New Words

Ree's vocabulary is expanding like mad.  This is partially due to a feature on Sesame Street called Word on the Street in which you see how many times they can use a word in a single episode.  (Jeff and I frequently have flashbacks to Peewee's Playhouse, and we have to stifle our urges to scream and jump around every time we hear the word of the day.)  The Word on the Street has taught Ree how to properly use words like environment, camouflage, and scrumptious.  This is good.

It's also partly due to her voracious (look at that big word!) appetite for books, which is also good.

And it's partly due to her listening to others.  For instance, Jeff, Ree, and I were standing in the backyard, trying to determine the best location to plant a garden.  She suggested a spot by the fence because "the grass looks crappy."  Oops.  Maybe learning from us is bad.

But whether good or bad, with so many words being processed, wires occasionally get crossed.  After months of calling it "hairpoo" Ree has actually started referring to the stuff you use to clean your hair as "shampoo."  I have to admit, this makes me a little sad.  Hairpoo was just so darn cute.  But that doesn't mean there aren't plenty of other interesting phrases she uses.

You know that game you play at Chuck E. Cheese where little rodents pop up and you bash them on the head?  (And why do we deem this appropriate for children???)  Most of us know this game as Whack-a-Mole, but to Ree, it is "guac-a-mole."

And that toy where you crank the handle and a clown pops up?  Most of us call it a Jack-in-the-box.  To Ree, it is a "Jack-in-the-lantern."

But my current favorite new phrase came while she was singing last night.  She busted out "Home on the Range," which is apparently where the "deer and the cantaloupe play."  I can't help but have a mental picture of a buck goring cantaloupe with his antlers.  But maybe that's just me.