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Tuesday, March 12, 2013

The 10 Toddler Words I'll Miss the Most




Before our kids learn our language, we get to experience the magic of learning theirs. For an amazing, and amazingly short, period of time kids speak a language that only their parents can understand. Have you ever been around a parent and their kid, and the kid looks at the parent and says, "Samoopeeepoop clababa pano pano it," and the parent, completely un-phased, replies with something like "No dear, you've had enough graham-crackers, and dinner is in an hour"? 

I'm going to miss that connection with my kid. I like that for awhile my wife and I were the only ones who could understand her. But now, Duchess is getting much better at talking. Her language skills are really pretty amazing. She's almost mastered subject, object and possessive pronouns.  She's getting tenses down, and every once in awhile she'll put together a sentence with multiple clauses and a semi-colon. 

"I want to lay in bed with you and mommy, who you call Stevie-pie, but I peed in my pull up and need a new butt; can you change it?"

Yes, it should be lie and not lay, but cut her some slack. She's two. So before Duchess starts quoting Faulkner and writes a fan-fiction sequel to The Sound and the Fury, I decided now would be a good time to write down some of the Duchessisms that are slowly fading away from her mind, like the end of Flowers for Algernon*, only in reverse… which, now that I think about it, would be the beginning of Flowers for Algernon. I digress. 

10 Words I'm Going to Miss

Adonamaa:  I don't want a, I don't want to -  "Adonamaa go night night." or "ADONAMAA WEAR PANTIES!!!"

This one can change and take on additional syllables depending on how badly she doesn't want to do whatever action she is resisting. For instance, if it is putting away her toy train it could be: "ADONAMANAMMANNAMANNNANANANA PUT AWAY MY CHOO CHOO TRAAAAAIIIINN!!!" Yes, it can be frustrating sometimes, but when adonamaa goes away so does all the cuteness from her rebellion. Then it's just plain old rebellion. 

Kayeeoo: Carry me

This word is always said at my feet with outstretched arms, and is always said at least twice. "Kayeeoo… Kayeeoo Daddy". It comes from me asking her if she wanted me to carry her when she was slow and I was sick of waiting for her to catch up. I'd say "Want daddy to carry you?" So now she assumes that "Carry you" is one word that means: to carry the Duchess. On instinct, I tried to teach her the correct way to say it the other day and Stevie leapt across the room, screamed NOOOOO, and then tackled me. She's resisting the change even more than I am.  

Sawbubby: Strawberry

This one just left her vocabulary a few weeks ago. I'm pretty sure Stevie cried when she heard Duchess say "Can I have a strawberry?" I would give anything to have a recording of her saying "I has a sawbubby?" I would make a million copies. I would keep one in the Smithsonian. But alas, Sawbubby is gone forever - a lost word in a dying language.  ::sob::

Fiveteen: Fifteen - "Thirteen…fourteen…fiveteen…"

There was a point at which I would have been completely comfortable with this pronunciation of fifteen carrying on into High School. I don't care how much damage it does. I'd pay for the therapy. I want my daughter to call fifteen "fiveteen" dammit! 

F*cking: Something

I'm not going to use it in a sentence, just understand that for the last 6-8 months, every time Duchess has meant to say "Something", she has said something very different. It has made having company over oh so much fun! 

Shut Up: Stand up - "Daddy, shut up." 

"That's not very nice; don't tell me to shut up." 

"Shut up Daddy!" 

"Duchess, don't tell me to shut up. That is not nice." 

"SHUT UP DADDYYYYYYYY!!!"

It took me awhile to figure out what she was saying. Now, when people see me quietly stand up after Duchess tells me to "shut up" they assume I'm just a broken shell of the man I once was, when really we're just communicating!

Wanididid: I wanted to, and I did - "I wanididid go potty daddy!!"

I love this one because it only happens when she is so proud of herself that she doesn't have time to use multiple words. She just wants to tell me everything in one, awesome Duchess word, and that is perfectly fine with me. "I wanididid count to fiveteen daddy!!!!" Yes you did honey. Yes you did.

Rebudeder: Regular, in-between slow and fast

When we sing songs in the car… actually I should just say when we are in the car, because it is the same thing. If we are in the car, we must be singing. Duchess has declared it so. Anyway, she also declares whether we sing the song fast or slowwwwwww. Once she is tired of making us speed up or slow down "The Wheels on the Bus" fiveteen times she'll say, "Ok edeebody. Now sing rebudeder." And then we sing the song rebudeder.

Habagooday: Have a good day!

I saved this one for last not only because structurally it makes sense, but because it is my favorite. Duchess and I have a bedtime ritual. We brush our teeth. She spits all over her face. I wipe her face. We read a book. We read another book. She then tells me she would like to read four more books. I say no. She pretends to cry. I pretend to acknowledge her pretend cry. Then she gets in bed. We sing 1-30 songs. I give her a kiss and a hug. I say good night. She says good night. I say I love you. She says I love you. And then I get up and leave the room. Every night – and I'm serious here – every single night after I shut the door she yells "Habagooday!" I don't know where she picked it up. I don't care that it is night and not day. It is something that is wholly hers and I want it to stay that way forever. So I open the door back up, poke my head in and say back "Habagooday, I love you." And she loves me too. 

Habagooday, 

Dad (John)

What toddler words do you love or miss with your kids? Let's make a dictionary in the comments!!

*In case, like my wife, you didn't get the Flowers for Algernon reference, please refer to the episode of the Simpsons when Homer finds out that a crayon he put in his nose as a child is in his brain. He has it removed and becomes a genius... only to slowly fall back into buffoonery once the crayon is put back in. That episode is a parody of Flowers for Algernon – which is a fantastic book.  

Special thanks to Ask Your Dad Blog fan Emmaly S. for correcting me on my Simpsons reference. I originally stated that the crayon made Homer a genius, she gently pointed out that it was the other way around!


Homer with Crayon in Brain
The crayon is in his brain, and it makes him not smart.

P.S. We're still having a blast over at the Ask Your Dad Facebook Page. I post funny micro content like conversations I have with Duchess that have words I didn't include on this list. If you haven't liked the page, I highly encourage it. It recently won the Latin Grammy for Choreography in a Music Video. I even put a widget in the right column for you to click. It's that easy!



