Parenting

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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  • Audrie
    November 26, 2010 at 10:56 pm

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

  • Emmmylizzzy
    November 26, 2010 at 11:12 pm

    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….

  • Making it Lovely
    November 26, 2010 at 11:16 pm

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

  • Herta
    November 27, 2010 at 3:13 am

    ENJOY! Such precious times.

  • Melanie
    November 27, 2010 at 6:20 am

    Adorable!

  • Tonya
    November 27, 2010 at 7:59 am

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

  • Jaimie
    November 27, 2010 at 8:48 am

    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.

  • nella paper studio
    November 27, 2010 at 9:20 am

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

  • Holyoke Home
    November 27, 2010 at 9:31 am

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

  • sunny
    November 27, 2010 at 9:53 am

    cute!!!!

  • holly
    November 27, 2010 at 11:12 am

    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!

    • Jules
      November 27, 2010 at 11:22 am

      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.

  • Jules
    November 27, 2010 at 11:23 am

    Hear, not here. Stupid homophones.

  • laurajane
    November 27, 2010 at 2:04 pm

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

  • Alison
    November 27, 2010 at 6:33 pm

    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.

  • Desiree Fawn
    November 27, 2010 at 8:59 pm

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

  • Becka
    November 27, 2010 at 10:00 pm

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

  • Kim@Living with Little People
    November 28, 2010 at 4:11 am

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

  • Tammy
    November 28, 2010 at 7:13 am

    Aren’t those “lightbulb” moments so wonderful!

  • Your Mother
    November 28, 2010 at 8:21 pm

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

  • luuve
    November 29, 2010 at 8:10 am

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

  • jbhat
    November 29, 2010 at 11:31 am

    Good job, Mommy!

    jbhat

  • Christina
    November 29, 2010 at 1:10 pm

    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

  • Kelsey
    November 29, 2010 at 3:18 pm

    I also love Eloise. Have you tried that book?

  • April
    November 29, 2010 at 5:06 pm

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

  • Emalise
    December 1, 2010 at 10:21 am

    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.

  • Heather K
    December 2, 2010 at 4:38 pm

    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