Word of the week: Consider-it

Consider-it (noun): a substance made by removing water or other diluting agent

"Apple puree consider-it, apple juice consider-it, natural strawberry flavor, strawberry consider-it, citrus pectin, lemon juice consider-it..." 

-- Magnolia (7), reading the nutrition information, a current favorite past-time 

Word of the week: Tasumi

Tasumi (noun): A long high sea wave caused by an earthquake, submarine landslide, or other disturbance 

Magnolia: Papa, are we on the highest floor? 

Brian: Yep.  

M: Good. 

B: Why “good”? 

M: Because it says if there’s a tasumi to go to the highest floors.

A few seconds later...

B: Maggie, if you were pronouncing a word wrong, would you want someone to tell you? 

M (happily): Papa, I know I’m pronouncing a word wrong. 

B (laughs): Which word? 

M: Tasuemi

Sometimes we wonder how much to correct these mistakes and how much to let them just figure things out.

Word of the Week: Exstinker

Exstinker (noun):  a portable device that discharges a jet of water, foam, gas, or other material to extinguish a fire.

"Why do we have the exstinker out?" -- Kaleia (5),  asked while we continue melting wax off our pysanky

A Letter to Kaleia at 2 1/2

**Disclaimer: Again, I started this post last January. Kaleia is actually 3 now. Her 3 year post is coming soon!**

At 2, you still seemed so much like my little baby. But I can't say that anymore. As you reminded me this afternoon, you are a big girl.

A Monkey on Your Back

After hearing an Olympic announcer report that a swimmer was hoping to "get the monkey off his back,"Maggie decided that might be a condition she'd like to duplicate.  This has been a common sight for several weeks now.

Word of the Weed: Doorman

Doorman (noun): a person wearing an official looking uniform. This may include, but is not limited to people employed to open doors, military, police, and security guards. 

"There's our old doorman!" - Kaleia (2), seeing our doorman in the courtyard

"Where is that doorman going?" - Kaleia (2), asking about an embassy guard leaving his post on his bicycle

The girls with our favorite doorman (January 2012)

Word of the Week: Scrinkles or Wrinklies

Scrinkles (noun): a small furrow, ridge or crease on a normally smooth surface; wrinklies (synonym)

My toes have scrinkles! - Kaleia, age 2.75

They are not scrinkles. They are wrinkles! - Magnolia, age 4

My toes have wrinklies! - Kaleia 

Word of the Week: Gonahn

Gonahn (noun): ????
[a versatile word of unknown meaning and etymology]
alternate pronunciation: Dough-nahn

Time Out for Polla Bear

"Mama, Polla Bear is going to eat you. So I put him in 'tend outside. You 'stand? 'Stand? Okay." Kaleia, age 2.5

Words of the Week: Too Louder and Boong

Too Louder (adjectival phrase): strongly audible beyond what is desirable; having exceptional volume or intensity to an excessive degree. Often used to indicate the sink tap is turned on too strongly because the water is "too louder."

Boong (noun):  a deep, prolonged, resonant sound

A little art therapy to deal with the fireworks that say boong too louder. 

Kaleia, age 2

Words of the Week: Dult and Peter

Dult (noun):  a person who is fully grown, developed, or of age

Kaleia, age 2.5, and Magnolia, almost 4

Peter (noun): an electronic device designed to accept data, perform prescribed operations at high speed, and display the results of these operations.

Kaleia, age 2.5

Words of the Week: Candy-Candy, Person, Ubberbuddy, Ointmeal

Ointmeal (noun): a cooked breakfast made from ground or rolled oats

Ubberbuddy (pronoun): every person

Candy-Candy (noun): a stick of hard candy with a curve at one end, usually peppermint-flavored with red and white stripes

Person (noun): a small bag, pouch or case for carrying things, usually used by women**

Video Examples:

**This one, that has been said for weeks, corrected itself before I got it on video. So sad.

Words of the Lately: Frigate, Gark, Psy-ged, Dopdopdopdop, Freppery

Frigate* (noun) 1) a modern warship that is smaller than a destroyer 2) the first formal academic classroom based learning environment, usually composed of children of ages 3 or 4, alternate pronunciation: Pre-K

"FRIGATE 1B! FRIGATE 1B! Line up, line up! It's time to go outside!" - Teacher Magnolia, clapping her hands to get her pretend students' attention

*This word was recently changed from Cricket. 