171 comments:

  1. Two: More

    When you hand my son any sort of snack he asks for "two" (which he thinks means "more"). It is hilarious to watch the grandparents try to figure this out. They are baffled when they had him two of something and he is still shouting "TWO!". Understandable it has resulted in many well intentioned, but unnecessary counting lessons.

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    Replies
    1. I love it! Maybe that's why Duchess always asks for 4 books!

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  2. Bastard: Buster
    This toddlerism led to much conflict and eventually punishment before we finally realized that he was just trying to affectionately call people buster, which was a nickname I used for him. Poor little guy.

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    Replies
    1. I hope you taught him to shake his fist while saying it!!

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    2. Bastard was my 3 yr old grandsons "faster". Anytime he wanted us to do anything faster... Bastard BASTARD!!!

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  3. Hohdju - hold me

    Essentially the equivalent of carry me

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  4. I so wish that I had done this with my boys! Alas, I have forgotten most of their toddlerisms. But there is one...

    To truly understand this one, you need to picture me carrying my one year old and a day's worth of supplies through a children's hospital with my 3-year-old running ahead to the next phase of the miles' long mural. "Look, Mommy! (Pointing waaaay ahead, usually more at a woman's behind than the wall) It's a b*tch! And there's another b*tch!!!" I spent the whole day gasping about the beautiful BRIDGES!

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  5. Fuckernail = fingernail
    Orsange= orange
    Uppie= pick me up

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  6. I'm so sad that 'cuggle' has been replaced with 'cuddle' (likewise 'puggle' and 'puddle'), and it's all the worse now that my boy eats blueberries and strawberries instead of 'boobrees' and 'strawbruhs'.

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    Replies
    1. Oh! Our daughter's nickname (one of many) is 'Bug'. Naturally, this led to the boy calling her 'Bugger bugger bug', loud and often.

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    2. Ha! My mother-in-law calls Duchess Pooh Bear. When I ask her to tell me her full name she says "Pooh Bear Kinnear"

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    3. The Bug in question, now much older, is chatting wonderfully.

      She says 'bobot' instead of 'robot'. I don't know why this is so adorable, it just really is.

      She also claims 'm'lion!' which translates as 'I am a lion!'. She first shouted this at a squirrel. Which she chased. Whilst shouting, "M'lion! RAR!"

      Bug is pretty awesome.

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  7. Bandit = Dam it.
    Syriup = Syrup
    mira = Mirror
    The Jacobs = The Hiccups
    Peeeaaass = Please

    I have 3 children (12,9,5)I wish I could remember all the adorable things they said. They have grown much too quickly!!

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  8. Henny Penny - any kind of coin

    "Wanna put another henny penny in your bank." (Where "your" means "my" - pronouns are a work in progress!)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The pronouns are the last to go! Enjoy the confusion while you can!

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  9. One day my daughter called shampoo "hair poop" when I was giving her a bath. I nervously checked the water for a floating turd log, and I almost died laughing when I figured out what she was telling me.

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    Replies
    1. This made me snort my coffee.

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    2. My 4 year old still calls it "Shampoop"! What can I say, he's a 4 year old boy, and he thinks bathroom jokes are funny.

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    3. I'm 33 and bathroom jokes are still funny

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  10. I never get tired of DD telling me that she "hicked up."

    ...by which she means, "Hiccuped."

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    Replies
    1. My daughter calls them "hic-me-ups". I love it.

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  11. 3 of my 4 kids have used the word 'lasterday' to mean any time in the past. Usually with little to no reference for you to figure it out. "lasterday we went to da pawk" (when we hadn't been to the park in a couple of weeks...

    Oh, I remember, lasterday...

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    Replies
    1. It's so hard to say goodbye to lasterday.

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    2. When she was a little older than a toddler, (like up till kindergarten, I think) Missy would say:

      The day before tomorrow = Yesterday, or any day in the recent past

      This evolved from just using "Tomorrow" to mean any day other than TODAY, either future or past.

      Time is hard.

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    3. Lasterday.... All my troubles seemed so far away.

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    4. Joining this late, but "lasterday" caught me. My oldest (3 1/2) doesn't have a creative word like "lasterday", but she does reference just about any day in the past as "yesterday". Any future date is "Tuesday". Referencing the zoo trip we plan to take in April, she says, "On Tuesday, we're going to the zoo!" Now, our 2 1/2 year old is doing the same thing. I'm sure our third will add to the mix. I'm going to miss all these days when they become "lasterday". We've already lost some good words over time. Bittersweet.

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    5. Awe, we still have lasterdaytime at our house. "Remember lasterdaytime when you let me have a million cheese chips?"

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  12. Mershacol = commercial
    Hopharryis = hilarious
    And my daughter once told me the light "ran out of batteries" when the bulb burnt out. I think that was the topper! Still chuckle about it and it happened 9 years ago :)

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    Replies
    1. You're daughter is 9??? Jessika! We're so old. We've come so far since middle school.

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  13. blankelet = Blanket

    I feel awful for correcting her, because now I miss it.

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    Replies
    1. I know! I find myself saying fiveteen out the hope that Duchess will just accept bit. I know it's selfish, but I really don't want fiveteen to go away.

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  14. Naktumm (napkin) I am going to miss that so much.

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    Replies
    1. My niece would say pappies for nappies and west pipes for wet-wipes. We still remind her about it :)

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  15. My two year old used to (and still does to a much lesser extent) say the sounds of something with the word. So it was always "puppy woo woo" or eventually "puppy woof woof", "big truck vroom", "monkey ooh ooh aah aah". It's not as involuntary anymore, but we get him to do it without thinking when we can. :)

    We were very sad to when "gwa gwa" (grandma/grandpa) turned into "grandpa" for all grandparents, and then eventually now to the correct "grandma" or "grandpa". I loved "gwa gwa". *tear*

    Some of my current favorites are:
    mumbilance: ambulance, he's a little dyslexic :)
    chattacoochie: Chattahoochee (it's a river in Atlanta)

    Oh, and all bears are a "pooh bear". All milk-looking drinks are a "night night drink" (which he used to call "drink drink drink") and all colored drinks are "juice".

