *

Nell: Wow Mommy wow you... combed... your... hair!  It looks so pretty!  So cute!  Can I touch it?

{Contrary to how this sounds, I actually comb my hair daily.}

{that's Nell jumping, by the way.}

She's getting pretty perceptive.  I squeezed my eyes shut one afternoon when they were feeling dry, and she said, "Oh mommy, you are fwustwated.  I'm so so so so sowwy."

And one evening, I breathed out heavily and Nell intoned with all the exhaustion of a mother at the end of a long day, "I wonder when Daddy be home."  Wonder where she's heard THAT line before?

{her ubiquitous "silly face"}

Climbing the stairs at Daddy's work: "I'm so so so so so so so so so so so so big."

* * *

Sarah: What do you want to be when you grow up?
Nell: Daddy.  No, Mommy.  No, Baby Wee.  No, Mommy.

* * *

Sarah: I like you, Nell.
Nell: I like you too, sweetie.

I scooped her up to hug her.  She very reasonably shrieked, "Don't eat me!!"

And because apparently we talk about gobbling up babies around here, she hugged Ree one day, gazed at her adoringly, and then asked, "Mommy, can I eat her?"

* * *

Aunt Hannah: Baby Ree is a potty genius!
Nell: No... I'M a genius!

{She never hams it up for the camera, this one.  Never.}

Getting ready to go to a Christmas party one afternoon:  "We're going to a party and, and, a PARTY, and, and, and, we'll get to DRINK WATER!!!!"

{We don't get out much, it would seem.}

Nell-isms vol. 2

Last time I did a post {my first one} of Nell-isms, it was really all about the language development.  But as that keeps growing by leaps and bounds, I'm realizing her wit and humor and personality are shining through more and more now, too.

Nell has an affinity for following me into the bathroom, where she offers commentary and encouragement as {not}needed.  Fun fun.  Recently, I sat down without realizing that her toddler potty seat was still lowered.

[Side note: we have a Bemis Elongated NextStep Slow Closing Potty Seat, which I highly recommend if you have little ones!  It's basically a small seat that folds down from up inside the lid of a regular seat, so everything is attached and all in one place - super convenient and easy to use.]

I laughed out loud and said to her, "I sat down on your little potty seat!  That was a surprise!  It's a seat made for little bums!"

She smiled at me sweetly and replied, "Yeah, Nell have little bum.  Baby Ree have teeny tiny bum.  Mommy have big bum."

Toddlers.  No one ever promised they were good for your self-esteem.

A few days ago I was running the garbage disposal, and Nell kept saying, "No-why.  No-why."

Sarah: I'm not sure what you're saying.  Try again?
Nell: No-why.  No-why.
Sarah: I can't understand you; I'm sure that must be frustrating!  One more time?
Nell: *pointing to garbage disposal area of sink, which was turned off by this point* Noiii!
Sarah: OH! Are you saying 'noise'?  Because of the garbage disposal making noise?
Nell: No, noi.  Just one.

And my mind was pretty much blown with that one, folks.  Because of course, the S makes the word plural!  And my two-and-a-half year old has that all figured out.

I've had a string of bad luck with my health recently, first an injury to my lower back, then sleeping on my neck funny resulted in several days of pretty severe pain, and then my left shoulder succumbed to what I finally diagnosed as "Mom Spine."  It comes from sleeping in strange positions and lugging children around and other such things.  

Anyway, I told Nell I couldn't lift her because my shoulder was hurting, and she said, "Oh I'm so sorry.  I'm so so sorry.  I'm going to bring you a toy to make you feel all dubbuh ("better").  Make you so happy!"

What a sweetie.

* * *

Nell: Bye bye, Mommy.

Sarah: Bye! Where are you going? I'll miss you!

Nell: I'm going to a restaurant with mine friends.

Sarah: ...

Nell: laughs hysterically as though she has made a great joke.

A few weeks ago I said I loved her, and then asked, suddenly curious, "Do you know what love is, Nell?" 

