Miss Communication

I'm not usually an outright play on words guy . . most of my puns are very tongue in cheek and can usually be attributed to my being a complete dork. But this one is, if only slightly, more subtle and certainly more relevant to the adventurous nature of raising toddlers.

I find myself, as I'm sure all parents do, asking my toddler what she just said about 50 times a day. I'm sure it's about double that for my wife . . I'm with Lily all day every day now, so I'm the family translator on Mom's days off. The thing that doesn't cease to amaze me about Lily, though, is how often it occurs that I'm not asking "what'd you say?" because I didn't understand her, but because I just can't freaking believe how well she speaks. Seriously, I've met 5 and 6 year-olds who don't enunciate or express themselves as well as she does at 2 1/2. I know, I know, I'm partial because she's my baby girl. I will certainly not rule that out entirely . . I am definitely her biggest fan. But the thing is, I know kids parrot what they hear, and that is a big part of how they learn the language, but Lily uses almost every word she picks up correctly. The one big exception to that rule is her seeming inability to discern between things she wants and those she "needs". I'm working on that one, it drives Mommy and I equally crazy. That and the other toddler-favorite which she has her own twist on . . "I do my byself!"

Lily's latest verbal conquest is the word "actually", which she started using on Sunday afternoon. "Lily," I asked her today, "do you want to walk, or should I carry you?" "I want to walk. Actually, I run!" Just now I asked her if she wanted to watch Charlie Brown. "Yep. Actually, I want to dance to my song!" Our friends in Tallahassee will appreciate the fact that when she refers to "her song" she's talking about T-Pain's Buy U A Drank. The rest of you . . don't you judge me, it worked to get her to stop crying in the car one time, how was I to know she'd make it her anthem.

Which leads us back to my play on words. I've decided that my new nickname for Lil is Miss Communication, and I expect it to stick.