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    1. Go away? When my son doesn't like something he tells it to go away or back off

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    2. Whenever my daughter wants something to go away, she tells it to "Get down!"

      Which she picked up from the grandparents always yelling at the dogs to get down off the couch or whatever.

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  16. I'm a first time mommy annnnd my daughter is only 7 months old, so we don't have any words yet. BUT from the time I was 1 to about, ooohh I dunno, 3?, I referred to oranges as "orshes" and asked any adult present to "open orsh!"
    Apple was ah-PULL which is correct, but the emphasis was always on the "pull".
    Oh and I often confused the two.
    There's a Christmas video, famous in our family, in which I have brought my father an apple and say "orsh? Orsh? Open orsh?" And he says "AH-pull. It's an apple" so I say "oh. ah-PULL. Open?" He then shows me how to eat it. I take a bite, then throw it on the floor and retrieve my orsh and start over.

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  17. At first, my two year old referred to all creatures canine as "Dog dat goes woof." Then after reading some William Wegman books, they became "Dog not eating dinner" whereas the dogs in the books *were* eating dinner.

    Also, when he's vehemently against something (like, say, pants) he'll sputter out "No, no, nomunomunomunomuno!"

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  18. My daughter used to call pajamas pimjampsim-on because I'd say each night, "Let's go get your pajamas on!"

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  19. One of my favourites is "anotis!" for "there it is!". It has stayed where other wonderful expressions have been replaced by more accurate ones.

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  20. My guy is almost three so has been talking for a while. He has big words like "actually" and "thermometer" under control but the ones that still hang in there are:

    My absolute favorite: "just a yittabillyt" = just a little bit

    In general anything that ends with double l gets s "luh", so you go up a hilluh, you ring a belluh, and you cook on a grilluh. I don't know why it only seems to be double-l words. For instance, girl is just girl.

    There is also:
    "I mem" = I am
    "cehr-so-rel" = carousel
    "three days ago" = happened in the past

    Thanks for the reminder to write all these wonderful things down!

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  21. agoy = spider.

    I have no idea where that one came from.

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    Replies
    1. aragog? Harry Potter reference?

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    2. cucuy, for boogeyman, or something scary?

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  22. Our almost 3 year old has a few classics that I am really going to miss:
    BIG FASTER! (going high on swing, running, tickling)
    Cugger: Color
    Notnowmaybesoon.kay? (She adopted my standard redirect.)

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  23. My now 17 year old daughter, who graduates valedictorian of her class in may, named wedgies "dig-a-butt." We still use that.

    My 3yo daughter calls all drinks "shake-a" ...from us shaking up formula and later drink mixes. She also calls her grandma "mango"- could never get those syllables down.

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  24. My now 17 year old daughter, who graduates valedictorian of her class in may, named wedgies "dig-a-butt." We still use that.

    My 3yo daughter calls all drinks "shake-a" ...from us shaking up formula and later drink mixes. She also calls her grandma "mango"- could never get those syllables down.

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  25. My son is 22 months old, and definitely has a secret language.
    Here's some of his favorite things: "yuck truck" = garbage truck
    "yucky can" = diaper pail
    "hop" = walking up stairs
    Right now everything is about garbage. He sees a dumpster on the street and will scream, "Yucky can!" He sees a piece of paper on the sidewalk and will yell, "Yuck! Yuck!"
    Seriously, this boy is going to be a sanitation engineer.

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  26. F***you : thank you.
    When learning the expression he wanted us to say it if he did something for us i.e. he would hold open a door and them say "mum say f*** you Archie"

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  27. oh I enjoyed these, borught back so many memories ,my bubs are in their 20's now, but with 9month old twin grandies there will be a new lot of wonder words soon.
    one that sticks in my mind is from my eldest at 2,she didnt have a reference for money so made one up...Bing...the sound of the coins when they bang together or drop in a till lol she would ask me for some bing when she heard it in my purse lol my youngest , used to pick up the phone regardless if it rang or not and wave it at whoever was closest and babble eeforyuuu

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  28. this post made me laugh until the tears ran. I then pulled hubbie over to read it too. My daughter is 20 months and starting to talk and DELIGHTS us daily with her communication. I just started writing my own list today (probably the reason I noticed your article on Essential baby), which then led me here... posting a comment on there is a MISSION! :)

    I also enjoyed your sharing post. I am with you on that one :)

    Keep writing Dad (John), good on ya :)

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  29. My nephew called a computer a "cuter" until he was almost four. Now he's a teenager that pronounces all of his technology related words correctly, and it's not nearly as, well, cute.

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  30. My favorite babygirl toddler-ism is ucky-see-bows. Which means "I want to go upstairs and play with the balls". Followed closely by "READY"? which OF COURSE means that she is leaving the house, with or without my permission, typically because she thinks the car is a magical mobile which will take her somewhere to get french fries. She likes to pull this one out 5 minutes before bedtime. We know we are in trouble when the "READY?!" comes out.

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  32. My niece turned 1 in September and whenever she wants more of something she'll say "morepeese" (more please). She also refers to any dogs as an "oof" (woof, the sound that dogs make).

    Kathy

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  33. A compilation of favorites from my 2 oldest:

    Gahrge: Garbage
    Nowannoo: I don't want to
    Ip-shure: Picture
    Eet-shure: Teacher
    Purr-pept: Perfect
    Deh-shure-atings: Decorations
    Doo-doo: Guitar (Mommy, where da doo-doo?) Apparently he is applying onomatopoeia, because a guitar makes a "doo-doo-doo" sound?

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  34. My son had lots (that I already don't remember all of, so its good that you're publishing yours to be saved on the interwebs):

    Croc-di-doo - crocodile
    Wee-ona - Leona (my grandmother's name)

    Now that he's older and learning to sound out words and read a bit he told my ex's girlfriend "J is for my mommy's name. (My name is Joy) -- Ja, ja, ja, mommy."

