mis(ter)pronunciation.

I know I *just* posted about Choi Boy's talking, but language development has been my favorite part of CB's growing up. Hearing him talk and having conversations with him softens the blow that my baby is getting bigger!

You've read some of the gems of CB's chats, but I wanted to be sure to write down some of his current mispronunciations and misinterpretations. Mostly because it's so darn cute! (I'm also peppering this post with some recent Instagram shots, because CB's grandparents would not be happy with a pictureless post. Actually, who am I kidding, neither would I!)

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CB has a lisp (or shall I say, "lithp") and still mixes up the /l/ for /y/, for example, "yellow" is "yeyow". It's my favorite and I yuv it. I know he's not expected to have those sounds correct until he's 7 or so, so for now, I'm enjoying how adorable his speech sounds!

yes, that would be CB out for ice cream in his jammies. you can blame hahmee and hahbee, natch.

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And here are some of his misinterpretations:
hanitizer = hand sanitizer

torrible = terrible/horrible

weesgusting = disgusting

perry chicker = cherry picker

Old MacDonald's = McDonald's (CB has been to Mickey D's all of 2 times, so I don't blame him for the misunderstanding, nor do I care to correct it!)

train baby = train tender (I love this one!)

playover = playdate (CB coined this phrase thinking that if a sleepover is when you go over someone's house to sleep, a playover must be when you go over someone's house to play!)

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CB's version of Ring a Round the Rosie:
Ring a round the rosie
Hasha polka rosie
Ashes, ashes
All we fall down!

Jingle Bells, CB style:
Jingle bells, jingle bells,
Jingle all the way!
Oh the fun it is to go on a slip and slide
Hooray, YAY!

Clearly, this child is not winning any of those song lyric game shows any time soon.

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CB's favorite song right now is "I Like to Move it Move it" from Madagascar (he hasn't seen the movie, but it comes up on Pandora). He loves to sing it and one day said, "Mommy, this song is so weesgusting! They say 'I like to potty potty!!'"

Yeah, it's actually, "I like to party, party," but, whatevs, same thing, no?

I love language development! It's my favorite. :)

What are some fun things your little ones are saying lately?

stock phrases.

Choi Boy is quite the talker. Seriously, he wakes up talking, talks allllllll day long, and falls asleep talking to himself. He'll talk about anything and everything and will talk to anyone who'll listen. Actually, he'll talk to anyone, regardless if they're listening. Actually, he'll talk to anyone or anything.

You get the picture.

When CB really took off with his talking and was putting multiple words together, we would rephrase and repeat a lot phrases to him -- phrases that we wanted him to use on his own. And remarkably, they stuck and have become his stock phrases. While CB totally has a sense of humor befitting a 3 year-old boy and his vocabulary reflects that, it's nice to hear these stock phrases sprinkled into his conversations.

Many of CB's stock phrases are common and generic, but an added bonus is that it's also changed the way the hubs and I talk. In fact, many of these phrases came about in our home because Choi Boy was repeating something the way we were saying it and it just sounded unpleasant when we heard it parroted back to us by a toddler.

Here are some of CB's stock phrases:

*May I... I was big stickler on this one because I am just not a fan of hearing kids requesting things so casually. All day long at school I hear variations of "Can I have it?" "I want that!", etc. And while the motive behind CB's "May I"s is the same as all those other variations, at least he sounds a little polite while asking!


*Yes, please and No, thank you: Again, I wanted to make sure that whether CB was receiving or refusing something, he was at least doing so politely. I've mentioned before that CB is somewhat (okay, I really mean TOTALLY) spoiled by his grandparents and great aunts and uncles, so he is offered lots and lots of goodies. I wanted to make sure that he sounded grateful when accepting said goodies!

*Yes: NOT "yeah." Call me a stick-in-the-mud but I hate the way "yeah" sounds (unless you're Usher). Besides, "yes" sounds SO cute coming out of a little one's mouth!

