A New Member of the Family

There seems to be a new addition to our family. I’m not sure exactly when she arrived; we noticed her about 3 weeks ago. I don’t know how long she’ll stay either. As long as she doesn’t cause any problems, she’s really a pretty easy house guest. Well, except when I don’t see her and accidently step on her. Her name is Ditta. I’m told she’s four years old. Her favorite restaurant is Chick-Fil-A but her favorite food is cheeseburgers. That piece doesn’t make sense to me, but these are the facts as reported by Anna. Ditta sleeps in the “other bed” in Anna’s room,” the one by the dresser.” If you’ve never been in Anna’s room, there is no “other bed by the dresser.” But, that’s really no important. Ditta can sleep there anyway. After all, Ditta IS imaginary.


About three weeks ago, Anna started mumbling to someone. When we asked who she was talking to, Anna replied, “Ditta!” “Who,” we asked. “DITTA!” “Ditta?” “Yes. DITTA!!” Since our initial encounter with Ditta, we’ve seen Anna feed Ditta. We’ve seen Anna read to Ditta. We’ve seen Anna tuck Ditta in for a nap. We’ve been asked not to sit in certain chairs at certain times because Ditta wants to sit there. We even saw Anna use a chip clip to trim Ditta’s toe nails. (Granted, I had just trimmed Anna & Ellen’s toe nails.) Anna moved slowly along the bench on the deck, opening & closing a chip clip, chanting “clippy-clippy-clippy.” “What are you doing, Anna?” “Trimming Ditta’s toenails,” she answered ever so matter-of-factly. “OH,” I said.

Ditta comes and goes. I didn’t hear about Ditta for a couple of days & thought maybe she’d gone. (Where do imaginary friends go anyway when they’re not around?) But then, I found Anna sitting on the stairs by the front door. She said that she was waiting for Ditta to pick her up. She said they were going to the grocery store & she asked if I needed anything. Makes sense. If Ditta’s going to be hanging around, the least she can do is pick up a few groceries.

Onion!

So many of Anna's adventures involve food. It's likely mine & Traci's influence - so many of our own "adventures" are about food too - generally trying new things - the masterpiece recipe that flops or the great, new 15 minute meal discovery for weeknights.

Where food and Anna are concerned, we've left the chicken nuggets and fish sticks to school. Yeah, we shovel the ocassional nugget or peanutbutter sandwich in front of her. But, for the most part she eats what we eat. It's not exotic, but I would guess that it's atleast closer to exotic than average. Last night we had baked sweet onions stuffed with a ground lamb & spinach mixture. I thought they were a flop but Anna loved them. The irony is that Anna professes to not like onion. "I don't like onion" is the standard response for buying an onion in the store, chopping an onion, or finding even the tiniest minced onion in a dish. "I don't like onion." "I know, Anna. You don't like onion." It's a common, dinnertime conversation. I was fully prepared for her to hate last night's dish and loaded her plate with mashed potatoes to fill her up.

Earlier in the evening we had been reading the spanish translation of an Eric Carle board book. So, when Anna pointed at the baked onion and said "What is that is?" I thought quickly and said, "It's cebolla. It tastes sweet. Try it." Anna said, "ce-boy-da? It's sweet?" She popped it in her mouth & shouted, "I like it!" Traci & I exchanged a glance, thinking that we had pulled a fast one. We all continued to eat, talking idly about this and that, trying to get Anna to slow down on the cebolla and try some meat. About three quarters of the way through her delicious new discovery, she stopped. By now, we had forgotten about having pulled a fast one. Anna dropped her fork, looked up dramatically, and shouted, "Onion! It's onion! This is onion!" We all three laughed. Ellen joined in, laughing at us laughing, and Anna quietly said, "I like onion."

I Luv Coins!

Six months since the last blog post. So much has happened. Waiting on baby number two (affectionately referred to as "Deuce"), bought a house, moved to the 'burbs, & watched as Anna grows into a full-fledged kid. Last week I made a list. She knows 210 words. She's learning manners; she says "tank you", "pease", & "scuse me". She also is quick to tell her old Dad when he should be saying "tank you", "pease" & "scuse me" too. She's learned to dress herself and likes to "change clothes" in the evening when she gets home. Anna loves to hang out in the kitchen, pulling out pots & spoons while Traci & I are cooking. I think she's going to find her specialty to be Italian foods. Whenver she pulls out a pot & spoon, she'll bang the spoon around, declaring, "I cook noodles!"