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  35. I used to babysit a kid who called M&Ms "deedle-deedles". I think it was because of the noise they make, not the way they sound. My younger brother used to say "ass cream" instead of "ice cream". Mom would make him POINT to the one he wanted at Coldstone instead of asking for it if she could. It wasn't always successful. ("I want blue ass cream!")

    I also think it's insanely fun to get kids to say the words "elephant" and "caterpillar" because they're always funny.

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  36. My nephew always said "loda" for yellow, and "wally" for water. He's 33 now. We still say loda and wally. Just because THEY stop saying it doesn't mean WE have to. :-)

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  37. Fear Not John, I am now 30 and my folks still use ( in public I might add) all the words that I made up when I was small. They are now ingrained into the vocabulary of my entire family...my children have no hope of escaping them.


    Ben-da-been: Band-aid

    Owie-Owie: anything that could have hurt or in fact, does hurt

    Kramer: Camera

    Dunky-Dunky: Catchup ( I swear to you, my 60 yr old Dad, asked me to pass the dunky dunky yesterday!)

    Coka-Fola: Any carbonated beverage

    Doo-Bock-Ee: Piggy Back Ride: Before Bed I used to get on my Pop's back and he would gallop around the house saying Doo-Bock-Ee, Doo-Bock-Ee over and over again, until he would throw me on my bed and say " Doo-Bock-Ee, Doo-Bock-Ee, Do-Bock-Ee..DO BED!

    Eeeee-ma: Grandama...It stuck with her until the day she died and it was printed as her name in the Obituary.

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  38. Lol... My son is almost 2 and every morning without fail I go in to get him around 8:30 or 9 and get greeted with a
    "howaooo" which means How Are You? it's the cutest thing ever... Especially after you answer him and he's like "dasgoo" which means that's good!

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  39. Mumumums= those fine candy coated treats M&M's

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  40. Dwadabees = strawberries
    Butta joolay = peanut butter and jelly

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  41. My son loves to drink horchata. Every time I ask if he wants it, he thinks I'm saying "Your chata", so he calls it "My chata". I'll miss that.

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  42. hickie butts = hiking boots
    bair pwain = airplane
    aminals = animals

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  43. 'Abudah' was my son's word for a car. It was such a cool word, but then one day it just disappeared. There is still a gaping hole in my psyche where that word once belonged.

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  44. So cute! I love how adorable they can be at such a young age when trying to find their own ways to self-expression. My youngest has a hard time saying "s", so she would say, I wanna walk in da now! She means she wants to walk in the snow. Also, my son, who is now almost 12, used to say Merry Timas for Merry Christmas. I miss those days! (kinda...lol)

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  45. My son started calling my brother-in-law roro for no known reason. Its stuck this whole time and now he and his three younger sisters call all their uncles roro.

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  46. My 5 year old called oranges youranges lol

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  47. F*ck! F*ck!=Truck! Truck!

    Poscipul=posicle

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  48. My daughter loves to drink Lawter (water for the rest of the world). And whose heart doesn't melt the first time your little one says I wuv ooo.

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  49. My son just stopped saying.. "nono" - Pumpkin, "sedreal" - Cereal, "do doo do doo" - Ambulance (confused a lot of people lol) "Fuck" - Truck, fox, fix, frog.. and he used to say his name was "Nano" (it's Jonah). I miss totspeak.

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  50. I will always miss "Yeah-Yo" for yellow both of my kids said it the same way and they are 5 years apart. It breaks my heart a little when either one of them says "Yellow".

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  51. My favorite toddler-ism is "Lelefant" for elephant. My son is now 3, and we have a 13 month old daughter, and he plays with her "elephants", but they are still "lelefants" to me. I can't let it go!

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  52. My girl is now five, so we're pretty departed from some of my faves...and I still miss them! Picayno: "Don't step on the hot lava from the picayno!" Waveewohwee: After being asked if she liked her ravioli dinner, "I wuv waveewohwee." She's poke us and say, "taco taco taco!" Ohhhh, you mean tickle tickle tickle! haha. Yay-yoh: "I only like yay-yoh cheese." You know, like cheddar or American. :) I love this girl!

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  53. Awww my daughter's name is Stevie as well.... Well it's Stevi because I thought dropping the e would make it look more feminine, but all it does is either cause people to spell it wrong or say it wrong.

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  54. My son couldn't say "pacifier," so we just made it a little easier by calling it a sucker. Well, he STILL couldn't say "sucker," and ended up saying "f*cker" on more than one occasion. So it ended up being called a "fuffer" in the end...which we continued with my daughter. Our lovely fuffer :-)

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  55. "bidge" : bridge, as in "Look! Bidge!" (translated: "Look at that beautiful bridge.")
    "betch" : bench, as in "Mommy! Sit betch!" (translated: "Mommy, please sit on the lovely park bench.")
    "surple" : cereal
    "hep pees" : help please
    "i want to hold you" : translated: "I want you to hold me."
    "noh-cha" : lotion (this one took us a while)
    "crazy seedee" : Grammy Sammy (this one took us a while too)
    "fiveteen" : fifteen (this must be universal)
    "nyffess" : knives (think, "knife + s")
    "lellow" : yellow

    Fortunately, we missed out on the "truck" one with our oldest. We do, however, have 2 more kids that could still go there....

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  56. Just discovered your blog today thanks to How To Be A Dad. What a great post!

    My eldest stepson referred to elbows forever as 'pokes'.

    It's funny that I can't remember any of the cute words my daughter created. I'm going to think about it some more.

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  57. Pampakes - Pancakes
    Squimos- Fingers.

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  59. My daughter used to call milk newtch. I miss hearing it.

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  60. cumcuber (cucumber) I don't like cumcubers. I miss that, and she still doesn't like cumcubers.

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  61. My son, who is two and half, has sadly started to out grown my favorites.
    SahBAT Shamooom = Shabbat Shalom. We'd go to meet with the Jewish students on campus and he'd say "Mama, we go visit you shamooom friends? Say SahBAT Shamooom?" It was delightful.

    Titties = kitties. When he told a stranger on the bus "Mama has two big titties. Big soft titties." I died laughing. I'm a small women. You can imagine the man's confusion and embarrassment.

