Conversation Before Bed

Eleanor picked out the book she wanted read to her before bed tonight: Olivia Saves the Circus.

As you may know, Olivia is one of Eleanor’s favorites. She and I sat together in the glider, Brandon sat on the ottoman, and we read. When we finished, she wanted to turn back to the page with Olivia on the flying trapeze. Eleanor was pointing at Olivia and trying to tell us something, but we couldn’t figure it out.

“Eyes? Yes, those are Olivia’s eyes. Stripes? Yes, she’s wearing stripes…”

Clearly I was not guessing correctly, because Eleanor was becoming increasingly insistent about something.

Finally, I got it. “Oh! You want to go to the park and swing on the swings?”

Emphatic head-nodding from Eleanor confirmed it. “Yesssh.”

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27 comments

  • Heather K

    When my daughter was a toddler, I thought she was saying there was a GIRL on the ROOF … after much confusion on my part and persistence on hers, I understood that she was telling me about a SQUIRREL on the roof!

    Today when I got to work at my fabulous part-time job at a toy store, I thought of you when I saw this cutie
    http://www.creativekidstuff.com/olivia-zoobie.html

  • It reminds me of the time when I was a toddler and (according to my mother) I kept screaming “sailboat! sailboat!” while we were in the car once. It took my mom a dozen blocks before she realized I was trying to say “seatbelt” because the seatbelt wasn’t fastened on my carseat.

  • Who doesn’t love Olivia? I don’t even have kids and I love her. Eleanor is a wise little one. :)

  • I also love Eloise. Have you tried that book?

  • I saw this and it reminded me of this post, and you like crafty stuff, though I’m sure if you like them this much….

    http://www.heatherbaileystore.com/Pig-Dolls-Sewing-Pattern-p/sp006-cc.htm

    She also has an adorable lunchbox pattern that I thought you’d think was cute, might come in handy soon.

    hope you like. :O)
    Christina

  • jbhat

    Good job, Mommy!

    jbhat

  • luuve

    awwww i miss those days…:) great story..

  • So precious. Hope Eleanor got to go to the park and swing :)

  • Tammy

    Aren’t those “lightbulb” moments so wonderful!

  • Too cute! Hope she’ll get to the park in the morning.

  • Adorable that “woah” is her word for swings. My friend’s son calls cupcakes “happys”. ;)

  • Ahh! I love it! I love when you finally figure out what they are trying to say — it’s such a triumph sometimes!

  • It must have been hard not to bundle up for the park right then and there. She worked so hard to tell you, and was so clever to make the connection with the illustration from the book. Of course it’s cold and dark in the park at bedtime… I hope she was willing to take a raincheck for the next day without too much fuss!
    Olivia is one of my favorite childrens’ book characters as well. Eleanor has excellent taste.

  • laurajane

    What a sweetheart- make sure you get some photos of her swingin’ :)

  • Hear, not here. Stupid homophones.

  • awww i love that little communication!

    and so funny too because my nephew would always say “yeshh” too and he never graduated to “yes” but now he says “yah” and i miss “yeshh” ok i rambled far too much!

    • I know what you mean. I think a small part of my world will end when my son, Nicholas, finally learns how to correctly pronounce the word “worm.” Sometimes I ask him what birds eat just to here him say it.

      Too cute, Nicole.

  • cute!!!!

  • Your description of her increasing frustration reminded me of this AWESOME kids book: Knuffle Bunny by Mo Willems.

  • I adore Olivia. I even watch it on tv even though I don’t have kids! so so cute..

  • Jaimie

    That’s adorable. I’m taking a Child Development class this semester, and it’s been really amazing learning how their brains develop. My husband and I don’t have any children yet, but it’s definitely given me a lot to think about for when we do.

    Do you ever try to hand sign with her? Babies’ ability to understand language develops much faster than their ability to speak, so it helps them communicate at a younger age.

  • That’s so stinkin’ cute I can’t stand it! And she’s obviously brilliant!!

  • Melanie

    Adorable!

  • Herta

    ENJOY! Such precious times.

  • A

    I know! I finally figured it out when she started saying “Weooah, weooah, woah!”, which is her word for the swings/park. :)

  • I am constantly amazed at the connections between books and real life that my toddler puts together. You can see the little wheels in their head always turning….

  • Haha such a cutie. I’m always amazed at how parents are able to decipher their toddler’s gestures and almost-words :)

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