Toddler Speak

Communicating with Claire is a little bit like talking to Lassie, if Lassie also could do charades. Her language development is happening so fast, she learns new words every day, and talking with her is so much fun. I just don't remember it being so much fun when Ryan and Katie were learning to talk. Katie jumped right into complete sentences so there wasn't this awkward phase of trying to figure out what she was saying. And Ryan was always ahead of the curve in language development and articulation although we did have some fun when he was learning to pronounce the word "truck" without using the "f" sound...

Anyway, maybe that's why having a conversation with Claire is so much fun. The other day she half told/half acted out an interesting story which explained why the front of her nightgown was smeared with green goo. It went something like this:

Me: reading stories with Katie, hearing Claire run down the hall: "Hi Claire, what have you been doing?"
Claire: "Hi Mommy." Points to her mouth, "Teeth"
Me: Were you brushing your teeth?
Claire: Nodding, "O-peen." Then squeezing her hands together, "Smoosh. Mess"
Me: Did the toothpaste squeeze out and make a mess?"
Claire: Nodding, and waving her hands around like a mime fingerpainting a masterpiece
Me: "Uh-oh. Is it all over the bathroom counter?"
Claire: Shaking her head "Towel"
Me: "Did you clean it with the towel?"
Claire: Nodding and pulling me off the bed and down the hall to the bathroom
I followed her and where she showed me the towel, covered with toothpaste and the counter which she had cleaned up very nicely. She started clapping her hands and I praised her great job of cleaning up her mess. Then she slowly pointed down at her nightgown and whispered, "mess" as if I hadn't noticed that huge green glob of glue immediately and she was saving it for a surprise ending to her story!