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  62. Such a great post! I can't help but share a few ... conventor=inventor wafflesnacks=waffles chokalick milk=chocolate milk. I know it's hard, and we've missed quite a few, but try to video tape your child saying them ... what precious memories you'll have forever.

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  63. "Cock". This word works for clock, or sock. First time he said it he was helping me sort socks and grabbed his older brother's (bubba) sock and stated, "Mama, Bubbas big cock". I had to leave the room so I could laugh without encouraging the behavior:-)

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  64. Spix = fix (This one's already gone, so sad!)
    And - my personal fave - my son was obsessed with power rangers and would tell us all about their powers - the black ranger has the spirit of the snake, the yellow ranger the spirit of the tiger, and the pink spirit was the spirit of the weenus. It took MONTHS for us to figure out that weenus = phoenix!

    ReplyDelete
  65. Wookit = Look at this, Mom.
    He is now almost 6 and can say "look" just fine but every single time he says look, look at this, look mom, etc. I say "wookit"

    ReplyDelete
  66. When my middle son was three years old he told me that he really loved my vagania. We were speechless. Absolutely and utterly speechless. It took several go-rounds to figure out that he meant lasagna. He really hates it when I talk about that in public. I can't help it. That story totally beats my daughter asking for a tennis shoe (instead of tissue) when she needed to blow her nose.

    ReplyDelete
  67. Apa Joos -- Apple Juice
    Lama-loon. Ambulance
    Pis-getty -- Spaghetti

    ReplyDelete
  68. We had Ockopter = Helicopter for a while. It sadly has passed....

    He also refers to himself in the third person all the time. And, he completes our part of the conversation.

    "Can he have some watermelon PLEASE! He CAN have some watermelon. Fankyou!"

    As I pick myself up off the floor, wipe away the tears and try to stop laughing

    ReplyDelete
  69. Some of my favorites from Kinley, our 2 1/2 year old Daughter
    Fiveteen (this is truly universal! ;)
    Bapple = Apple
    Pop Pop = Popsicle
    Nana = Mommy (no matter how many times we correct her)
    Yoh-K = You Okay?
    Keys = Cheese
    Night Nights = Pajamas
    Rush = Brush, Comb or Hair clip. Anything used on the hair.
    Giggy = Blanket. This is a proper name for her blanket AND a term for all blankets, including ownership. The quilt on our bed is "Nana's Giggy"

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  70. Even as my youngest throws his king kong toddler fits I know I will miss when he stops saying, "I got you, Mommy" which means anything from please hold me, I'm scared and I need you, to I love you and I just got you. I will also miss, "Isnuggle." It sounds like an app but when it's time for bed he always asks, "Isnuggle, Mommy?" I already miss the way my first grader, instead of saying "I love you" would say, "I'm happy at you" and the way my kindergartner let us call her BooBoo. Now she is strictly Katelyn.

    ReplyDelete
  71. My favorite from my daughter is "benext" = beside

    She always asks,"Mommy/Daddy come sit benext to me."

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  72. "Oopa" - for "pick me up" - it started with "1,2,3, uppA baby!" (like upp-s-a-daisy!) when I was tossing them in the air as mid-sized babies to make the car seat in/out drill and the stroller in/out drill less a drudgery. My daughter went through a phase where "uh" and "oh" and "oo" were all pronounced "oo" and that pronunciation stuck. I functions exactly like Kayeeoo.

    Oranjin - an orange. No idea how it picked up the extra syllable.

    Mycandoit? - Can I do it (myself)? this arose from confusion around which personal pronoun was appropriate, but it's almost always used as a single word...

    ReplyDelete
  73. Fonners - Flowers
    Cunners - Colors
    Nahnees - Bananas
    Noonies - Noodles
    Finners - Fingers
    Scoovedryer - Screwdriver

    ReplyDelete
  74. Mana - banana

    Cake Cake - pancakes

    ReplyDelete
  75. Kive? (Can I have)
    Benember - as in "do you benember that one time...?"
    Fingo - Flamingo
    Lahmee - Salami

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  76. Byuuuun: balloon
    byuuu: blue
    geen: green
    mommyco-keeee: mommy's coffee (she told me to get my coffee one morning)
    gohsh: ghost
    bite: pacifier
    joooo: juice
    mahshmeh-oh: marshmallow
    bikit: biscuit
    bobo: apple or bubble, depending on what she's pointing at.
    chee: cheese
    yeyow: yellow
    huuuuhhhh: hug
    cudduhf'oh? : cuddle on the floor?

    There's so much more but I need to eat supper!

    ReplyDelete
  77. Al-zo/Abonzo = Alfonso (the name of our oldest son/big brother)
    Pe-can = piece of candy
    Marsh = Marge (from the Simpsons)
    Bia Bia = Sophia (Sophia the First)
    House = Mickey Mouse
    Tique = Minnie Mouse (he got this from Minnie's Bow-tique)
    Donna Duck = Donald Duck
    Pootoe = Pluto
    Bone = phone
    Ea-ea = any meal or food (I taught him the words "eat eat" when I taught him that sign in sign language)
    Muck = milk
    The list can go on and on for my 3 year old. I've forgotten the toddlerisms from my 10 year old. ::sob::

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  78. Bramma/Brampa = Grandma/Grandpa
    Nuggle = Snuggle
    Nack = Snack
    Now= Snow
    Anything = Nothing
    Cuck = Truck
    Bish = Fish
    Dick = Stick

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  79. The one I remember from my oldest. Keep in mind he's ten now.

    When he was that age, he would say Goydin. I never did figure out what it was suppose to mean

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  80. oh and Goopa = Grandpa, and that's still what my Ten year old calls him

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  81. "Benext." As in, "Come over here, Mummy, and sit benext to me!" You know... beside, below, beneath... benext! Makes perfect sense when you're four.

