One of the great things about toddlers is that they learn to repeat exactly what you say. When she was sick, Nathan and I would discuss whether Ellie needed ibuprofen. She quickly learned to say "I-bee-pro-fen" because she loves the taste of the children's version so much she learned to ask for it by name.
In some ways toddlers serve as your mirror--showing you what you're really doing instead of what your intentions are. I knew we had given up on the absolutely no TV rule, for example, when a few months ago Ellie started asking, "Watch lilbit TV?" That's clearly adult rationalization speak for "A little TV won't hurt you if it keeps me from going crazy!" She's also very good at "No, Ben!" and "That's your big sister's water". (Ben likes to grab Ellie's sippy cup.)
Similarly, Ellie has started adapting the sympathetic parental language we use on her when she has trouble sleeping. When she woke up in the middle of the night, we'd sometimes say, "Do you need some cuddles?" Now when she wakes up, she'll sometimes tell us that she needs cuddles. A few weeks ago she also started waking up and asking for morphine, which was pretty darn puzzling. We were really quite certain that wasn't a word we had ever used around her. It's just not something that comes up in every day family conversation. A few nights later we figured out that she was just copying us again, and what she was actually saying was that she needed "more luvin'", just with a two-year-old's accent.
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2 comments:
It is a bit of a translating challenge. When we met Mom and Dad in Spain for Christmas it took them a few days to get up to speed on their "Isabeleze". Glad you all are doing well! All the best,
C-I-A
Oh..so that is your explination for why your child asks for Morphine. Hmmm...how are you going to explain Opium?
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