Archive for the 'Language' Category

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In Case You Missed It: Full Review of Abby in Wonderland

Published on Sunday, December 7, 2008 in Claire, Language, Mile High Mamas, Movies, Product Reviews and Re-run. 3 Comments Tags: .

Claire and I did a review!  I wrote about it on The Denver Post‘s Mile High Mamas Forum. In case you missed it, here is the full review:

Claire and I had the awesome opportunity to review the new Abby in Wonderland DVD.

About the movie, from Sesame Street:

Abby in Wonderland, a new DVD (released Sept. 30) in which Sesame Street‘s fairy in training Abby Cadabby, falls asleep and in her dream, follows a Red Rabbit (Elmo) down a rabbit hole and into a “Wonderland,” Abby is persistent as she pursues the elusive rabbit that, inadvertently, has pocketed her magical wand.  On her quest, she encounters an incredible cast of fantastical characters such as a bilingual flower, “Rose”-ita (Rosita), The “Counter”-pillar (The Count), The Cheshire Cookie Cat (Cookie Monster), Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum (Bert and Ernie), The Mad Hatter (Grover), The Mouse (Zoe) and the cranky Grouch of Hearts (Oscar).  Without the assistance of her usual fairy magic, Abby must rely on her knowledge of rhyming to defeat the Grouch of Hearts, reclaim her wand and find her way back to Sesame Street.  A special treat for toddlers and preschoolers, Abby in Wonderland, has great new songs and is available now.

Now, I knew going into this that Claire would love it.  She is totally smitten with Abby Cadabby from Sesame Street.  You could have shown us a video of Abby just sitting on the screen giggling and waving her magic wand, and Claire would beg to watch it over and over.  I was curious to see what this movie was like, and I wasn’t disappointed!

We both loved it.

Claire loved it for the obvious reasons:  Abby.  But, she also liked seeing her other Sesame Street friends in the movie as well.  She also had fun rhyming words, which was something I wasn’t even sure she could do yet!

I loved it because the message was great, and it was entertaining on both an adult and child level.

The message deals with Fairy Tales.  Abby and Elmo are exploring the Alice in Wonderland story when Abby falls asleep and dreams up an adventure.  The message of real life not being a fairy tale and how that’s okay was awesome.  It was also neat to see how happy Abby was in just being herself and realizing that it’s okay to be small, and that there will be plenty of time to be big in the future.

Keep in mind that I’m eyeball deep in Happily Every After Princess Paraphernalia of all kinds (not that there’s anything wrong with that…), so seeing a story focus on the differences in Reality and Pretend was refreshing.  Make believe is great, but so is real life.

The funniest part about this movie was when I had Claire tell Daddy all about it when he got home.  That’s when I realized that she thought Abby was saying “Fairy Tail” instead of “Fairy Tale.”

“I didn’t know fairies had tails!  I thought they just had wings!  Why did Abby want a tail?”

I tried to explain that tail and tale were different and that tale was another name for story, but she was too excited about telling Daddy all about the movie to wrap her preschooler brain around that concept.

Hearing her tell my husband about how this little fairy-in-training (Abby) wanted to have a fairy tail, but she wasn’t big enough yet, was enough to make me laugh out loud.

And, speaking of laughing out loud, I’ve suffered through my share of adult-mind-numbing yet kid-attractive movies, and this wasn’t one of them.  We *both* enjoyed it.  It was funny.  It had things in it that made my adult mind laugh.  I love watching a child-appropriate movie that doesn’t forget that the adults are sitting there too.  In my opinion, Sesame Street has done a great job of this with their show, too, so I wasn’t surprised that I enjoyed one of their movies.

Claire is still talking about this movie, and I love finding conversation starters.  I love talking to her and getting a glimpse of what makes her tick and seeing how her mind works.  This movie is a great starting point to get that conversational ball rolling.   I’m so glad we had the opportunity to check it out.

Would we watch this again? Yes.  And, we have.  Claire wants to watch it every day.  (I don’t let her, but she’s nothing if not persistent.)  The run-time of 40-minutes is perfect – not too long, not too short.

Would I recommend this? Absolutely.  If your child likes Abby Cadabby, or any other Sesame Street characters, this would be a great choice.

Where can you get your own copy? Amazon, Target, and other retailers have it.  A search on google can direct you to the nearest location.  It’s a great idea for a holiday gift!