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  82. Bammy=Grammy (officially Bammy now)
    Bamps=Gramps (officially Bamps now)
    NeeNee=His Sister Brookelyn
    Shun-Shun=Lotion
    Dong-Dong=Penis
    Bisk=Biscuit
    Buffeye Kesses=Butterfly Kisses
    Peas=Please
    So many sweet memories!!!♥♡♡

    ReplyDelete
  83. Our biggest ones are "some! Some!" when she wants to eat and then you have to list a multitude of foods to find what some is and all babies to her are "Jensen" since that's her baby brother and clearly that means all babies are jensens. She also calls our cats Babas. We have no clue where this came from since she use to call them both eppa (her saying epee or Eppers, our one cats name). Only our personal cats are Babas though. All other ones are kitties or meows.

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  84. Oh, such wonderful memories! My now 25 year old son called flies "yucky Kitties" and ants were "kitty yuckies". Driving on a dirty road was going on the "bouncy bouncy." My most favorite was "hamaburger" That one lasted well into middle school. My now 34 year old daughter would ask for a "juice bobble cute" when she wanted a particular character bottle.

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  85. Nugkin=Napkin took me awhile to figure out that was what my the year old was saying and not nugget.
    Shit= shirt or sit dependingnon what my 16 month daughter is referring to.
    So many more that I can't think of right now too.

    ReplyDelete
  86. My cousin's little girl calls them "pamcapes" (pancakes). So in her honor, I also call them pamcapes!

    I also babysat a little friend who, when his mama told him he was on his way to my house, said "I am so concited!" So, in his honor, I am always concited.

    I, too, love my little friends and their wonderful words.

    ReplyDelete
  87. Moo moo =milk (as opposed to boob milk)
    Wah wah= love you
    Kittymeowy= cat, it was kitty for the longest time not sure where meowy came from
    One twooooo freee fo fi sis senen (I love senen) eigh niiii ten YAY
    Wheredummydoh? =where'd Gumby (cat) go?
    Also becomes where_____doh? The blank can have about anything
    She can paci if you ask her syllable by syllable. Ask for the whole word and you get "pah..pah"
    Tabby or Bubble Puppy=leap pad tablet with a Bubble guppy(bubble duppie) game
    Hi=phone
    Nana=Brianna (herself)
    Yaya=Rocky (her cousin her age)
    NanaYaya= video my mom has of the two of them cracking each other up.

    ReplyDelete
  88. Momohaka - Motercycle
    Hambergurgur - Hamburger (don't know where the extra "gurr" came from)
    No De Ha - My oldest son's first phrase, from a spanish phrase I can no longer remember that basically meant "don't touch that." He picked it up in day care. Ha!

    ReplyDelete
  89. Grumbilla=gorilla
    Also, he couldn't say platypus, so he just decided to say octopus. Not a mispronunciation, just a choice.

    ReplyDelete
  90. "S**t": Sit
    "Bi**hes": Britches (thank her "Paw paw" for those two >.<)
    "Sooz": Shoes
    "Cyo-ee": Coyote
    "Pickle": Huckle the Cat.
    "Haup": Help ^_^

    ReplyDelete
  91. Fawkue--Vacuum (he LOVED to say it in public.
    F**k--Frog
    Buhbye seeludeeder!!!---Bye, See you later.
    Balululur (you know, the sound you make while moving your tongue side to side)--banana.

    And, quite possible my favorite. "Mommy, ya yo!!"--Mommy, Love you!

    ReplyDelete
  92. My now 17 year old son used to say:
    "Captible" = Capital
    "Bowling ailing" = Bowling alley
    "Beservent" = Observant
    "Horkport" = Corkboard (really, who says that?)

    My now 2 year old says:
    "Hep-youuuuu?" - Help you (which means help me)
    "Ha-dog Diggity diggity diggity" - Hot dog, hot dog, hot diggity dog!
    "Ce-duh" - Cesar, the dog
    "Kiko" - Niko, the other dog
    "Wobert's turkey" - Robert (my oldest son)'s cross with wings tattoo. Not sure why he thinks this is a turkey.

    ReplyDelete
  93. My daughter is 3. I miss our little language. She used to call m&ms numnums
    The moon was, The Boon mommy! Look at the Boon! Melted my heart.
    Recently though, I took her to the discovery center. She proceeded to yell when we got inside, Yeah!! We're at the "incinerator!" Haha I died laughing.

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  94. Pinocchio was "noko" at age two, now at age 3 it's "pin-o-ca-lee-o"

    "Yuh-you" was love you at early two.

    Vacuum was "wa-poon"

    After thank you, I get a "you're hum-pum"

    Spider man used to be pie man lol.

    He's three now, and refers to male children as boys, but male adults are guys. All females are girls to him though.

    And I can't believe this has not been mentioned (as far as I've read in these comments) "elemenopee" for L, M, N, O, P!

    One more...... he says his uncle is "popteen" (14), and he is "pree" but "next time, in a long time ago, he will be popteen too, when he gets big" =)

    ReplyDelete
  95. My son who is now 19, would ask for a
    cheese-booger. He would say, "I finished my cheese-booger, can I now have some French fries? And I want a cho-ca-let shake!

    ReplyDelete
  96. I miss planick (planet), brobear (brother), fiftyninetytwenty (favorite number), "dragonfly parties" (swarms of dragonflies), huddling (forcing cuddling--usually when cuddle-ee is sleeping), suckee-pal (pacifier) and talking to the moon beofre going to sleep ("Hi moonie. I had something to eat today...")

    ReplyDelete
  97. pee-hole = mirror

    This is a multilingual one. My daughter speaks Dutch and English. The word for mirror in Dutch is spiegel (pronounced kind of like spee-hull). She came running up to me one day with a new necklace on and said 'Mama, I wanna look in the pee-hole! In the bathroom! I need to look in the PEE-HOLE!'

    ReplyDelete
  98. My sister, who is 11 years my junior, couldn't say my name "Tiffany" so she called me "Nanny." I remember feeling a real sense of loss when she finally learned to say my name properly. By far, my favorite toddlerism comes from a little boy I used to babysit. He really loved Dumbfucks (dump trucks) and would yell it at the top of his lungs every time he saw one.

    ReplyDelete
  99. Pop-a-gikle=popsicle.

