Sentenced: a List of Betsyisms

Well, I meant to post this back in mid-January, but I confess I wanted a cute picture to accompany it. But with my computer, downloading, editing, and uploading a photo can take just about all the patience I have, which is less than fair to Betsy. So, although photoless, I'm finally getting around to letting you all into the newest aspect of her world: sentences.

Her progress delights me, but must confess I'm secretly a little sorrowful. Don't get me wrong -- I wouldn't want it any other way -- but there are parts of baby Betsy that we'll never get back. Already this morning, she's given me plenty of evidence she's almost entirely outgrown the one-word stage of life. We've moved on to the wonderful world of sentences -- sometimes partial, sometimes full, always entertaining.


"I sit down Mommy's lap."
"Books up high. Want books."
"Oh my goodness!"
"That's a mango."
"Daddy read Morning book."
"Mommy help me this thing"
"My tush hurts. Kiss it better." (You try explaining to your kid why you're not going to kiss their behind. It gets tricky.)

...But these are the more discernible. We often get things like:

"Daddy momma drive car Poppy Gigi" (Let's go to Poppy and Gigi's)
"Clean up, clean up, everybody share." (These are song lyrics, the last part says everybody do your share)
"Tail out?" (Can I have my piggy tail out?)
"Eat hungry food?"
"Remember Baby Sister?" (She's certain I've forgotten I'm pregnant. I cannot explain this.)

And a few are just her cute phrases/wordings:
ricey beans (rice & beans)
happy family
Daddy home
Hold you me


This week she cut her last eye tooth, and all she's wanted to eat is yogurt. After we ran out, I tried to feed her whole-milk pudding, but it was flatly rejected with her first declaration of "no like it," repeated in five-second intervals. (She'll eat the fat-free Yoplait but turns down pudding?!? Who is she?)

After much grunting and gymnastic efforts, she also managed to wrangle her arms out of her carseat this week, causing great fear in myself and obvious pride in herself. She was practically shouting "I did it!" also repeated in five second intervals. The car being only five blocks from home, and she so thoroughly pleased, I just couldn't bear to pull over and fix it.

Being the ultra-feminine thing she is, Betsy is also very into the world of dressing herself. Shoes and socks have always been her main interest, but matching them? Not so much. Now we also go for a second or third shirt, and more than one pair of pants. She takes that "a girl can never be overdressed" thing a little seriously if you ask me.

She's quite good at that little clean up part of things. While she probably didn't get that gene from me, it's cute to see her get out all her shoes and diapers, and then get them all put away again. Betsy is still enamored with her Learning Tower and insists on eating all her meals in it. I usually don't let her, but she is permitted to eat snacks in it and oh, she just beams. She likes to watch me prepare food in it, and this week impressed her nursery leader with the word bell pepper in her vocabulary.

Many of her favorite books have nicknames she'll request them by, such as morning book, melon book, Bah! book, daddy book, Fox Socks book, cat book, etc. She has learned to move the rocking chair ottoman in her room so she can reach her books, so now she'll literally bring out 30 or so books (three at a time) and pass them off to you. Once a sufficient number is achieved, she asks, "Read it?" and turns around and backs into you, waiting for you to pick her up. While this isn't new, it never gets old...