And she just looked clearly into my eyes and answered, "God."

Either she's somehow already aware that "God," "Jesus," and "The Bible" are always considered good answers in certain circles, or it was a coincidence, or... well, "a little child shall lead them."

* * *

She does want to talk about God a lot lately, and she's quite enamored with finding him in her picture books -- even though I've told her we don't have any pictures of God, since the Bible tells us no one has ever seen God, so no one knows what he looks like.  Still, she won't give up, and points to person after person: "That God, Mommy?"  "No, that's Joseph..."  "That God, Mommy?"  "That's Daniel..." etc.

* * *

And last night, after reading her a few sections from her Jesus Storybook Bible (such a wonderful book, and probably still a bit above her head, but she loves reading it with me and sometimes it makes me choke up, I love it that much), Nell said to me, "Mine Jesus book, Mommy.  Jesus loves me."

Nell-isms

One of the things I'm loving about this age for Nell right now is the language development.  Since turning two in May, her language has really taken off, with two-word 'sentences' quickly turning to three- and four-words, and now, she can pretty much say anything she wants to say.

At the same time, some of the sweet little misspoken words and phrases are still lingering, and there's always a tinge of sadness when each one vanishes.  Like the way she used to say "huh" instead of "yes," and then one day there was "yeah" and then "yes," and now that funny little "huh" is virtually a thing of the past.

Just a couple of days ago it was, "I yowwy, Mama," and now it's "I'm sowwy." {And I'm almost missing the "yowwy" version of "sorry."}

A month ago, shoes were - inexplicably, perhaps - "vah."  And now she's saying shoe.

A week ago, banana was "numanuh," and now it's "banumanuh."  What's next, a degree in linguistics from Harvard?  You're getting this whole language thing too fast, girlie.

Her version of "It's okay!" is "Gah-gay!"  This usually comes out in the context of, "Gah-gay, Muh-wee!  Mommy come get you!  Wight heew!  It gah-gay!"  And occasionally, if she thinks I am upset, "It gah-gay, Mommy!"  So sweet.

"Uhbuh one, doo," means "another one, too," and is uttered if she is handed one bite of something but immediately wishes another as well, such as a plantain chip for each hand.

Peanut butter is "peendaduhbuh," the baby monitor is the "momanuh," and turkeys say, "boggle boggle boggle."

When I put my hair up, this bossy little control freak exclaims, "No hair tie!  No hair tie!" and has a breakdown that I can't quite understand.  Same goes for putting on my glasses in the morning instead of putting my contacts in: "No gagiss!  No Mommy gagiss!"

She's always had a curious way of picking the ends of words, where most kids would pick the beginnings, and using them - even if they're the hard part to pronounce.  Noodles are "llll," (yes, just the L sounding part, that's right), cheese used to be "yuh" (as in "chee-suh," we eventually figured out), and the aforementioned "vah" might have been her attempt at "shoo-wuh".

Nell is a great mimicker, and mimics Ree quite expertly in every little gurgle and expression and babble.  And, after mimicking her, Nell exclaims, "Baby Wee do dat!" - usually while laughing hysterically.

Every smile from Ree elicits the proclamation: "Miyul!  Baby Wee miyul!"  And then, when Ree continues to smile {because she adores seeing Nell}, it's "Mo miyul! Mo miyul!"  ("More smiles!")

These days, Nell's sentences are filled out with gibberish babbling, a recent change that makes me think she's aware that she wants to use more than just the words she knows, and that sentences have more than pronouns, nouns, adjectives, verbs, and adverbs.  She'll often repeat me word-for-word, too, including the little words, and she's started using contractions and plurals where applicable.

It's probably worth mentioning that I'm the only person that can understand 99% of what she says.  Auntie Cara and Aunt Hannah get a lot of it, Uncle Andrew gets some, her new babysitter Sami is getting the hang of it, and Nathan is coming in at a strong 25% or thereabouts.

Anyway.

Oh, Nell, we love you so.