Toddler Vocabulary

It appears as though Nicholas has discovered how to really push his limits with Mama and Daddy (and I'm sure Mimi and his teachers at MDO too).  Some toddler phrases that he is now trying on us include:

• No mine!
• Move
• Give me that
• Why not?

I know this is a toddler rite of passage, but we are doing everything we can to remove these phrases from his vocabulary (except for "No" and "Why Not" if used appropriately).  He does have some cute words and phrases that include:

• Oh Boy!
• Goodness Gracious!
• Whatcha donut?  - AKA what are you doing?
• Opopus - AKA octopus

My favorite thing he has started recently is "talking to Gigi or PawPaw" on the phone.  He has my old cell phone and will randomly pick it up and carry on the following conversation every time...
"Hello.  Hey Gigi!  No.  Good.  Bye Bye"  It cracks me up every time I hear him do this.  I suppose he has heard mama say this a time or two.

Nicholas likes saying his ABC's but tends to skip over a few here and there (Ex:  X takes the place of S, so he says Q R X Y and Z.  He then says "now I know my A B C D..." so that he goes in a continuous loop of ABCs.  He will also sing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star.  Gabe's favorite part is when Nicholas says "how I wonder what ya high" instead of "how I wonder what you are".  My favorite is the line "like a diamond in the sky" which for Nicholas sounds more like "like e diamond in the ky". 

Gabe and I also got a kick out of him last Sunday on the way home from church.  Nicholas was talking about a show on Disney called Jake and the Neverland Pirates.  He was talking about Jake and Captain Hook.  There is also a parrot on the show and I couldn't think of his name so I asked Nicholas.  He thought for a moment and then said "Scully" which was correct.  I love seeing his little brain at work.  My little guy is growing up!   

I cut his hair today and he always looks so old afterwards!  I was prepared this time with Teddy Grahams and Bambi dvd and had no crying or screaming at all.  Woohoo!  Mama was excited about that.

Toddler Talk

Over the past month, Nicholas' vocabulary has exploded.  He now says (or attempts to say) anything we say.  For example, Gabe answered his phone today and said Hey Dude, which Nicholas immediately repeated in his cute toddler voice "Hey Dude".  With all the birthdays recently (shout out to Lilly, Pop and Abby) we've tried to get him to say Happy Birthday, but it comes out "Happy To" - close and cute enough to work.  He's able to count to 2.  And as Mimi said the other day, if I had a nickle for every time he says "pease" (AKA please) we would all be very rich people.  Granted it's great that he is polite, but I think we may have emphasized that one a bit too much. 

Vocabulary that he pronounces correctly:

Mickey, Minnie, Donald - he wakes up and asks for Mickey (Mickey Mouse Clubhouse), which I am happy to put on for him while I fix his breakfast
Duckie - his favorite bath time toys right now
Alrighty, Hold On - He hears that second one quite a bit  as everything is so urgent for him and now he is good at repeating it
Can I?
I did it!
Juice, Water, Milk
TV - ah how they learn early
Toast, Chicken
Cracker - We have about every flavor of Goldfish in our house and I have to say that I still like the original the best
Shoes/Sock
Hand, Head, Eyes, Ears, Toes - Nicholas can tell you where all of these are
Clock - It's so interesting to see him make connections - Nicholas pointed to my watch the other day and said "Clock?"
Catch!  - his throwing skills aren't all that great (many of the throwing items end up behind him), but I'm sure over time Daddy will work with him on that

Some words that need a bit of translation:

Cudur = Color - Although he is rather rough on his crayons, he loves coloring (a Mickey Mouse coloring book of course).  I'm thinking a good toy for his birthday will be one of those "colors" that only works on special paper and therefore won't result in blue and green marks on our coffee table. 
Saby = Daisy -  Minnie is one of his favorites, but he does like Daisy as well (with Mickey of course being his all time favorite)
Set = Yes - Nicholas seems to be able to say Yea, but doesn't really try to say Yes too much.
Bankie = His o-so-special blankie that he can't live without
Nana = Banana - A good morning snack for him right now
Gape = Grape  Luckily this has been a recent snack of choice for him (along with crackuhs of course)
Side = Outside
Pay = Play - Nicholas has been a big fan of playing outside since the weather has been decent recently.  Swinging in his swing, watching the bubbles come out of his bubble machine and picking berries off the bushes and throwing them. 
Ticker = Sticker - he loves playing with these.  They have a tendency to end up all over the house (I found one in the dryer vent), on his nose, but he loves putting them on his hand. 
Buboos = Bubbles

It is rather hard to get Nicholas to stay still long enough for a picture (as Beth can vouch for at Abby's birthday party this weekend).  Here is one of him trying to put all the berries from the bushes in our back yard into a plastic pipe.  Nicholas loves putting toys or whatever he finds into boxes, bags or any object where he thinks the object belongs (and I have to say that he is very meticulous about this - so funny to watch!). 

Mama!

We experienced another first this morning! Nicholas started saying Mama! It was so awesome to hear him and a bit unexpected too. It took a few times to really make sure that was what he said. This afternoon, our good friends Nini and Holly stopped by and they heard him too, so it's legit and not just parents thinking our son is the prodigal child. Granted at this point the 'mama' is not directed at me, but we'll get there. Now we have to focus on him saying 'dada'...