    ReplyDelete
  100. Seben - seven
    Hole-jou = hold you = carry me
    Mingers - fingers
    Consistently skipping 16 & 19 when counting to 20 (15,17,18,18,20)
    Beff - Beth (daycare provider)

    ReplyDelete
  101. Nockachurs - Binoculars
    Sit - anything from "pick me up" to "I wanna sit with you"
    Purple butter sammich - peanut butter and jelly sandwich.
    Powpow - anything that can potentially be used as a gun-like object. He has never had contact with even a toy gun. I think it's on the Y chromosome.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Our eldest was pew pew for shooting and he never had a toy gun either. I'm with you, it seems to come pre programmed in!

      Delete
  102. Some of my favorites are "uh uh", she never says no, always crosses her arms and says uh uh. Also "up" means any change in position/location, if Dada is holding her up means she wants me to hold her, or sometimes up actually means 'put me down'. "Hop" means bunny (or any other small furry animal), 'fit' means fork, 'bee' usually means blankie, and any word can end in 'dee' (banana is beedee, Taylor is Teedee, pretty is peedee). She's 19 months, I should take some videos...

    ReplyDelete
  103. Pospicle = a rearrangement of "popsicle"
    balleting = v. dancing, doing ballet type dancing, usually used to explain away wiggles normally interpreted as pee pee dance
    'nana = banana
    no = yes [won't miss this one]
    grammaree = grandma Marie - at some point it got all jammed together, so now she just GrammaRee/Grandma Ree
    pewsh-Urr = gun or hose, anything that "shoots"; also "pewsh" = v. to shoot, past-tense = pewshed
    'noculars = binoculars
    teselope = telescope, aka "looker"

    ReplyDelete
  104. I miss being called mimi before my son could say mummy properly. He's two and a half now, here are a few of his, mainly animals

    penping = penguin
    draff = giraffe
    luff fly = butterfly
    papa = granpa
    onginge = orange

    ReplyDelete
  105. F**k! F**k! = Truck! Truck! The first time it happened I gave the worst look to my husband and said, WHAT DID YOU DO???? I thought sure he'd taught the toddler that word.

    ReplyDelete
  106. Lello... (Yellow) My daughter use to say look at that lello flower! While we, the parents, were trying to correct this, my father thought it was sooo cute that he was encouraging it. Ugh! Grandparents...

    ReplyDelete
  107. My son's best of list includes

    boobas- blueberries
    b*tchies- fishies
    ganga- grandma

    ReplyDelete
  108. Arps and craps meant arts and crafts. I miss that one. Glubs were gloves.

    ReplyDelete
  109. yo=I can't decide if yes or no is what I mean so I will cover all bases kinda more strung out...like y.....oooooo!
    maddy=daddy but I started to say mama
    damma=Mama but started to say Daddy---this one drive me nuts!
    glubs=glove
    bob-bum=bottom "I need you to wipe my bob-bum...I pooped"
    Raffi=Giraffe
    crap=clap

    ReplyDelete
  110. Not really toddler words but toddler doing......When my daughter was 2 she would show her two middle fingers (middle and ring fingers) to represent her age, the peace sign, and scissors....for rock paper scissors. Every year after two, I feared I'd not see this ever again........I feared this would fade in kindergarten, I feared she'd stop doing this in first grade........I still fear that one day she'll no longer do this.....she's almost 9 years old.

    ReplyDelete
  111. My daughter used to call English muffins 'ticklish nothings' I miss it

    ReplyDelete
  112. My 2.5 year old calls me 'Ama' instead of Mommy/Mama. I will seriously miss that. Also,
    Mo-bicycle = motorcycle.
    'No next to you' means something along the lines of, I don't want to be next to you...I want you to hold me.
    Love her.

    ReplyDelete
  113. Biggerlbed -- "Big girl bed."
    Myhern -- "My turn!!!!!"
    Hoho -- "Santa Clause"
    Hanny or Hammy -- "Granny or Grammy"

    ReplyDelete
  114. Izzi (who is also a Bug) has several Izziisms that are fading fast as she heads for 3 years old. Those I can remember are as follows:

    Pickooaap: "Pick me up" (similar to the "carry you/me" word). Sadly this is entirely gone already :(
    Tweniminits: Twenty Minutes: how long she thought everything should be, and sometimes what she said she wanted for dinner. Has not been said in a while, despite our attempts to get her to do so.
    Blueblees: Blueberries, still called this...for now.
    Bumbeebee: Bumblebee, her favorite animal. I am DETERMINED that she will keep calling them bumbeebees for as long as possible!
    Iantsmooore?: "I want some more"
    Momandad!: Pretty self explanatory, but it is ALWAYS shouted. When news must be shouted to either mom, dad, or mom and dad, we become one entity. She once spent ten minutes yelling "MOMANDAD!" and I would reply "What is it honey?" and she would say "NO! I'M TALKIN' TO MAMA!" and then a brief pause, and then repeat starting again with "MOMANDAD!"

    I wish I could remember more of them, but I can't at the moment.

    ReplyDelete
  115. My brothers are significantly younger than I am, but less than two years apart in age. I was blessed to raise them as my own. The words I miss are:

    Lemo-lade= Lemonade
    Ponke-out= Belly button
    Tayto po-chips= Potato Chips
    Hambugger= A term of endearment, not sure why. Maybe it was because they love hamburgers?
    Paints= Pants
    Peenuts= Area covered by underpants.

    They are now in their mid-twenties and I have a pang for their lost language each time I speak to one of them.

    ReplyDelete
  116. Fling-mango, for flamingo. We, of course, all still call flamingos "Flingmangos"! Oh, and "opitz" for oatmeal. "Fairy-twinkle" for the color periwinkle... I could go on and on... but I won't.

    ReplyDelete
  117. I took my niece and nephew to Target one day and told them they could pick out any toy they wanted. My nieces eyes grew big as she ran down the aisle screaming Papa's cunt!! Papa's cunt!! My sister and I could not figure out for the life of us what she was saying and suddenly she turned around with a toy in her hand and we looked at each other and said "Ohhhhh..... princess crown!!"

    Still my favorite.

