Uh-oh, Be!

My little Miss Soli Mae (her actual name is Soleil Mia Damaris, but just for fun I call her Soli Mae which often confuses the in-laws ;). Anywho, she is 2y 4m old and she has very few words (at least very few that are discernible to the untrained ear). As my fourth, this concerns me not at all. In fact, I'm pretty excited that she isn't yet chewing my ear off all day long. I know the day will come, all too soon, when she is adding to the noise pollution coming from the back seat.* (See disclaimer below). Until then, I'm just fine with a little less talking already. If you know what I mean...

So this morning Soli was thumbing through one of her favorite toys - a little chewable picture album that says "Who Loves Baby" (see above pic). I made it for her (made - as in put pictures in) when she was five months old and living with her foster family in Guatemala City. I wanted her to "have pictures of us" so she would "know who we were". Lovely thought but somewhat ridiculous because at five months old all she cared about was chewing on the handle. But now, two years later, it's one of her favorites. Anyway, as she was looking through the pictures, naming all the people that she saw, she came across one of Cole, Emerson and Evie. And she said, "Bubba, Am, E. Uh-oh, Be!" For those of you who don't speak Monkey** this translates to, "Cole, Emerson, Eve. Uh-oh Me!" She wasn't in the picture! Of course, when I made the book I didn't have any pics of the four of them. I just loved witnessing that moment of recognition as she realized that she should have been included in that group. I loved seeing proof that she knows that she belongs to us. I hope that she always feels that way.


Here are a few more of my favorite Soli-isms (for fear that I will forget if I don't document them somewhere):

Aye: Agua (if you pronounce the g as a y and smear the two syllables together)

Be: Me

Aye Be!: Either - I'm wet! (agua me) or I'm thirsty! (and want some water!) *This is one of our family favorites and has morphed into meaning: Oh My! We say it all the time. Aye Be! and then Soli always answers from somewhere in the house "Aye, be!"

Me E! (or Am, or Bubba): I miss Evie! (or Emerson, or Cole) This is a new one since school started, of course.

Aboo: All done.

Mama, aboo be!: Mom, I'm all done!

Buhh!(As in burrr!): Something is cold!

Buhh be!: I'm cold! She tells me this every morning between taking her jammies off and getting her dressed.

Buhh aye!: The water is cold!

Buhh ice!: She pronounces ice perfectly clear and it is her new favorite obsession. Several times a day she tracks me down and says, "Mama, be ice, meeeee?" This means, "Mom, may I have some ice, pleeease?" I always give a cube and send her outside. On the way she always says, "Buhh ice, be!" You can do it.

Ank, Mom (pronounced with a "soft" k - I think this may be a sound in the Russian language but it really doesn't show up much in the English language - or Spanish for that matter.): Thanks, Mom

Day, Mom. - Okay, Mom.

Ef, Mom: Yes, Mom. (At least someone listens...and doesn't talk back...yet.)

Am, no mo' be!: Emerson, stop doing that to me! (This one could conceivably be understood by the outside world - she makes herself pretty clear, which I'm glad to see.)

Nana: Could mean either banana, manzana, or naranja - must use context clues (or just hold up each one from the fruit basket until she says, "Ef" and nods her approval). I speak to Soli about 50% of the time in Spanish.

Ehhck: Something is yucky.

Ehhck nana!: This banana (or apple or orange) is disgusting or it has a bruise.

Mama, Bubba ehhck!: Mom, Cole farted and it stinks! (and then she chuckles...)

Mama, ehhck be!: Mom, I farted and it stinks! (She says this while shaking her head and pinching her nose. Then she chuckles. -- I can't imagine where she learns such nonsense! Hmmm....)

*And here is one of her longer sentences. She said this to me just this morning, "Mama, mo' beebee aye, meeeee?" Translated: "Mom, can I give my baby another bath, pleeeease?

*Animals - Soli pretty much calls all animals by the sounds they make. ie;
Oof: Dog
Neow: Cat
Pee-peep: (imagine this with a squeaky high pitched voice): bird
bubble sound using tongue and lips: fish

She all but refuses to say the animal names even though I know they are sounds she can make. For example, "Say d-d-dog". Soli: "d-d-oof". Makes me chuckle every time. The other day we were driving past cows and I said, "Look Soli! Cows! Can you say c-c-cow?" From the backseat: "D-d-dow". Wonderful! I'll take it. Then, "A cow says moooo. Tell Mama, what does a cow say?" Soli: "Dooowf". Well, something like that, girl. Love it. Stinkin' funny.

She exclusively signs for milk and more (although, now she says mo', too). She doesn't have a word for potty, although she's been potty trained since she was 19 months. When she has to go she gets my attention and does the "potty dance" (you can imagine this one...on tipstoes, prancing about, saying, " uh, uh, uh". And I say (trying to encourage her to use her words), "Do you have to go potty?" Soli: "No, poo."

Indeed.


*Disclaimer: I am aware that many a gem does spew forth from the mouths of babes in the back seat (many of which I later inscribe in some journal or another - Thanks, Mom, for that nugget of advice). However, there does come a time when I must have SILENCIO. That's when I throw on a movie and send a mental note of thanks to the brilliant master mind behind the in-car-entertainment-system (with headphones!).

**Ever seen "A Series of Unfortunate Events"? Creepy weird movie, but you can always count on Jim Carey for some great one liners.