Top Ten Tiny Tiger Sayings of the Past Week

Somewhere ---long before I had my first child--- I read how important talking to your baby on a regular basis is in helping his/her vocabulary form. I have talked---alot--to Isaac from Day One, even when he was just a cute little blob who had no clue as to why this lady with red hair was always chatting on incessantly. Well, friends, I believe that his little vocabulary has formed and Mr. Isaac is quite the chatterbox. Seriously, he talks ALL DAY LONG from the moment he opens his eyes in the morning until his sleepy head hits the mattress at night. The only time he stops is when a stranger is near and then he becomes suddenly mute. I love this constant chatter, even when he asks me the same question fifty times in three minutes. Now I give you my top ten Tiny Tiger sayings of this past week:

10. "More nigh-nighs" This means for me to sing more of our special Mommy/Tiger song "Time for Nigh Night". You won't find this tune on any Toddler songs CD. Nope it is original--first created by my mother and then remastered by me. It is a bedtime diddy sung loosely to the tune of "Come to Jesus." (um, don't ask...)

9. "Sures" For some reason, Isaac puts an "s" on the end of some of his words when no "s" is needed. You can ask him a question and if his answer is "Yes" he replies "Sures" rather than just saying "Yes." Too cute.

8. "Mommy...boos...peas..." Translated this means, "Mommy, books please." This is what I heard over the monitor at 6:30am this morning as I made the bed. Isaac has a new habit of wanting some books upon waking and then lounging in his crib reading for about 15 minutes before getting up for the day. He takes after his mother, who would prefer laying in bed with a good book and a mug of coffee rather than getting up and facing the day. He hasn't figured out the coffee bit yet, but he did request a cup of juice yesterday morning (which I vetoed).

7. "Daddy...baths....bubbles..." Isaac is getting the hang of sentences and stringing words together to form a complete thought, but usually each word in his "sentence" sounds like its own question. He asks Tobe every night after cleaning up his toys if he can take his bath. Tonight he started asking him in the car on the way home from dinner. That boy loves his bath.

6. "No, No, No Mommy" This was said as I cheerfully pushed Isaac in his stroller to the local Cool Cuts for Kids for a haircut. Isaac had not been there since January and we had parked in a different location than usual. However, this child remembered where the haircut place was and started protesting--rather loudly--over the fact that he did not want to be subjected to a haircut. Quite smart. (Despite the protests, he did have his hair cut and did quite well with few tears and only one large bruise from the ordeal).

5. "Uh-ohs...trash" Again he puts an "s" on the end of the word "uh-oh". He said this to me today with quite the concerned look on his face as he found an old sticker on the floor. He quickly disposed of this offending trash.

4. "Bunny!!!!!!!!" This was heard repeatedly yesterday in our backyard as Isaac chased bunny around attempting to feed him a piece of bread. Poor bunny seemed a bit traumatized by the over-eager toddler carrying a half-eaten piece of bread running after him. Bunny finally crawled under our neighbor's fence to hide from Isaac.

3. When Isaac does something wrong after I have already told him "no", I usually say, "Isaac, what did Mommy say?" to which he will say, "No." Then I say "What do you need to do?" to which I reply "You need to obey." (Yes, I answer my own question) The other day we were having such a conversation and I asked "So what do you need to do?" Before I could answer my own question, Isaac said, "beys." (obey). Priceless.

2. "Mommy" Isaac and I have a new game. He will say my name and then I will say his--this goes on for several minutes. What makes this funny is that he will mimic the tone of voice I use. For instance if I say his name in a high-pitch voice, he will say mine in a high-pitch voice. If I whisper, he whispers. This cracks us both up. He has started playing the game now where I mimic him and is quite good at saying my name a variety of ways for me to imitate.

1. When Isaac starts to whine or use an inappropriate voice, we tell him to use a nice voice. He will immediately smile and say "Peas" (please), even if please really isn't the right word for the situation. To him, that is his "nice voice." Isaac had a rough weekend last weekend dealing with fevers and some new teeth coming through---add this to the fact that he is showing a desire to be independent---and had a lot of his behaviors redirected. He came into our bedroom to ask for something, but did so half-crying, half-whining. We asked him to use a nice voice to which he replied "peeeeeaaaassee...." in the saddest tone ever. Although the written text can't quite convey the extremity of this version of "please" understand it was hysterical and Tobe and I had to hide our laughter and put on our "parent face."

Although we get to hear Isaac talk all the time, you likely will just have to use this top ten as a substitution for hearing his constant chatter. Oh wells. Happy Friday!