So, what characters are a favorite in your house?  Are there any funny concepts your kids have gotten from movies?  Do your kids think it’s weird that Fairies want tails, or is my preschooler the only one? ;)

This is not a paid review, however, we did receive a free copy of this show!

A smashing success

Published on Wednesday, November 19, 2008 in Claire, Conversations, Fun, Language, Moms' Group, Music, NaBloPoMo 2008, Photos and School. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , , .

The Moms’ Club we’re a part of has decided to create their own Music Class. I’d volunteered to host the first one.

The concept is simple. Everyone brings any instruments they have, and they all go in a clothes-basket. We take turns playing with different instruments, singing, and dancing with scarves to music.

Because Claire was so into all of the music stuff, we’d purchased a nice musical instrument set that included a triangle, tambourine, maracas, cymbals, hollow wooden scraper-thingy, and a longer-handled clacker-dealie. (I may have been the Music Class Leader this time, but that doesn’t mean I’m required to know all the technical names!!) :) She also has a nice xylophone to add to the mix. There would be plenty of instruments to choose from and share. It was going to be perfect!

Neither one of us could wait for Tuesday’s Music Class.

Monday morning, Claire had her Young Preschooler Class. Every Monday, as I’m signing her in, she picks her name-card off of the table (she finds it herself!) and takes it over to The Question of the Day poster on the wall. The teacher then helps her read the question, and Claire answers it. She then puts her name-card in the slot indicating her answer. The question is different every week and always simple. (i.e. “Are you wearing red?”) It’s something they do every time, and it helps with early reading skills, recognition, etc.

It’s fun, and she loves it.

But, what does this have to do with Music Class we were going to have on Tuesday?

Well, here’s the conversation we had on Monday night:

“Claire! We need to label your instruments for tomorrow’s Music Class! If you help me gather them all up, I’ll put your name on them.”

“Oh no! Momma, you can’t!”

“Why not? We don’t want them to get mixed up with anyone else’s instruments, so we need to put your name on them.”

“We can’t, because we left my name at school!”

She was quite relieved that we didn’t need her name-card from the school to label her musical instruments. I thought it was hysterical that she thought we’d left her actual name at the school, but I did a great job of not laughing out loud.

We got the instruments labeled, everyone showed up, and all the kids had a great time playing with the instruments, singing and dancing. All in all, the Music Class on Tuesday was a smashing success…

Quite literally, I’m afraid.

...quite literally, I’m afraid.

This was a “while being put away” casualty and not a “while being played” situation.  No musicians were harmed in this incident and thankfully, this isn’t a fatal injury. “Says you!” cries The Tambourine. ;) Forgive her. She’s just a little short-sighted right now. As soon as I get her fixed (I’ll probably just remove the ripped paper – I may or may not re-cover her), no one will be the wiser.

[Edited to add:  Check out the update!]

Today is Day 19 of 30 in the NaBloPoMo Challenge! Check it out and/or join in the fun! Instruments requiring repair? One. Days completed in the NaBloPoMo Challenge?  Nineteen!

Claire-isms

Published on Sunday, November 16, 2008 in Claire, Claire-isms, Language and NaBloPoMo 2008. 3 Comments Tags: , , .

I think it’s time for another installment of Claire-isms!

So, what’s a Claire-ism? A Claire-ism is a word or phrase that is invented by Claire and used repeatedly in our house, until the “right way” to say it wins out, and she moves on to another funny word or phrase. Sometimes it’s just the way she pronounces a word. Sometimes, it’s a completely new way to describe something. Be sure to check out the Claire-isms Category for past examples.

So, let’s get started!

“Pee-an-nee-no”

This would be the way Claire pronounces the word “piano.” (As in, “Hey, guys! I’m going to play my pee-an-nee-no and sing!”) I thought this pronunciation was a little odd and rather unique until one of my friends heard her say it. She got the funniest look on her face and gasped, saying, “My daughter used to say it the same way when she was Claire’s age! I’d totally forgotten that!”

Fuh-lection

“Momma! I can see my fuh-lection in the stove!” or “Look! My fuh-lection is waving to me in the window!” Reflection, Fuh-lection, same thing. Just like some Claire-isms from the past, Claire can say each syllable separately but not the whole word together. Ree…..fleck…..shun. Fuh-lection!

Thinger-Dinger

This one is an adaptation of something I already say. If don’t know the right terminology for a word, I call something a thingy-dingy. Claire’s version of that? Thinger-dinger. There is just something about the way she says it that makes me giggle every time!

