Maggish

Maggie, at 21 1/2 months, is working really hard to learn English. In the meantime, she's made up her own version. Usually I understand what she's saying, but she adds to her unique vocabulary so quickly that sometimes I need a minute to remember where I've heard that sound she's yelling repeatedly at me before.

In an effort to reduce my moments of utter blank, I thought I'd chronicle the words she uses most frequently. Here's the list--at least what I can remember of it. I'll add to it when I think of more, or when she makes up more words.

Maggie says=Maggie means

na=yes
oh=no
Mom=Mom, pay attention to me now!
Mama=what she calls me when she's feeling sweet
Dadda=Daddy
Nay-nay=Nathan (no word for Matthew, yet)
ng-ng=Sparkles or any dog
meen=binkie, blankie, or beans
me=me
play=play (she says this whenever she sees a playground)
I=slide or go outside or high, as in push her higher in the swing
ome=home ("Dadda ome!")
buh-bye=bye-bye
baby=baby, pretty, or bird
poopoo=anything she does in her diaper
pah-ee=potty (I'm beginning to suspect that she's already trying to potty-train herself)
ba=bath
bah=ball
buhbuh=bubbles
ga-ga=chocolate or candy
ngung=gum (another favorite)
mumeye=money
wahwah=water
ee=horse or cow
ih-ee=kitty
by=fly
doo-dew=dirty
dew=deer
doo=soup
eetsa=pizza or food in general

You may have noticed that many of her words mean two or three different things. In these cases, I have to interpret using contextual clues, i.e. figure out what she's pointing at. For example, "baby" can mean a baby or anything pretty (bracelets, nail polish) or a bird. She says "baby ee" every time she sees cows or horses (or fields which might contain cows or horses) but I don't think she really knows what a baby horse or cow looks like, she's just implementing her newest discovery: the phrase.

Tooele House: A Eulogy

Whoops, we sold our house.

I just wanted to save the pictures our real estate agent took before the listing gets taken off the MLS.

Farewell to a house that has become a home over the past two years...

The rock walls that I designed and Brian built--and the plants we babied.

The red walls that I painted.

The patio, garden box, fence, and sandbox that Brian built.

Like any house it has its problems (not the least of which is the fact that it's in Tooele), but we're going to miss the comfortable home it's been.

Matthew: Preschool Graduation

Last night Matthew's long-heralded Preschool Graduation finally took place at the Boy Scouts of America Wigwam here in Tooele. Matthew is the type of kid who gets very excited about upcoming events. We've been hearing about this Preschool Graduation for weeks. We all have his part memorized ("'Ribbit, ribbit, we love our preschool,' sings each frog")--he was even trying to teach it to Maggie yesterday.

Matthew doesn't quite understand how time works yet--the days of the week, hours, months, etc.--but he's working on it. He's been counting down the days to his big event. "Mom, did you know my Preschool Graduation is in 4 days?" "Mom, did you know I have Preschool Graduation in 3 days." "Mom..."

Tuesday night I explained to him that his Graduation would be the next day after dinner. So the first thing he said when he woke up Wednesday morning: "I have Preschool Graduation today!" And then, "Can we have dinner now so we can go to my Preschool Graduation?"

Needless to say, he wasn't too excited when I listed all the other things that had to happen (like breakfast, lunch, and dinner) before his Preschool Graduation. But we managed to survive the entire day and made it safely to his Graduation program. Grandma and Grandpa Swings came, too, having been individually invited earlier in the week by an enthusiastic grandson. And Maggie saw a "dew" which is her new word for deer (and also for soup).

Maggie: Chocolate

The word we hear most from Maggie these days (besides "MOM!" which she yells all day long) is "ga ga", which means "chocolate". Yes, Maggie is a true woman and needs her chocolate fix once (or several times) a day. She will even stand in front of the pantry and do a chocolate dance, rocking back and forth on her little feet singing, "ga GA, ga GA, ga GA". We try to not to give her too much, and now that we've finally exhausted the Christmas, Valentine, and Easter candy supplies we may actually be successful at that.

So it comes as no surprise that when I made chocolate cupcakes complete with chocolate frosting a couple of days ago, Maggie was a big fan. The next morning as I'm doing the dishes, she sees the cupcakes sitting on the kitchen counter and immediately begins demanding "ga ga!" "No, Maggie," I say, "no chocolate." Very firmly because it's nearly lunch time and I'm a good Mom. Well, I turn around to load the dishwasher and hear a small crash accompanied by delighted cried of "ga ga!" Turning back around, I find the tray that had been holding the cupcakes on the floor with my little choco-holic hunched over it and hurriedly taking as many bites from as many cupcakes as she can. "Maggie!" I say. And she looks up at me with her happy, sparkling eyes and showing me a nibbled cupcake in each hand she says "ga ga!" Like she's saying, "Look Mom, I got my own chocolate all by myself" and she's so proud.

Apparently, she's tall enough to reach the counter now.

So, I sat her in a kitchen stool to finish off the most damaged cupcake while I put the rest back on the tray back on the counter and cleaned up the mess.


But the story's not over yet. Maggie finished her cupcake. I got her down, cleaned her off, and sent her to play with her toys while I took the kitchen towels to the laundry room. I was gone, what, 30 seconds? I walked back into the kitchen and found--can you guess--the cupcake tray on the floor, cupcakes with little mouse-bites in their tops scattered all over, and Maggie happily munching one in the armchair in the living room. "Ga ga!" she cried when she saw me, so proudly.
So I learned my lesson and would have put all the cupcakes further out of her reach, but she had pretty much demolished all the frosted cupcakes in her eagerness for chocolate. There was nothing left to do but throw the remnants in the trash and make a mental note to NOT leave anything chocolate in plain site again.

The Beginning

Can you hear that? That's the sound of me jumping headfirst into the world of blogging! Not much of a splash, it's more like a tiny plop. At least I'm here. Maybe when Matthew finds something else to do beside ask me questions ("Mom, did you know tomorrow is my preschool graduation?!" only the third mention of it today), I'll actually think of something interesting to write.