No Comprende

Don't you think it's such a fun time when little ones first start to get a grasp on language? They finally realize that verbal communication is a two-way street and that they can share thoughts with us rather than just listening to our endless monologue.

I particularly love the mix-ups that come when language is first developing. Here's a great example. When Abby was little, she used to love to put on chapstick. But instead of asking for "chapstick", she would repeatedly say "stuffstick, please". She also squealed with delight anytime she saw a "motorbicycle" driving down the road.

Even though her vocabulary has developed greatly since those days, Abby still has the occasional case of right word/wrong pronunciation. She would like nothing more than to be a catographer like Mommy when she grows up. And she loved reading in her Bible about the Philisteams with Daddy the other night.

But my personal favorite has to be the story of the wax.

Not long ago, Josh and I began noticing that Abby didn't seem to be hearing everything we were saying. She wasn't always answering questions, and she asked "What?!?" no less than 3,000 times in the course of a week. After about the 2,000th time of repeating what he had said, Josh asked "Abby, do you have a lot of wax in your ear?" And she responded that she thought she did.

Out of fear of pushing the sound-proof barrier any farther into her ear with a Q-tip, I just poured a little peroxide in there to clean her ear out. I'll give no details...but it worked.

Not long after that, the "whats?!?" reared their ugly head again, and I asked Abby if she was having trouble hearing us.

She replied, "Yes, Mommy, and I think I know what's wrong."

"What is it, baby?", I asked.

"I think I've got a whack in my ear."

A whack?!? It took me about two seconds to realize that in her mind--the same little mind that was working to get a tight hold on the English language with all of its rules on grammar and syntax--she believed that a "whack" was simply the singular form of "whacks" (or wax to the rest of us).

Josh and I have laughed until our sides hurt at that one. And anytime one of the little ones misses something we say (or chooses not to hear us), we know there must be a whack down in there.

You would think that the mix-ups would subside as Abby's vocabulary has flourished, but instead, the confusion has just gotten more complex. She knows a lot of words, and she fully understands the meaning of 99% of them. But every once in a while, she pops a word in her sentence that she's heard and thinks she understands, but it usually makes for an adorable expression of innocent confusion.

On picking out her snack to eat yesterday: "This is going to be politely yummy!"

And when encouraging Isabel in her part of emptying the dishwasher (yes, all three little ones help me empty the dishwasher everyday), she said: "Good job, Izzy! You're such a great artist!"

I know there are more...but I lost the running list I had going for them. Sad.

On a happier note, the kids and I headed down the street to Heardmont Park a couple of days ago for a Mommy Workout/Kid Playtime. I took the double stroller for the little two and the bike for Abby, and we covered every square inch of that place in about 30 minutes.


There are a few big bridges that go over the creeks running through the park, and Abby and I each felt some serious leg-burning as she pedaled and I pushed 60 pounds of child up and over the wooden walkways.


The little two had it made in the shade...


...but Abby and I were sweaty messes in no time. So after we had made a couple of laps, we stopped at one particular part of the creek that I've been wanting to grab some photos at. I looked in the basket underneath the stroller, and you'll never guess what I found there...

My camera! Well, I'll be...

Now before you scold me for spending most of the Creek Time with my camera in hand, I have a very good excuse. I've been saving my pennies for this new lens, and I was finally able to get it last week. And because one lens is nothing like the next, I needed to get some practice in before my session this weekend.

So there, all you bloggy readers! :-)

Besides, once I told the kids they could kick their gear off and hop in the creek, they couldn't have cared less if I was there or home asleep in my bed. It was like telling them they had free reign in the pantry for a solid hour (which would be the ultimate in gifts as far as the Lewis kids are concerned)!


Izzy did have to take one for the team, and she was confined to her stroller for the first little bit. I, of course, know which I would choose, but I really didn't want to get forced into rescuing my camera or my daughter from the water!! She made the best of it, though, and she carried out what she's taken on as her personal mission by waving to every single person who passed (by the way, this is the same child who wouldn't be held by anyone...including her own father...until she was 10 months old).


I won't post every picture I took (after all, I've only got so much space on this free blog of mine), but I will post a few of my favorites. The kids spent ages searching for "seashells at the beach":





And they spent the rest of the time exploring up and down the creek to see what else they could find.




I don't know what it is about this photo, but this is my favorite from the whole day.


I think she was trying to tell me something from way down there, but I couldn't hear her. Must have had a whack in my ear.