Ones

This one is a little harder to explain. Claire adds the word ones to the phrase when she’s talking about more than one item. In a way, she uses it to mean “of them.” For example, if you ask her how many sparkly headbands she has, she’d say, “I have three ones.” Or, if you ask her how many Baby Ariel™ dollies she has, she’d say, “I have two ones. This one is a mermaid, and this one is a human.”

This is one of those Claire-isms that is really understandable (especially when you break the items down into this one and that one), and it’s hard to not use it ourselves!

So, how many Claire-isms did I write about today? Four ones, of course. ;)

Today is Day 16 of 30 in the NaBloPoMo Challenge! Check it out and/or join in the fun!

Claire-isms: The Rainbone & Natkim Edition

Published on Tuesday, October 21, 2008 in Claire, Claire-isms, Conversations and Language. 1 Comment Tags: , , , , .

If you check out the Claire-ism Category, you’ll be able to read about some of the words, concepts, and phrases that only a toddler or preschooler can create.  I love discovering how little kids’ minds work!

Over the last couple weeks, Claire has shared four more Claire-isms with us, that I just have to share!

“Rainbone”

Claire loves rainbows.  She loves pictures of them, photos of them and pointing them out in real life.  They are, however, pronounced “Rainbones,” just so you know.

“Getting your attention”

The other day, Claire did something naughty.  It was one of those days that involved many trips to the time-out corner.  So, to disarm her, and for something new, I picked her up by her ankles and took her to the time-out corner upside down.  She was most perplexed and wanted to know why I’d done that.

“Why did you do that, Momma!?  Why did you pick me up and carry me upside down?” she asked after the time-out timer went off.

“Well, I had to get your attention.”

“No!  Don’t take it!  You can’t have it!”

“Don’t take what?”

“My attention!  You can’t have it!  It’s mine!!”

:)

“Attack of the peanut butter”

Claire and I are eating lunch.  Claire has decided to open up her peanut butter sandwich and poke holes all over the insides.  All of a sudden, she starts yelling, “Aaaaaaaaaaaaahhhh!  Aaaaaaaaaaaaahhh!”

“What?” I ask.

“Aaaaahhhhh!  The peanut butter keeps attacking my fingers!”

Which brings us to the last one in this edition…

“Natkim”

“Momma, may I please have a natkim?  The peanut butter attacked my fingers, and I need to wipe it off.”

So, we have the ask-politely-for-a-napkin figured out, but we need to work on the ripping-apart-of-the-sandwich-and-poking-at-the-innards part.  :)

Puh-choob

Published on Friday, October 10, 2008 in Claire, Claire-isms, Conversations and Language. 3 Comments

“Hey, Momma?”

“Yes, Claire?”

“Do you know what a Puh-choob is?”

“No…what’s a Puh-choob?”  I ask.  She makes up words all the time, and I’m always fascinated when I can get a glimpse inside the imagination of someone who isn’t quite 3-yrs. old yet.

“A Puh-choob is when you sneeze on somebody’s face.  Usually?  Usually?  Usually, you sneeze on their face on ACCIDENT.  You say, ‘Puh-CHOOB!’  and, then you say, ‘SORRY!’  And, then you scrub and scrub and scrub and wipe and wipe and wipe their face off…like this,” she explains with great enthusiasm while mimicking what it would be like to have a Puh-choob scrubbed and wiped off of her own face.

“Oh no!  Is a Puh-choob only if you sneeze on someone’s face?  What if you sneeze on someone’s something else…like on someone’s arm?  What would you call that?”  I’m trying really hard not to laugh.  I mean, where does she come up with this stuff??

“No, Momma…that’s not a Puh-choob.  That’s just a sneeze.”

“Oh…okay.”

“And then?  And then?” she adds excitedly.

“What…?”  What else could there possibly be?

“And then you say, ‘Gesundheit!’”

Obviously.

And, now you know the proper procedure for handling a Puh-choob.
Just so you know.

;)

A smile on my lip

Published on Thursday, October 2, 2008 in Claire and Language. 1 Comment

“Hey, Claire?” I call to her from the hallway.  I’ve just brought the trashcans into the garage from the curb, and I’ve just remembered that there were some new shows that recorded this morning.

“Yeah…?”  She’s playing in my office, with her dollhouse.

