overheard around the house

It’s been a while since I’ve recapped some of the cute/funny things that the boys say. I’ve been trying to keep a mental list, so here’s what I can remember right now.

Theo and Dexter both say “yo-grit” instead of yogurt.
Dexter doesn’t say “r” in words like green, broke, etc. They sound like “geen” and “boke.” I rarely try to correct him, because it’s one of the few, fleeting baby things still happening around here.  I’m enjoying it while it lasts. He calls fruit snacks are “fwoot snacks.”

Theo says “Monsters Inc Universed” instead of Monsters University.
Theo says “Teenage Mint Ninja Turtles.”
Theo calls Star Wars “Starwers.”
Dexter is starting to say grown up phrases like “how many times did I tell you?”
Theo often answers questions, “shoot yeah!” or “shoot no!” I’m not sure where he heard that!

Theo sometimes uses “responsible” and “ridiculous” interchangeably. This can be pretty hilarious at times.

Theo pronounces most things perfectly but gets a little tripped up on a few character names.

For example:
R2-D2:  R-Tooty
C-3PO: CP3PO
Darth Vader: Dark Vader
Clone Trooper:  Clown Trooper
Darth Maul: Dark Mall
Madam Leota: Mama Yoda

Dexter overheard someone expel a little gas over the holidays and said “what did YOU have for breakfast?”

Theo is always asking us, “what’s your favorite color?” and giving us a toy or book or anything that color. As if we automatically like anything and everything that color.

Every day when the boys wake up, they ask us “Is it wake up time?” and “Is it a mommy and daddy day?”

Every time I’m in the kitchen, and Dexter hears the microwave, he asks “is it dinner time?”

Oh, there’s so much more but every time I sit down to write it out, everything flies out of my brain. These are the little things that I know I will soon forget, yet love so much about this age and stage in their lives.

xo,
~C~

the perilous life of a kanka blanka

Behold, Kanka Blanka.  Or Kanket. Or Blue Kanky. Or Blue Banky.  Or a host of other options.

Whichever name comes out, we all know who he’s talking about.  Notice I said “who,” not “what.”  That’s because Dexter talks to his favorite blanket like it’s a human. Or one of his action figures.  If you heard him in the car, you’d think he was acting out a scene with little toys. Sometimes he says “I love you,” and from the front seat of the car, I’ll say “Aw, Dexter! I love you too,” only to be informed that he was talking to Blue. I bought this blanket at Walmart of all places (I never shop there) a day or two before Dexter’s first Christmas when he was just 7 months old.  We were at Ryan’s parents’ house and I ran to the store to get diapers or some other essential item and the blanket caught my eye.  Theo’s favorite blanket at the time was fuzzy like this, with satin trim along the edge, so I wanted Dexter to have something similar.

Blue Kanka Blanka about 2 years ago.  

It quickly became a favorite and he’s only gotten more attached to it as he gets older.  It’s really funny.  He’s fine with leaving it in the car and doesn’t ever cause any problems. I don’t have any intentions of taking it away from him because he loves it, but also because it provides a lot of entertainment!

The other night Dexter and I were waiting in the car while Ryan and Theo went into a store.  Poor blue kanket went through quite an ordeal.  See, he lost his mom and dad, but the he found them. It was a stressful time, because you see, blue kanket’s mom and dad were hiding in the trash truck. Thank goodness blue kanket was reunited, but it wasn’t long before trouble struck again.  While blue kanket was getting in the car, he hit his nose on the door and it started bleeding. So naturally, we had to take blue kanket to the hospital for a shot. In the nose. Ouch! Blue kanket said that it hurt pretty bad but afterwards, it felt better.  The really bad news is, though, that through the whole hospital ordeal, blue kanket lost his parents. AGAIN. Apparently blue kanket’s mom is red and his dad is … blue of course.  Oh, blue kanket. You’ve been through so much.  I’m not too sure if or when blue kank found his folks the second time or not because Ryan and Theo returned and interrupted our story.  Once Theo was in the car, Dexter and I told him what happened to blue kank while they were gone. Theo has asked me to re-tell this tale several times. Funny. Love that Dexter’s little personality and imagination are emerging and so silly.

Does/did your children have a security blanket?  
xo,
~C~

what do you know about stuttering?

Late last week, Ryan mentioned to me that he thought Dexter was stuttering. Over the weekend, I started paying more attention and noticed that he really does start his sentences with a repeated sound…a lot.

I-I-I-I-I-I wanna go home.

We-we-we-we-we-we’re the going to the movies.

Y-y-y-y-you can’t do that.

It’s not every sentence and it’s not all the time.  But he does do it a lot.  He seems to do it when Theo’s talking and he’s also trying to be heard, or when he’s very excited.  But outside of those two scenarios, he still does it at other times as well.

I mentioned it to one of the providers at their sitter today and she said she had noticed it too (and probably thought I was an idiot for not mentioning it/noticing it sooner).  I know I’ve heard him do it before but I can’t pinpoint when it started.  I don’t even know if it’s gotten that much worse recently or if I just didn’t pay attention.  MOTY award coming this way.  Anyway, they watch a lot of kids that are roughly the same age, so I asked her if she thought it was fairly common.  She said no.

So I recalled and looked up an article written by my friend and Speech Language Pathologist, Mindi, and instantly felt more at ease.  Thanks to her, I’ve placed him somewhere between developmental and mild stuttering.  He’s definitely repeating sounds at the beginning of a sentence more than 2-3 times, but I haven’t noticed any facial tightening when this happens.  I’m not even sure he realizes he is doing it.  If we tell him to repeat after us, and say whatever he stuttered slowly, he’s able to say the same thing without the stutter.  I’m very optimistic that this will be a short-term problem (if you’d even call it a problem) and that he’ll soon outgrow it.

No doubt in my mind, this cutie bear’s big brain is working way faster than his little mouth is processing.

Now I’m so curious to know how many people I know who have kids that briefly stuttered around this age as well.  Anyone?

xo,
~C~