Abby Talk

Comments I've jotted down from the beginning of summer until now:

I was at the computer and in a no-nonsense mood when my daughter came up to me and tried to climb on the chair with me. She was being very whiny and clingy and I just didn't want to deal with her, so I told her she couldn't sit on my lap this time. She proceeded to attempt to fit in beside me, but I didn't budge and she said in her most whiniest of voices, "Do you just always try to squeeze little kids off chairs with your big bottom?" That got my attention. I died laughing and promptly scooted over so she could fit on the chair too. :)

We were at my parents house and decided to go for a walk. I had a single stroller in my trunk and my mom has an old double one in her garage that we hadn't used since last summer. As she went to go get it with a rag to wipe it down, I called, "Make sure there aren't any S-P-I's in it!"(I'm terrified of spiders). I didn't want to actually say the word spider in case Abby would get worried/scared about it and also didn't want to spell the whole thing since she is getting better and better at spelling and early reading. But Abby said to me anyway, "What are S-P-I's? Do you mean spiders?" Sheesh, she's getting good!

Abby was looking at Jacob and asked me, "Jakey is holding his head up by himself now?"
"Mmm-hm," I answered.
"Oh my word, he's getting so big!" she said.

As we got into the car at church, I remarked about a stinky smell and wondered if any of us had stepped in some dog poo or something. We checked our feet, but all was clear. As we pulled onto the main road, we passed the construction site next door and I smelled the awful smell again. "Peeeew!" I exclaimed, "I wonder what smells?" Abby answered matter of factly, "It's stinky yankers." "Um...what's yankers?" I asked. She replied, "Yankers is something that stinks badder than poop. Yankers stinks even badder than something that stinks really bad!" As she explained this to me, I realized the smell came from the fertilizer they had just spread at the construction site. But, hey, yankers was a good idea. ;)

Ben heard a car pull up and said, "Daddy's home!" Abby corrected him, "No, Ben. It's not Daddy. Daddy's fishing. He won't be home for 20 more years."

I was holding a sick Abby in my arms when she said she was really tired. I asked if she was ready for me to put her in her bed and she said, "Yes, I'm really to go to bed because I'm 60 tired." Apparently, "60 tired" is VERY tired. :)

Occasionally, Abby needs something at night (bathroom, bad dream, etc) and will call to me over the baby monitor to come into her room. One night she called and I came in and asked her what she needed. She replied, "I was scared because something was next to my bed. It grabbed my hand and wouldn't let go. It was a Yark. It was pink and black. And had teeth." She's definitely got an imagination!

On a similar vein, Abby made some comment about "monsters." I was surprised, as I didn't think she knew anything about monsters or even the word. I cautiously questioned her about it and told her that monsters weren't real. She said, "Monsters are red-beats." "What are red-beats?" I asked. She replied, "Red-beats are red crabs that live deep in the ocean and beat people up."

Abby has learned what many of the traffic signs say and likes to point ones she recognizes out as we drive along. One time she said, "Mommy, I just saw a white sign that said 'No fat men crossing here unless they are wearing shirts and pants!" I'm still not sure which sign she saw...

Abby was poking at her bellybutton for several moments when I said, "Abby, honey, quit poking your bellybutton so hard - you're going to hurt yourself!" She replied, "I'm trying to get a booger out." "What?! Boogers don't come out of your belly button, silly; they only come out of your nose!" She matter-of-factly replied, "Well, last night when I was in bed, I picked my nose and stuck the booger in my belly button and now I'm trying to get it out but I can't find it."

As I was putting Abby to bed, she said to me, "You watch movies in the middle of the night when you nurse Jakey, right?" "Yes," I replied (actually, only when he was a newborn; but I do frequently put something on when I'm doing his last nursing right before bed, which is right after I put Abby and Ben down). She said, "I want to do that when I grow up and I'm a mommy!"

Abby couldn't find her Hello Kitty coloring book and was sad. I had just purchased another one for her a few days previous and was planning on giving it to her on her birthday in a few weeks since her old Hello Kitty coloring book was very well-used. So, feeling bad for her, I said, "Abby, how would you like a birthday present early?!" She responded in typical Abby-fashion, but not typical kid-fashion, "No thanks." "Really?" I asked, "Are you sure? Because I think you'd really like it." She said, "I would like to wait because I want to remember all the presents I get on my birthday."

I had just mentioned that in a few more minutes, Kevin should have a signal so I could call him. Abby asked what that meant. As I changed Jake's diaper, I proceeded to try to explain what satellites were, how they worked and what it meant for Daddy's satellite phone to have a signal when he was out on the ocean. Since I don't understand it all myself and I was introducing concepts and words my daughter had never heard of (satellites, outer space, orbit, etc), so you can guess that I didn't explain it very well. As I finished with Jake, I turned and saw her confused expression. I halfheartedly said, "Interesting, huh?" She replied, "VERY interesting! I've never heard anyone talk like that before!"