The Almost Three Year Old

Lauren went to the doctor the other day for her 3-year checkup.  The doctor was really impressed when she asked Lauren what she wanted for her birthday and Lauren replied, "Salad."  She was thinking we were the best parents ever until Lauren said she liked eating french fries. She was also amused when Lauren said her teacher's name was "Alligator" and her best friend's name was "Crocodile" (Lauren really likes reptiles, in case you haven't figured that out yet).

In case you're interested, the almost three year old is in the 92% for weight and the 92% for height.  She probably doesn't have a future in gymnastics - maybe basketball or shot put.  Or maybe her destiny is to be the next crocodile hunter. Only time will tell.

Lauren-isms

It's fun when your children start talking. Having always been interested in language, I've really enjoyed watching Lauren's language develop. For example, last summer, she couldn't say the "k" sound - it came out "t."  She would have a drink from her tup, eat a tuptate, and play with her friend Tai or her cousin Zete. Then a few months passed and one day I realized she was saying "k" just fine. In fact, she talks about cupcakes all the time now.

Now that Lauren has the talking thing down, some pretty funny (and surprising) things come out of her mouth. Some examples:

• A few months ago, we were getting in the car after church and Lauren said, "Dad, you need to turn on the air conditioner."
• When something is out of her reach, Lauren says it is "too reachy."
• One of her favorite things to say at dinnertime is "that's too yucky for me." Yesterday, we were at the store and Lauren was wandering around the produce section touching all the vegetables. When she got to the cauliflower, she touched every one and said "yucky, yucky, yucky, yucky, yucky."
• Lauren says some interesting prayers. Mostly she just mumbles them, but occasionally we'll hear something about princesses, or bandaids, or tigers.
• Sometimes out of the blue, she'll say something like "ice cream is soooo good."
• Lauren eats a banana every single day (sometimes more than one if they're not too reachy), but she has never quite figured out how to say banana. First it was "mana," then it evolved to "BUH-nuh-nuh," now it's "biana."  She also enjoys campaloupe.

Although it's fun to hear her talk, there are times (lots of them, actually) when I wish she would just be quiet for a while. Especially, when we're driving and she thinks it's hilarious to yell random words like "CROCODILE," "OSTRICH" "TACO."  For some reason, it's especially funny if it makes Andrew cry. I can't wait until he can talk back!