    ReplyDelete
  118. I'm a teacher, and often need to go make copies in the copy room. My sweetie loves to go with me to get coffees in the coffee room.

    ReplyDelete
  119. I am going to miss "Wijaffe" for giraffe, although before Wijaffe it was Cajarf.
    I'm also going to miss "Whose" for shoes, and "tramampoline" for trampoline.
    Things I'm not going to miss? Scripting TV and movies. I'm sick of hearing lines from Charlie and Lola, the same lines over and over.
    Love my boy, but he has an amazingly advanced vocabulary for a 3 year old. His grammar and language comprehension is better than my 8 year old's. The joys of autism... his "special skill" is language, and he makes the most of it.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. oh, and of course "sprinkly" for wrinkly :)
      His favourite thing to say after swimming..."Look mum, my hands are all sprinkly!"

      Delete
  120. Panpakes. I miss the word for pancakes which I make from scratch often for my 2 boys. Just the other day we were telling a friend how much we loved hearing our son say "Panpakes" and alas the word is gone forever.

    ReplyDelete
  121. At 3, everything is "Should" instead of "Can" or "May": Should I have some more milk? Should you turn on the TV? He still says "Carry you me" for "Pick me up/Carry Me". Crackers were craw-craws and mittens were either bidgets or bit-tits :) He also has made up several words/sounds throughout the years: Margar, Gee-koh, and Yah-yew, which he enjoyed yelling out the living room window to various passerby

    ReplyDelete
  122. pourqu'why - A combination of the French pourquoi and English why. When she was in her why faze this was repeated all day long and the only thing that kept me sane was cuteness of it.

    Laver my mingers - Wash my fingers (laver is wash in French and she for some reason couldn't say the f sound.

    Instead of pull up she would say hull up.

    ReplyDelete
  123. Daintu - Thank you
    Chi'ii Chi'ii Bain Bain - Chitty Chitty Bang Bang
    Da'ii - Daddy
    Bruer - Brother

    Ill always miss the cute voice that comes along with newly learned sentences. ahh <3

    ReplyDelete
  124. Maugh Maugh: Monster's Inc.My MIL was babysitting and had to call to find out what she was saying!
    Bau Tin: Boston (her little brother)
    Daw Daw: Tyler (her biggest brother)
    Ih Mal: Ishmael (another brother :))

    ReplyDelete
  125. Oldest said alligator for elevator and littlest currently has many.
    His blankie is bubby.
    biscuits are bibbies
    Our cat Abbie is Babbie
    Older brother Lachlan is La La
    Cake is berday to to (happy birthday to you)
    Drink bottle is ber
    truck is car but said with emphasis, will not say truck.
    shoes are boos
    Mar Mar is Grandma
    Milk is moo and so are cows (and horses)
    And our least favorite is Moe Peppa which means I want to watch Peppa Pig NOW and endlessly!!! I'm sure he thinks the sole purpose of the TV is to watch Peppa and only Peppa.
    He blows kisses to say goodbye so everybody thinks he's very sweet because he blows them kisses without realizing he does it for everybody, not just them.

    ReplyDelete
  126. I had to throw in on this ... my boys are all big, hairy highschoolers now (sniff, sniff) but I still use the words "lasterday" and "benext" with them every so often, so we don't forget. I hope I never lose the audio memory of my middle son asking, "Sit benext to me mommy, benext to me!" My now 21 year old niece was taught by my dad that she had a beep-beep (nose), ding-dong (belly button) , and piggies (toes). I wish I could tell you that she didn't go to kindergarten with a beep-beep and piggies, but I can't. She had to learn those corrected names there. Family wide, toes are still piggies.

    ReplyDelete
  127. Guggle= snuggle
    Bips= chips
    Slip slops= flip flops
    MaMa= grandma (my mom loved this and was DEVASTATED the first time he called her "gwamma")
    Legular= regular (he's almost 8 now, and still says this. I will never correct him)
    Habone pweese?= can I have one please?
    Tink too= thank you

    ReplyDelete
  128. Anytime Amara sang twinkle twinkle little star diamond came out damn it. And of course when reciting the little Einstein blast off sounded alot like Bastard.

    ReplyDelete
  129. Fawkid = farted. The first time I heard him say "Mommy, I fawkid" I almost died as this word sounded too close to f--ked and thought he picked it up from his dad
    Badybug = ladybug
    Siryup = Jozlyn, his sister. We have no clue why he calls her this.

    ReplyDelete
  130. My nieces used to say amn't, a contraction for am not. You'd say one was doing something and she would answer with a loud "no I amn't!"

    ReplyDelete
  131. My favorite (which, alas, is gone) was "two-got" instead of forgot (four-got?). "Mommy, you two-got to close the door..."
    Now I love that when he's spinning around he says it's making him busy (dizzy).

    ReplyDelete
  132. Last day=yesterday
    Mush tash=mustache
    Doffer=we have no idea, but he asks people, "are you a doffer?"

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Maybe he means doctor or daughter

      Delete
  133. My oldest called meatballs "boppy." We could get him to say "meat" and "ball," but put them together, and "boppy" was the result.

    My favorite word they all say is "actually. " No matter how they say it, when it comes out of their mouth for the first time...

    ReplyDelete
  134. When my first nephew was born, I decided I was far too young to be called Aunt Karin, as all of my aunts are called Aunt [Something]. I decided to go by Auntie Karin. Before my nephew was two, he was calling me Entertainment. I miss it so much. He's 12 and in 8th grade now. **tear**

    ReplyDelete
  135. Helicotton ( helicopter)
    Threnobeter ( thermometer)
    Buffufie ( Butterfly)

    ReplyDelete
  136. Its been a long time but I was so in love with those crazy little things that my kids, grandkids and even the neighbors kids said that the first time a himash became mustache I corrected the child to pronounce it himash. My grandson's pacifier which he loved was a pabas. My son was working on getting the darned thing away from him but as soon as son left for work the little one would look up at me with mischief in those eyes and whisper pabas.

    ReplyDelete
  137. Coming very late to this party, but:

    "Wine and Sprite Store" = liquor store (wine and spirits).

    ReplyDelete