So, many (far too many) years ago, we did a Claycomb Twins dictionary. I believe it went out as our Christmas card. It featured such linguistic treasures as "pyuh-twuck holmie" (Fire truck helmet), "ogen" (orange), and "flah-lah" (flower). It may NOT have included Lilah's imperative for "Sit," as in, "Sit, Mommy!" into which she inserted a well-placed "sh" sound. (We'll let readers figure it out.)
Well, before time passes and the moment is gone, here is the same dictionary moment, for Ian. Enjoy.
Bappieball- (n) Basketball. Or soccer ball or volley ball, but not, interestingly enough, any smaller ball. He reserves the term for the larger (and more fascinating) of the species. This fascination was no doubt solidified today, when we went to the WVU Rec Center and a man who was actually playing basketball gave Ian the ball to hold. And Gramps, we are sorry to report that even footballs are called, that's right, bappieballs.
Bi-boy- (n) Big boy. As in, any boy doing something notably cool. Collin. One of Collin’s friends. Ian himself when he is doing something he should not be doing, like standing on his train (see Flickr photo.) Always invoked with either admiration or pride, depending.
Hottie-dog- (n) Hot dog. Not even his favorite food, but so much more fun to say with the added “ee” sound.
Hottler (n) Helicopter. Invariably pronounced with the variant stuttering “H” sound (H-h-h-hottler) to indicate extreme excitement and amazement. That such things exist! That they move and make those sounds! That there are videos of them that we can watch. Over and over and over and over again!
Itty- (n) Ian. Took us a while, but we (or more accurately, his babysitter) deduced that this is what he calls himself. Now previously mysterious phrases like “Itty turn!” and “Itty do!” make so much more sense.
Lacey- (n) The name of Ian’s pet dog. Perhaps you are puzzled here, if you know us well. We do not have a dog. Nor does Ian have a stuffed dog of which he is particularly fond. He does, however, have a sister. When she is pretending to be a dog, she calls herself Lacey. And so does Ian. She enters the room on all fours, barking. He turns. “Lacey!” he calls. Does anyone else think this is weird?
‘Mazing- (adj.) Amazing. Used to describe himself when prompted. Discovered in the Kung Fu Panda 2 trailer (view through link, here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdaMGcOyfjM), with which Ian is obsessed. He thinks the panda is looking right at him and telling him he looks amazing. Well, who wouldn’t like to hear that?
Ready-Go! (V) Imperative verb indicating the start of a race, or a running-away from Mommy, or any time the kid is let outside to walk/run anywhere. Accompanied by a dip of the shoulders to indicate the runner in the blocks, then a lurching up of the shoulders and swing of one arm (for momentum, we presume) as he sets off, wispy blonde hair floating behind him. Fairly cute.
Monday, March 21, 2011
Monday, November 1, 2010
Lilah and Collin with their birthday cards
Yes, it's official. They are seven.
So this post will be short. I am reporting something second-hand, for one thing. It has to do, tangentially, with those vampire fangs Collin is sporting here (look closely). Those fangs were part of a whole haul of Halloween-themed (ahem) junk that they brought home from school, including rubber rats, skeleton erasers, spider rings, etc.
So the twins are out on the porch playing quietly (uh-oh.) Daddy asks what, exactly, they are doing.
"Oh, you know, we're playing. It's like bow and arrow except with rats."
Daddy, wisely, didn't inquire further.
So this post will be short. I am reporting something second-hand, for one thing. It has to do, tangentially, with those vampire fangs Collin is sporting here (look closely). Those fangs were part of a whole haul of Halloween-themed (ahem) junk that they brought home from school, including rubber rats, skeleton erasers, spider rings, etc.
So the twins are out on the porch playing quietly (uh-oh.) Daddy asks what, exactly, they are doing.
"Oh, you know, we're playing. It's like bow and arrow except with rats."
Daddy, wisely, didn't inquire further.
Ian reading
We were worried that Ian wouldn't be a reader, because up until about 6 weeks ago, he wasn't that into books. He liked to chew on them, but that was about it.
Silly us. Now he wakes up and we can hear him in his crib: "Book! Book!" He goes and gets books and hands them to you and then walks off and gets more books and hands them to someone else. He sits down and looks up at you expectantly. He gets them out of the bathroom and/or brings them into the bathroom. He climbs the stairs to get them and then tries to carry them downstairs with him. He pulls them out of his siblings' backpacks . . .