Anna loves noodles. But, her current favorites are blueberries, olives & today Anna announced, "I love coins". ("Coins" is what it phonetically sounds like when Anna says "corns".) Yesterday, we brought home 5 dozen ears of corn for the freezer. Anna helped to shuck, saying "it's too heavy" when she couldn't pull off a husk. She pulled husks, cleaned off silk, & sneaked nibbles of raw corn when she thought no one was looking. At the end of the day we took the last three cobs from the pot, buttered them up & headed out to the deck to taste the best part of late summer in the Midwest. A few bites in, Anna looked up with the biggest smile & proclaimed, "I love coins!"

All Smiles

This week Anna learned to smile on command. We're not quite sure how she learned - we didn't teach her. But she did. So now, all day long, we're having fun pointing to her & saying, "Hey Anna! Smile!" Tonight, she pointed at me & said," 'mile". Of course, I did. How could I have not.




Hey Anna! SMILE! (That's mom's hat on Anna. It's a favorite make-shift toy.)

A Second Lesson in Anna-ese

New words seem to come every day. I find myself constantly surprised & looking at Traci, saying, "did she really just say that?" I promise not to post Anna's new words every week, but a few others came to mind & a few new ones rolled off her lips.

A Second Lesson in Anna-ese

up = up - this week "up" also means "up" as in pick me up
bané = banana
ome = home
chicka-chicka-chicka = chicken
heh = head
eye = eyes
no = nose
muh = mouth
ear = ears
chee = cheek
koat = coat (but, in Anna-ese I'm certain it's spelt with a 'k'. It's such a hard, sharp sound you could cut yourself on it.)

This evening in the car Anna was singing to herself. We weren't quite sure what she was singing. At one point I thought it was the ABC's because I thought I recognized a letter. Mostly it was just rhythmic jibber-jabber. Then, out of nowhere, clear as day came "RowRowRow". DID SHE REALLY JUST SAY THAT?

A Lesson in Anna-ese

Anna has become a real chatterbox. She's constantly trying to communicate with us & is always pointing out & identifying things she knows. Her words aren't always immediately understandable. Though, Traci & I pretty much have them down. While there are a few cognates (says the foreign language nerd), anyone else who might be around Anna would likely find a lesson in Anna-ese helpful.



A first lesson in Anna-ese

ba = ball

ba = blanket

baby = baby

bee-bee = beep-beep

boot = boot

bye = bye

ca = car (as in, the "ca" says "bee-bee")

'cado = avocado (a favorite food)

cheessssssse = cheese (lots of emphasis on the esses)

da = dad

da = dog

da = diaper

da = done

da = down (The context clues when using "da" are critical.)

kee-ka = kitty kat

ma = mama

no = no

No!No!No! = No thank you . I'd rather not.

NOOOOOOOOO! = HELL NO! Are you crazy?!? Get that broccoli away from me!

pea = pea (another favorite food)

poo = poo (as in, there's a "poo" in my "da")

poo = Pooh (as in, "Winnie the")

'poon = spoon

sssslthsl = slipper (watch out for the spit when she says this one)

up = load up (only used when eating. As in, help me "up" (load up) my 'poon.)

vee = Eve (our dog)

VEE! = EVE!! (mostly reserved for when "vee" is laying on her "ba")

vee-vee = Evie (more affection than just "vee". Usually accompanied by petting.)

Something new ... EVERYDAY

Most of you know that life with a one year old is full of new experiences for her. It seems like there's something new everyday. Today alone there were at least 3 firsts.

(1) This morning Anna kissed me for the first time. It wasn't a case of me kissing her. She walked up to me, turned her chin up, pursed her lips, & kissed me.

(2) Anna & I "skated" around the kitchen in our stocking-feet for the first time. She laughed & smiled the whole time.

(3) Anna ate out of the garbage ... for the first time. Hopefully, that one was also for the last time too. She hadn't finished all of her dinner, but clearly she was done eating & wanted down from the high chair. The last few lima beans left on the plate were scraped into the garbage (with other icky things). While Traci & I cleaned up the kitchen, Anna played at our feet. Lately she's been playing with a large bag of potatoes which she mistakenly thinks are called "bigs". Though, that's another story that Traci can explain. In this particular story, Anna skipped "the bigs" all together & headed straight for the trash. Neither of us realized what had happened until we saw her standing there chewing & saying "yum yum." More like yuck, yuck.