Words with Quiet Tiger

Kids are sponges, aren't they?  I've been trying to keep a running list of all the words L says and the stories behind them (because you'll laugh at us).   For the most part, these are in order of her progress, as best I can remember.  She's learning quickly and I thought you might enjoy hearing her progress.  Don't miss the video at the end, but don't you dare scroll down to that first.  :)

• Mama...  She knew this word in China and would point to my picture in her photo album, but she didn't point to me in person.
• Baba...  Daddy in Mandarin
• Ge ge...  Big brother in Mandarin
• Gou... Dog in Mandarin - I included pictures of our dogs in the photo album.
• Hi...  She said this in China with me while we were looking out the window in our hotel and waving to the traffic below.
• Ball...  She loved the beach ball I brought to China for her.
• Uh-oh...  Her first word at home, but at first she'd call everything an "uh-oh."  Only a day later and she was using it correctly.
• Noodle... She loves eating them (she's back on wheat again - yay!) and she likes playing with the pool noodles too.
• Good, good, good!...  My mom said this over the webcam one night to her and she loves saying it.
• Bye bye
• Night-night
• Hi kitty... She loves the stray cats that roam around the condo complex
• Hi deer...  She also likes the deer that roam through the neighborhood both here and at Jay's aunt's place. 
• All done...  A very rare occurrence heard from her high chair, complete with sign language.
• Polo...  We play a lot of Marco Polo in the pool.
• Hey!...  She likes The Duck Song on YouTube.
• Ow...  She repeated big brother C with this one and she was smiling thinking she had learned a new word.  She now uses it correctly.
• Cow/Moo...  She only said this once on National Cow Day (yes, there is such a thing apparently) and the church we were visiting that weekend offered free milk shakes and had 2 cows we could all pet.  She seemed to like the cows and I wished I had my camera.  She was fascinated and she'd point to them and say, "cow."
• Miami...  Here's the story:  When we first took L into the pool, she didn't want to swim with Jay, only me.  To keep things fun, Jay would take L in his arms, make choo-choo sounds and visit all the number placards for the depth markers along the pool wall.  3 feet.  4 feet.  5 feet.  But the company that made the pool has their own logo on the steps and that would be Jay's last stop - "Miami Pools."  :)
• Eight...  Swimming at the fancy pool at Jay's aunt's neighborhood, their pool goes up to a whopping 8 feet, so L likes the number 8.
• Goggles...  She likes all our goggles in the pool.
• Boat...  She loves watching the boats at Aunt Patti's lake house.  Even a wave runner is a boat to her.  Oh, and she's learned boating etiquette too - waving to all the boaters passing by.
• More...  Complete with the sign for it.
• Xie xie...  Loosely pronounced "shay shay."  Thank you in Mandarin (I loved it when she started saying this (along with gou for dog) and hearing her speak her native language because the nannies said she wasn't saying any words in the orphanage).
• Yay!...  Complete with a big smile and clapping hands and usually heard when I'm taking food out of the oven.  (sigh) 
• Bucket...  We carry all the pool toys in an old ice cream bucket.
• Ta Da!!!...  Oh, she is so pleased with herself sometimes. 
• Stay/sit...  Talking to the dogs.
• Wo ai ni...  Mandarin for "I love you."  My heart melted the first time I heard it and this phrase now flows freely from her mouth.  Oh, my heart!
• Eww... She doesn't like bugs.
• Ninjago...  (Heavy sigh).  Her brothers are obsessed with the show and she sings along with them.  Are your boys obsessed with Ninjago like mine?  I think I need a support group - for ME! :)   It's all they talk about.
• Rock...  From watching her brothers play rock, paper, scissors.  She also likes the rocks around the hot tub at Aunt Patty's.
• Daddy...  She has started this one recently.
• Bye bye, dead bug. ...  Her first full sentence.  She doesn't like bugs and she doesn't like them in the pool.  So, after she shouts "Eww!" I go over and scoop up the dead bug and flip it out into the grass.  I must have said once, "Bye bye, dead bug," because she says it every time now.
• Bow...  She's learning to like bows in her hair but they still don't last long.
• Airplane...  When she sees the small planes flying into the local airstrip, she's fascinated by them and makes sure I'm watching them too.
• No/uh-uh...  I'm surprised this one took so long for her to say, after all, she is two!
• Yes... Only on rare occasion.  ;)
• Head...   She is learning the song "Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes."
• Toes...  Again from the song.
• Minnie...  She loves Minnie Mouse.
• Torpedo...  We have these torpedo toys for the pool that we dive for.
• Bye lizard...  We drove away from Jay's aunt's house a couple weeks back and we waved goodbye to all the lizards that we were watching climb on their home.  She cracked us up with that one. 
• Please...  We've been working on this one.
• Pew!...  When she passes gas or makes a dirty diaper, she'll pinch her nose and wave the other hand.  Hysterical.
• I want that...  I heard this really quiet clear this morning when Super E was playing with one of her toys.  She was not happy to share!

For a girl who wasn't saying anything in an orphanage just a few months ago, she sure has come a LONG way!  I'm sure there are some things I'm missing too.  I think of something at 2am and tell myself to get it on here when I get up and do I remember?  No.  But L is a smart girl.  And she understands everything we're saying too, that's for sure.

I've been trying forever to get her to sing "Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes" for the camera.  Enjoy a quick 1-minute clip.  Sorry for the bed-head and lack of proper lighting.  You've got to catch these moments on camera when you can!