Gark (adjective): having very little or no light

"'s a gark" - Kaleia, age 2

Psy-ged (adjective): emotionally aroused, usually shown by scrunching up ones arms close to the body, fists near the chin, quivering

"So psy-ged. I habba pack-pack. I gonna see Teacher Day-bed, Teacher Kara." - Kaleia, age 2, on the way to school

Dopdopdopdop (command): Halt

Freppery (adjective): tending or liable to cause slipping as on ice, oil, or wet surfaces

"Dopdopdopdop! Floor's freppery!" - Kaleia, age 2, copying her parent's warning to her sister

Words of the Week: Shrockwet, Racamoni, Medium

Shrockwet (noun): a preparation of the seeds of cacao, roasted, husked and ground, often sweetened and flavored, (especially good with added sea salt)

"Mama, what's in your mouth? Shrockwet? Ahwant some!" Kaleia, age 2

Racamoni (noun): small, tubular pasta made from wheat flour

"Ganks for the racamoni, Mama.  rrYummy!" Kaleia, age 2 

Medium (noun): 1) a middle state or condition
                            2) an assembly or conference of persons for a specific purpose

"OKAY! EVERYBODY COME SIT DOWN! IT IS TIME FOR OUR MEDIUM!!!" Magnolia, age 3 

Words of the Week: Um more, Tiss-a-nugg and Luhyoo

Um more (phrase/request): a request for something to be done an additional time

Tiss-a-nugg (phrase/request): signs of affection involving touching lips to and wrapping ones arms around another

Luhyoo (phrase): a phrase said to express deep feelings to someone special to you

"Um more tiss-an-ugg. Luhyoo." Kaleia at bedtime, over and over 

Word of the Week: Coccyx

Coccyx (noun):
1) a small triangular bone forming the lower extremity of the spinal column in humans, consisting of four ankylosed rudimentary vertebrae

2) a pair of thin, tapered sticks, often of wood or ivory, held in one hand between the thumb and fingers and chiefly used in China, Japan and other Asian countries for lifting food into the mouth

Our "coccyx" skills are improving.

Kaleia using "Coccyx" week 1 in Beijing

Kaleia using "coccyx" week 6 in Beijing

 Magnolia, at week 6, will eat only with "coccyx." 

Words of the Week: Guhwrinka and Doo-bicy

Guhwrinka (verb): to take water or another substance into the mouth and swallow it

Doo-bicy (adjective): containing, to an extensive extent, spice that causing pain in your mouth

When in China, lots of the food is doo-bicy so you might need a guhwrinka wah-der, but make sure you don't get it from the tap. 

Word of the Week: Penne-tayo

Penne-tayo (noun): an arrangement of the hair in a long lock drawn tightly against the back of the head and cinched so as to hang loosely.

"I want to have a penne-tayo!" - Kaleia

Word of the Week: Pancake

Pancake (noun):  1) a thin, flat cake of batter fried on both sides on a griddle 2) a pack, or knapsack, often of canvas or nylon, to be carried on one's back

"Can we have pancakes for breakfast?" - Magnolia

"Eat. Pancake." - Kaleia

 "Wanna pancake. Pancake!" - Kaleia, reaching for her black "school" bag

 

Bedtime conversations with Kaleia

One night a while back bedtime was particularly difficult. Brian went in to get the girls quiet. A few minutes later, I went to provide reinforcement. Kaleia was crying "Mama, Mama, Mama!", arms outstretched.
Kaleia: "Kai-ing."
Me: "Yes, you were crying."
Kaleia: "Maygno. Waher"
Me: "Yes, Maggie was crying too. She wanted water. She's all done now."
Kaleia: "Oh."
Kaleia: "Papa."
Me: "Yes, Papa came in. It is time for nigh-night. Do you want a snuggle?"
Kaleia: (Nod) "Sing."
Me: "Do you want to sing Twinkle, Twinkle?"
Kaleia: (Nod) "Manu."

So precious.  Her most requested bedtime song is "Manu" or O come, o come Emmanuel.

More recently I went in to check on her after she had been bounce-chanting.  I thought she would tire out and fall asleep but figured I better check on her after it lasted over an hour.  When I went in she said:

"Pizza?"

2am and our 2 year old is requesting pizza?

The next night Brian tended to a similar situation and swears she requested money.