And as you can see, he likes to read them. Thank heavens.
Silly us. Now he wakes up and we can hear him in his crib: "Book! Book!" He goes and gets books and hands them to you and then walks off and gets more books and hands them to someone else. He sits down and looks up at you expectantly. He gets them out of the bathroom and/or brings them into the bathroom. He climbs the stairs to get them and then tries to carry them downstairs with him. He pulls them out of his siblings' backpacks . . .
And as you can see, he likes to read them. Thank heavens.
Lady L and Sir Collin the Snaggletooth
So I promised (in the post just before this one) to tell some tales of Lilah at the Renaissance Festival. And now it's been two months since we were there and it's hard to remember . . .
Well, but not that hard. Because Lilah clearly was made for the SCA. For those of you who don't know, that's the acronym for the Society for Creative Anachronism, which is those people who work at Ren Fests or (more likely even) go to Ren Fests in full costume and with elaborate accents and backstories and who spend hundreds of dollars on real chain mail and bustiers and wear fairy wings at their weddings.
These are her people.
"Hallo! Are you a princess?" called the greeters to Lilah as we entered the Fair.
"No!" (exasperated.) "I'm a fairy lady-in-waiting."
The children had each earned money to spend at the Fest. Collin bought a wooden sword and has been very happy. He has only almost killed me once with it.
Lilah bought: a rose dipped in hot melted wax then rolled in glitter, a necklace with a cat pendant on it, a tiny teddy bear with bells sewn onto his feet and a peacock feather. She WANTED to buy a stuffed, flower-bedecked unicorn big enough to sit on, but the woman who ran the shop told her it wasn't for sale.
Just wait. In ten years, when YOU go to a Renaissance Festival, perhaps you'll be greeted by a girl wearing a dress made out of peacock feathers and glitter, sitting on a white horse with a "horn" on its head. You'll know who it is. Just do whatever she tells you to do.
Well, but not that hard. Because Lilah clearly was made for the SCA. For those of you who don't know, that's the acronym for the Society for Creative Anachronism, which is those people who work at Ren Fests or (more likely even) go to Ren Fests in full costume and with elaborate accents and backstories and who spend hundreds of dollars on real chain mail and bustiers and wear fairy wings at their weddings.
These are her people.
"Hallo! Are you a princess?" called the greeters to Lilah as we entered the Fair.
"No!" (exasperated.) "I'm a fairy lady-in-waiting."
The children had each earned money to spend at the Fest. Collin bought a wooden sword and has been very happy. He has only almost killed me once with it.
Lilah bought: a rose dipped in hot melted wax then rolled in glitter, a necklace with a cat pendant on it, a tiny teddy bear with bells sewn onto his feet and a peacock feather. She WANTED to buy a stuffed, flower-bedecked unicorn big enough to sit on, but the woman who ran the shop told her it wasn't for sale.
Just wait. In ten years, when YOU go to a Renaissance Festival, perhaps you'll be greeted by a girl wearing a dress made out of peacock feathers and glitter, sitting on a white horse with a "horn" on its head. You'll know who it is. Just do whatever she tells you to do.
Monday, September 13, 2010
Lilah, a train, and a silly smile
So I have some great stories about Lilah and the Renaissance Festival, but I want to save those for the pictures of the festival, which we hope to upload soon. In the interim, I offer up the following rather random story.
We've been noticing that, while Collin has had crushes on girls (older girls, younger girls, Paris Hilton (sigh)) for several years, Lilah seems oblivious to the romantic potential of anyone. So I was surprised when she came downstairs clutching a book to her chest and blushing and giggling.
"Mommy," she said. "The prince in this book is SO CUTE!"
She has a large collection of beautifully-illustrated fairy tales, many of which have princes who are drawn to be, indeed, quite classically good looking. Who could she have settled on?
Click here to see.
We've been noticing that, while Collin has had crushes on girls (older girls, younger girls, Paris Hilton (sigh)) for several years, Lilah seems oblivious to the romantic potential of anyone. So I was surprised when she came downstairs clutching a book to her chest and blushing and giggling.
