Seben

I'm in no rush for my children to grow up.  I (try) to cherish every moment of this snuggly phase, knowing full well that there will come a time where Sarah will no longer try to stall going to bed in order to have  few more "nuggles" (snuggles) on the couch with me.  But at the same time, I've started worrying about not facilitating baby habits in Sarah, especially as she starts "school" in two weeks.  Sarah is incredibly verbal, but there are some words she still says in an adorable, and yet, not proper way.  I've noticed she's already started to correct some of these and though it makes me proud how she's starting to talk like a big girl, it makes me sad to realize she's, well, starting to talk like a big girl.  Though these posts are more infrequent than I planned or would have liked, it's amazing how much I've managed to forget in the past three years, and how much reading these posts have helped me remember and smile.  I recently read my post about translating baby Sarah, and I wanted to write down her toddler speak. And though she is much more comprehensible now, she still has some idiosyncrasies that I both hope she outgrows and hope she retains for ever.

The letter "v".  I'm surprised she even knows it's in the alphabet or recognizes it on a piece of paper.  Seven = seben, everybody = ebeebody, five = five? (ok, I can't follow the trend there either).  And speaking of numbers...

The substitution of "f" for all sorts of letter blends.  Three = free, Granddad = Frandad.

And then the adding of letter blends where they don't belong.  When she wants you to pick her up (or hang on to her in the ocean) she asks you to "holch me" (instead of hold me).

Then there are the one offs, like the aforementioned "nuggle".   I'm sure there are many more that I can't think of right now (and might be edit worthy at some point in the future) but if we go on vacation next year and Sarah asks to go back to the hotel after dinner, I want to be able to remember that this year she asked for the "huhtel" after a day at the beach.

Update: How could I forget two of my favorite "Sarah"isms!  I love how she wants to stay in the "tubtub" (bathtub) to dry off.  Why?  "puzz" (because!)