Age of Innocence

I don't know why, but I am forever suprised by the youngest of Elle's Angels. She's 3 years old and can talk your ear off if you let her. Whether you understand her completely is another story. This girl can speak English and Chuukese fluently as well as a smattering of Tagalog (I asked the housekeeper to teach her) and Spanish (thanks to Dora the Explorer). Aside from that, she apparently has developed her own vocabulary and has her own made up words to describe things she hasn't formally learned yet.

And get any music around her and she'll crunk like no big deal. The other night, we went to dinner and somebody put some music on the jukebox. Oh, man. You shoulda seen her - I swear she was doing some dance combination I have never seen before. A combination of crunking, hiphop, Tahitian dancing, and something else I couldn't quite put my finger on. I don't think there's a name for it. It didn't matter that there were a million other patrons in the place. My reaction? Definitely mixed. To say the least I was surprised, shocked, stumped, and absolutely at a loss for words. At the same time, I couldn't help laughing! It really was a sight to see. I DON'T know where she learned it, my guess is she's been watching too much television while I'm at work and the rest I can attribute to the painful innocence and unwavering self-confidence that only a 3 year old could have.

Baby girl has a great imagination and spends a great deal of her time talking to her toys and making up stories. She does say the darndest things. Some examples:

1. "Once upon da time, der was tree bears..." She fake reads her Goldilocks book. "Mommy is dis a bear? Dis is not d bear because (so and so) drinks da bears!"

2. "Can you buy me a skateboard, a lelly-pop (lollipop), a bike, a airplane, my boat, Dora game, buh-nuk-i-nurs (binoculars), eliscope (telescope) and a look-a-lellee (Ukulele)?" And this is the shorter list of things she wants.

And my favorite:

3. "Mommy, I love you AND I like you!" She says in a surprised voice.

Friday, June 5, 2009