"Mommy," she said. "The prince in this book is SO CUTE!"
She has a large collection of beautifully-illustrated fairy tales, many of which have princes who are drawn to be, indeed, quite classically good looking. Who could she have settled on?
Click here to see.
Collin, minus tooth
(Note to the reader: the scene below is not related to the picture in any way, which is to say that Collin's relative toothlessness is not a result of his behavior. And in case you are interested, he has since lost the OTHER front top tooth and so now is really ready for his rendition of "All I Want for Christmas.")
Scene: Collin and Lilah are watching a movie. Mommy enters, holding spoon with chocolate chip cookie dough on it. Offers each child a taste, sits down between them and licks the rest of the spoon herself. They watch in relative silence. The movie ends. Collin leans over and punches Mommy in the mouth, smacking the spoon into her teeth and cheek.
Mommy: Oww!
Collin: The movie’s over!
Mommy: Collin, why did you punch me in the mouth?
Collin: I’m sorry. I was aiming for the spoon.
Scene: Collin and Lilah are watching a movie. Mommy enters, holding spoon with chocolate chip cookie dough on it. Offers each child a taste, sits down between them and licks the rest of the spoon herself. They watch in relative silence. The movie ends. Collin leans over and punches Mommy in the mouth, smacking the spoon into her teeth and cheek.
Mommy: Oww!
Collin: The movie’s over!
Mommy: Collin, why did you punch me in the mouth?
Collin: I’m sorry. I was aiming for the spoon.
Thursday, September 9, 2010
Ian, in a fairly good mood
Okay, that's a joke. Because Ian is almost always in a VERY good mood, as you can see. And as testament to his general geniality, I offer up, his first five words:
Kitty--This was his very first word, used to describe his beloved cat Molly, all pictures of cats, all other real cats, stuffed cats, cats in books
. . . and me. "Ian," we say, "where's Mommy?" And he grins, points to me, and says, "Kitty!" (It could be worse. Collin has taken to calling me by the affectionate moniker "Chubby Legs.")
Dada--Second word, used to refer to, well, Daddy. Whom he LOVES. Whole face lights up, whole body leans yearningly towards the Daddy in question, small slimy hand grabs for nose or beard or baseball hat bill . . . yay, Daddy!
Rooarrrr--Metonymic word for dinosaur, in that the sound means the thing. He cannot see a dinosaur without making this sound, and trust me, there are a lot of dinosaurs in our house.
Tickle--We tickle Ian at breakfast, he tickles his pears. Everyone is happy. Well, maybe not the pears.
Baa--Meaning ball, and also bat, which is used to (enthusiastically) hit the ball.
So, as I said above, his vocabulary seems indicative of his personality, which is loud, happy, and enthusiastic about other loud (dinosaurs, Daddy) and happy-making (kitties, balls, tickling, Daddy) things. Stay-tuned for the next words, one of which sounds like it is going to be the immortal "Collilah." Who knows, maybe the twins will even answer to it. :)
Kitty--This was his very first word, used to describe his beloved cat Molly, all pictures of cats, all other real cats, stuffed cats, cats in books
. . . and me. "Ian," we say, "where's Mommy?" And he grins, points to me, and says, "Kitty!" (It could be worse. Collin has taken to calling me by the affectionate moniker "Chubby Legs.")
Dada--Second word, used to refer to, well, Daddy. Whom he LOVES. Whole face lights up, whole body leans yearningly towards the Daddy in question, small slimy hand grabs for nose or beard or baseball hat bill . . . yay, Daddy!
Rooarrrr--Metonymic word for dinosaur, in that the sound means the thing. He cannot see a dinosaur without making this sound, and trust me, there are a lot of dinosaurs in our house.
Tickle--We tickle Ian at breakfast, he tickles his pears. Everyone is happy. Well, maybe not the pears.
Baa--Meaning ball, and also bat, which is used to (enthusiastically) hit the ball.
So, as I said above, his vocabulary seems indicative of his personality, which is loud, happy, and enthusiastic about other loud (dinosaurs, Daddy) and happy-making (kitties, balls, tickling, Daddy) things. Stay-tuned for the next words, one of which sounds like it is going to be the immortal "Collilah." Who knows, maybe the twins will even answer to it. :)
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