“Do you wanna watch Sesame Street?  There’s one recorded on the new system…and it’s waiting for us downstairs…”

“REALLY?  There’s one there?!”  She comes running down the hallway.  “OH MOMMA!!  I’M SO HAPPY!  See? LOOK!  I’m so happy!! I HAVE A SMILE ON MY LIP!”

:)

Make ya laugh Monday

Published on Monday, September 29, 2008 in Claire, Language, Milestones and Parenting 101. 3 Comments

We had a great weekend!  As always, I truly believe that if you haven’t laughed lately in your life, you haven’t been paying attention.  ;)

Here are some things that had us rollin’ this weekend.  Maybe you had to be there?  Who knows.  Just writing about them makes me laugh all over again, so I thought I’d share!

~*~

We went to a wedding this weekend.  It was the first wedding that Claire has attended!  She did so well, and we all had a great time.

After the service has concluded, and the bride and groom walked back down the aisle, everyone is waiting to go back into the building.  (The wedding was a gorgeous event, held on a patio on the mountainside, overlooking the city.)

Claire looks at me and says in her overly-cheery (i.e. loud) voice, “Now, it’s time to eat!  Right, Momma!?”

The people behind us couldn’t help but laugh out loud.

“Well, at least she has her priorities straight,” I told them.  They agreed.

~*~

The wedding venue had lit candles everywhere.  Every time Claire saw candles, she tried to blow them out.

“Sweetie, we don’t blow out the candles.  We just look at them,” I said, hoping no one was watching her.

“But, it’s a birthday, Momma!  I’m supposed to blow out the candles!”

“No, sweetie, this is a wedding…not a birthday.”

“Oh…it’s a wedding…not a birthday?  And we can’t blow out the candles at a wedding?”

“No…it’s not that kind of party.”

So, if you were behind us in the buffet line, my apologies.  The little tea-lights by the mashed potatoes and scalloped potatoes were lit when we got there…but a couple birthday wishes were made before I could intervene.

~*~

Claire did a great job of sitting still during the dinner.  But, she started to get antsy when that portion of the festivities started to wear down, and they hadn’t opened the floor to dancing yet.

The three of us were sitting at a table with a group of our friends.  One of the husbands decided to play hide-and-seek with Claire while we waited for the bride and groom to make the rounds.

Now, keep in mind, Claire doesn’t really know how to play hide-and-seek.  In her version, whomever is the seeker counts to ten, says, “Ready or not, here I come!” and then pretends to look for her — or just says, “Where’s Claire?  Where is she?”  The seeker doesn’t even usually have to walk around.  (And, keep in mind, Claire has not only announced where she will be hiding, it’s usually a very obvious place.)

So, my friend’s husband starts to walk toward the steps leading down to the dance floor, which is in the opposite direction of where Claire is hiding behind my chair, and he’s pretending to look for Claire.  She gets really excited and runs over to stand at the top of the stairs.

Just as she gets here, he whips around and yells, “BOO!”

She shrieks and runs back toward our table…which wouldn’t be that funny, except that he had totally startled the entire table of senior citizens that were sitting at the table by the stairs.  Every single one of them jumped and gasped out loud.  My friend’s husband felt horrible and profusely apologized for sneaking up on all of them and letting out such a startling yell.  One elderly gentleman (who had happened to be admiring Claire and her antics throughout the evening) literally grasped his chest and said, “I’m not sure my heart can take all this excitement.”

~*~

This is the same gentleman who turned to me as I was standing behind him holding Claire so that she could see the bride and groom dancing their first dance and said, “My, you sure are a cutie!” and then his wife playfully swatted him on the arm, turned around and said, “Oh, you’re lucky there’s a baby there too, this time.”  HA!  ;)

~*~

On Sunday night, the three of us went out to dinner.  As the meal is winding down, Daddy and I are discussing Claire’s birthday gift options.  I’m spelling everything of any importance, so as to remain secretive in front of Claire.

All of a sudden, Claire starts saying random letters out loud.

“Tee!  Oh!  Eye!  Eye!  Ell!  Pee!  Pee!  Tee!”

We start to laugh.  Claire was spelling right along with us!

“Claire, what are you doing?”

“I’m spelling words, Momma!  Just like you!”  Claire said.  “Enn!  Ess!  Tee!  Eye!  Eye!”

