FunGLASSES & FinNAILS!

So, Cameron Kate pretty much talks from the moment she wakes up until the minute I put her in her crib for bedtime.  There was a day, many months ago, when I wondered if she'd ever talk.  Then she woke up one morning (I swear!) saying 3-word phrases (her first being:  "diaper, poop, shoooo-weeeee!").  She's at this magical age now where everyday she's saying something new, and I want to always remember these little toddlerhood moments though there's a lot about toddlerhood I'll gladly forget.  

I especially want to remember how she tends to speak like she was born in Boston - like "hay-a" for "hair."  And also how she will stand and dictate every little thing I do, all day long.  "Mama make coffee.  Coffee hot.  Mama eat apple.  Mama close door.  Mama wash hands.  Mama dry hands.  Mama sit down."  Sometimes I feel like I'm on a reality show! 

Anyway, in an attempt to remember some of my favorite little things Cameron says and does, I've been trying to capture them via my iPhone.  Some are hard to get on video, as they happen sporadically, and some I've painstakingly tried to recreate.  Some I'll just have to record in my brain and try to remember how her sweet little voice sounded.

For a lot of these, I know I'm probably the only one who can decipher her little toddler dialogue.  You see, she says probably 200+ words... we've lost count.  And while I can understand pretty much everything that comes out of her mouth, I know to some people it sounds like she's speaking a foreign language.  But I love her little toddler language and want to capture every bit of it on video!  Here are some of my attempts...

"Excuse me, mama." - if anything is in Cameron's way - a chair, a towel, a toy, me - she always says, "Excuse me," though it usually sounds more like "Sue-me."  "Excuse me, towel."  "Excuse me, Ellie."  "Excuse me, hairbow."  Here's the best I could get:

Also, I think I've mentioned it before, but she calls herself "KK":

"You got it, KK!":

And she also always refers to herself in the third person.  Like if she's about to fall, she'll say, "Careful, KK!"  Or if she hits herself accidentally, she'll say, "Sorry KK."  Love it!

Her very best friend is her teacher, Erika, with her other teacher, Shannon, coming in a close second:

And yes, she knows that mama's name is "Jessie Peele!":

There's something about the way she says fingernails - "finNAILS" - that makes me giggle.  She always emphasizes the wrong syllable!:

We've also done a LOT of teaching her (or TRYING to teach her!) what patient means:

AND we're always telling her the rule is "No fuss!":

And obviously, it's sinking in.  Here are a couple gems of her bossing Ellie around (and yes, she calls him "Ella" in Spanish, but TJ refuses to change the elephant's name!).  Listen carefully as she tells him, "HEY!  NO FUSS ELLIE!  NOT NICE!  LISTEN!  NO MA'AM!"

And as you can see, this little girl has some weird obsession with rags.  She will spend 25+ minutes placing a rag on top of one of her stuffed animals or dolls over, and over, and over again:

We've also always loved how she says, "Right there!":

And whenever she gets hurt now, she'll run up to me and ask me to kiss her boo-boo.  She'll then say, "All better!"  Though this is the best I could get since I didn't want to intentionally give her a boo-boo just for video's sake:

She is OBSESSED with her sunglasses or, as she calls them, her "funGLASSES":

And one of my most favorites - if anyone in her vicinity sneezes, she says, "Bless you!"  Bonus points if she knows your name, then you get a personalized bless you:

And two others just for fun:

A few other things she's saying that I love or that have caught me off guard:

*"Love you so much!" - makes my heart melt.

*She uses the word "too" all the time, and in the grammatically correct way.  Like if I say, "Do you wanna wear a hairbow?"  She'll say, "Wear hat, too!"  Something so small, but impressive in my opinion!

*Another word that impresses me is her use of "another."  Like, "another book!" if she wants to read another one.

*And speaking of books, as we search for the right book to read before bedtime, I guess I always say, "How about.... this one?!"  because now she does that every night.

*When we're leaving a store and walking through a parking lot, she'll point to different cars and say, "Not yours!"  Until we get to my car, at which point she says, "Mama's car right there!"

*She's also got an awesome memory.  The other day I asked her if she wanted to get ice cream, and she sat and thought for a minute - then finally she responded with, "Ice cream, Kindermusik, Gracie!"  (or, in toddler language, "eyes keem, kindeemuuusk, gay-see") because the last time we went to get ice cream was right before Kindermusik, with her friend Gracie!  I was so impressed!

*And lastly... whenever you tell Cameron it's time to do something she doesn't want to do - get out of the bath, eat dinner, take a nap - she holds out one finger and says, "1 more minute!"  Such a manipulator!

I'm mostly documenting this for my memory, trying to capture these little moments like lightening bugs in a jar so that I can watch them light up and enjoy them up close.  I'm not unaware that one day, and one day too soon, she'll be all grown up.  But for now, I'm doing everything I can to live and love each moment with this little girl, who truly is my sunshine.



P.S.  If you ever want to follow our shenanigans via YouTube:  Our YouTube Channel