Say What?!

Pi is on a mission these days. We've notice her current language acquisition objective is to use every word she hears others say in passing to create sentences of her own. Sounds like a boring observation of typical development, right?

Mind you, this is not to say that she utters typical salutations and thoughts on the weather. No, no, language expulsion from this tiny chatterbox appears to be an ecclectic version of combined English dialects and random topics of discussion. As we travel around California these past two weeks and come across different people from different cultures and creeds, Piper takes accents, slurs, slang and other types of utterances for a test drive. As parents, we are fast discovering that this little being can not only walk, run, hop, climb with her body, but also spout anything her ears pick up and her mouth formulates with varying degrees of volume.

For example, we thought it quite hilarious hearing a toddler from the backseat exclaim ( or yell rather) "What 'ta want? You know I love my peeebutter and crackers...And the moon! See the moon abody? What a beeeeeeoootiful day. Evan, you see the moon? Oh my! HI otters, I see you! But I eating my crackers right now, bye otters, okay...?" This was while driving along the coastal stretch of Highway 1 near Monterey on a day trip and the whole blurted moment from Piper happened with one breath and then she quietly went back to eating her peanut butter crackers silently.

Whispering is a fun new game ( and yes, we are trying to embelish its appeal!) Yelling is still a favorite volume of this two year old especially when we need her to be whispering and then of course when she gets louder as a moment desperately dictates the need for her to be very quiet, we throw our hands up and die laughing which sports a fun time for our toddler and three strikes against our parenting...But, then again we're all laughing (including Evan who simply laughs when others are laughing) and what harm can come from that? We won't be attending SF opera, ballet, or symphony performances anytime soon as a family.

Lately we've tried to take advantage of good health all around and the trailing last calendar days of summer with as many mini-vacations as we can muster. Highlights include the California state fair, Six Flags Discovery Kingdom, Monterey Bay, The Delta, and plans for Potter Valley as well as a a quick pop-in for hugs with Mickey and Minnie.

School starts for Piper in two weeks. Two days a week she'll be romping around with kiddos that probably have oodles to share in regards to language. We can't wait to hear Pi's version of what her friend had to say at school today.