It won’t be long before she figures out what we’re doing.  Something tells me that our days of keeping secrets like this are numbered…  :)

Claire-isms – Funny Phrases and Concepts

Published on Wednesday, August 13, 2008 in Claire, Claire-isms and Language. 3 Comments

It’s been a while since I recorded some Claire-isms, so here’s the next installment.  These are phrases and concepts that Claire says or talks about all the time, and I think they’re so funny!

“Sharp” – as in “Don’t touch them; they’re sharp!”

So, what’s funny about this?  Well, she’s not usually talking about knives!  She’s usually talking about anything she’s not supposed to touch: Spiders specifically.  I guess parts of the spiders are sharp, so she’s not entirely incorrect.  ;)

To be honest, I’m just fine with her thinking that spiders are sharp…as long as it keeps her from playing with them!  She has also used this phrase to describe wasps, and parts of them are sharp, too!

“Once upon again…”

Claire has started singing a lot.  She makes up songs all day long.  One of the phrases she uses repeatedly is “once upon again…” which probably comes from the “once upon a time” in the nursery rhymes and stories I read to her.

Still, there is something naïve and magical about her phrase that I love!  (I’m having a tough time correcting this one, too…)

“My butt is kinda goofy.”

I debated whether or not to record this one, let alone share it with the general population, but it makes me laugh every time I hear it!  She came up with this phrase all on her own.  Out of context, it’s hilarious and makes one question what’s going on.  What is she talking about?  I mean, her butt isn’t goofy.

But, upon further investigation, the meaning is clear.  Every time she’s said this, she’s been dealing with a wedgie.  Princess panties are cute and all, but they do tend to creep up one cheek or the other at times.  And, I can definitely see where that would make things feel a little goofy back there.   :)

No mail-carriers were harmed in the writing of this post

Published on Thursday, July 31, 2008 in Claire, Conversations and Language. 4 Comments

“What are you doing, Momma??”

“Where are my sandals, Claire? Can you get them for me please? I’ve gotta hurry. I’m trying to get these Thank Yous in the mail before the mailman gets here. He’ll be here soon, and I have to beat him.”

“What!? Why!? It’s not good to hit, Momma! I don’t want you to beat the mailman!”

“Oh, Sweetie! I’m not going to hit the mailman. I’m not going to beat him like that…I meant I’m going to try to get to the mailbox before he gets there.”

“Why? Is he going to try to hurt you? Are you going to beat him? You said it’s not good to hit, Momma.”

*sigh* “You’re right, Claire. It’s not good to hit. Don’t worry…I’m not going to beat the mailman.”

Traveling Dictionary

Published on Wednesday, July 23, 2008 in Language and Travel. 2 Comments

If you ever have to take a roadtrip with us, be sure to bring along your Traveling Dictionary. Here are some entries you’ll want to mark for future reference.

Bogey (Plural: Bogies) – n. [pronounced: bohg-ee(s)]

Definition: A vehicle that is entering the Interstate or roadway. More than likely, said vehicle will be cause for you to change lanes so that it can move safely from the entrance ramp onto the Interstate.

Origin: Most likely adopted from Top Gun (or any other similar movie) where enemy planes were referred to as “bogies.”

Usage: “Bogey, two-o’clock.” [Note: The “time on an old-school clock face” is often combined with this terminology to help the driver understand the position of the Bogey.]

Ninja Route – n.

Definition: A route that is known only to locals, or people who were once locals but have since moved away. An unmarked (secret) and speedier route to a specific location.

Origin: Ninjas are talented in all things sneaky, speedy, and awesome, so obviously following one of their routes would be advantageous.

Usage: “Are you going to take the Ninja Route to the Interstate/store/etc.?”

Gonna chill – verb phrase

Definition: A phrase indicating that one will be remaining in the vehicle while the other person leaves the vehicle.

Origin: Often refers to the person “chilling” in the car, quite literally in the summer, with the air-conditioning blasting.

Usage: “I’m going to run in to this gas station and grab a drink. Are you coming with me, or are you gonna chill?” Or, “You go ahead; I’m gonna chill. Just bring me back a Diet Coke.”

Chill yer biz-natch – command phrase

Definition: A command meaning “to calm yourself down.”

Origin: Exact literal translation of said phrase is unknown. Phrase was originally coined by Daddy, but Momma knew exactly what he meant. Phrase has been in usage for many years.

Usage: Question, “Are we there yet!?” Answer, “Almost! Just chill yer biz-natch.” [Note: Oddly enough, the toddler on the roadtrip has yet to ask that particular question. It’s always one of the adults in the front seat…] ;)