*Pardon?: This one came about because of terrible habit I had of saying, "Huh?" (because that's way classier than "yeah") when I needed something repeated. We dabbled with "Excuse me?" as an alternative, but that phrase has the potential of sounding a bit snarky, so we went with Pardon; perfect for my Anglophile self.

*Jahl Muhk Uh Seum Nee Dah: This one is Korean, literally translated to "I ate well," but with a meaning more like, "Thank you for the meal." We are trying to use more Korean with Choi Boy, so the hubs has worked hard to help CB remember to say this at the end of our family meals.

*Excuse me: We've been working hard on this phrase for when CB wants to say something while grown-ups are talking. It's coming along, but we're working on having CB wait for acknowledgement after saying Excuse me, so rather than just launching into, "Excuse me, may I have a cookie? May I have another cookie? Mommy, may I have a cookie???", he waits for a second or two.

*Sure!: This wasn't one that we necessarily intended for CB to pick up on, but he has since I say so it often. It's incredibly adorable and upbeat and makes me smile every time!

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As I mentioned, it's been fun to hear and see how these phrases have become a part of our whole family's vocabulary and I love the extra dose of decorum they bring into our lives! It is much needed, as much of our every day is otherwise very casual:

Very casual indeed.

it's baaaaack!

For a while, my Etsy shop has been rather defunct. As in it was on temporary permanent vacation (in my head, that makes sense).

But now that we're in the thick of waiting for our second referral and have a long wait ahead of us until Choi Girl is home, I thought it was time to get things started again. (Again, in my head that totally makes sense, too!)

This time around, things are little different in the shop. While you can still order customized baby name paintings like these:

 I've also added a new collection of customized Moleskine notebooks like these:

I've always loved doodling and hand-lettering, so I'm really excited about these and love the opportunity to get really creative!

I hope you'll take a minute to pop over and see what's new! My goal is to use the sales to help us save up so Choi Boy can join us on our trip to bring home Choi Girl...:) 

the one about christmas.

So. I'm fully aware that it's February. And that Christmas was literally last year. But, if this blog is anything, it's a memory book of sorts for Choi Boy and our family, so I declare it Christmas Recap Day here at Chois-R-Us, mmkay?

Let's see...jogging back to 6 weeks ago, here's how Christmas went down in our family:

We planned to spend the night at my parents' house on Christmas Eve, so Christmas came to our house on Christmas Eve morning because we didn't want to schlep CB's big present over to Hahmee's and Hahbee's. So, of course, I dressed CB appropriately in his Christmas jammies on the 23rd so he could open presents in said jammies. (If you have been reading this blog for a bit you know that I am nothing if not well-planned for opportunities to coordinate outfits for photo ops.)

CB awoke on Christmas Eve, totally confused about why his parents were super excited and giddy. And perhaps that's why he was slightly less than enthusiastic as we forced him to open cheered him on as he opened his present.

is that a "meh." face or what??

We ended up getting CB an awesome fire station "doll house". He loves playing with the little doll house at his girlfriend's house and also loves visiting our local firehouse, so we figured it would a fun gift (that *wasn't* trains...this momma is a little tired of trains). 

After initially reacting with, "I wanted a roundhouse!" (Seriously. SO over trains here.), CB ended up playing with his firehouse for 2 straight hours!

We had fun day with extended family at my parents' house on Christmas Eve (that included chowing down on a HUGE dinner), and somehow, the only shot I managed to get was this one:

Anywho. Christmas morning arrived and it ended up being a lot of fun waking up with the whole family. CB and my dad got right to their morning workout:

(Yes, he wore the same jammies again. Photos ops, people!)

And then once the high school and college-aged folks were finally out of bed, we got right to exchanging gifts. Our little guy was quite excited about both giving and receiving!

And then, after Christmas Eve dinner leftovers had settled into our bellies, we headed off to the ice rink! Of course, CB and his Hahbee had to wear their new matching sweaters:

(sorry for the less than flattering pics, Daddio...)

And there you have it. Our Christmas post. Up 5 days before Valentine's Day. Booyah.