Write that down!

I know that reading about Giovanna all the time is probably getting dull, and I promise that I have some differently-themed posts coming up (photos of our home as it comes together, a trip to the beach, and some of the things I have my hands in right now - stay tuned!), but by golly, it seems that Gigi is just a lot of my life.  At this young age of 2 I really enjoy capturing what she says and writing it down, and since this is my journal as much as anything, I am going to record some little snippets from the last few weeks.  (Where does she get this stuff?)

While playing on her Papai's computer chair one night (and clearly, trying out a new phrase that she hears often from me)...

Gigi: This chair has lines on it.  Okay?  Does that make sense?

and a minute later...

Gigi: I'm standing on this chair, so no using it.  Does that make sense?

***

While discussing the Prieto family whistle in the car...

Me: Papai's good at whistling.  I'm not very good at whistling.
Gigi: You're good at talking!

***

While playing with her toy foods (a favorite pastime)...

Gigi: I cooked this chicken in the oven.  I put seasonings on it.
Me: Mmmm....  what seasonings did you put on it?
Gigi: Basil and Oregano.  You want to try it?

August 5th, 2012

Gigi shared her testimony for the first time, during our first Fast and Testimony meeting in the new Chapel Hill 2nd Ward.  She let me prompt her through sentences, but Her Royal Independence was disappointed that I had to hold her up to the microphone, because even from the children's step stool she could not see over the podium.

***

At Subway, eating a tuna sandwich and chips...

Gigi: I love my life...

***

Gigi has a little rhyming obsession.  A lot of what she says is made up words, but I am happy enough that she loves rhyming and seems to get it, that the made up words don't really bother me.  Most of the time she comes up with things like "Net and debt!" (not realizing, of course, that debt is actually a word), but my favorite rhyme so far came after our talk about the benefits of water: "Minerals and binerals!".

***

After I very firmly told her to stop climbing on her crib...

Gigi: I NEED to climb!  My JOB is to climb!

***

In her high-chair, talking to herself in a sing-song voice as she justifies crunching up her tortilla chips into a million pieces...

Gigi: I can make a mess if I want to.  I'm just a girl.  That's okay...

One day we watched a video on facebook of Gigi's friend Boston singing Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star.  Later in the day, she started to sing the same song and I had an idea that it might be nice to record her singing...

Me: Gigi, we should make a video for your friend Boston.
Gigi: Did you post it?
Me: Pause, confused look as I try to figure out if she really just said what I thought she did.
Gigi: Did you post it online?

***

While talking about me cleaning the kitchen, so that we don't get any bugs...

Me: Papai bought poison for the ants.
Gigi: It's under the chair.
Me: Yeah, we don't touch that.  It's poisonous for people
Gigi: Like mushrooms.  They're poisonous too.

***

One thing I've learned about Gigi is that unless she is very obviously making up silly words and being a goof ball, all of her seemingly random questions and comments are not random, but are in fact linked to something she has experienced or learned in the past.  Sometimes it just takes me a minute to figure out where she is coming from and what she is referring to.  One day she must have been thinking back on the "kitchen" page in her Richard Scarry book ("This is the Scarry Richard book.  But he's not scary.  No, his last name is Scarry"), and we had the following conversation.

Gigi: Mommy, do we have a pitcher at home?
Me: Trying to figure out what she is referring to and what word exactly she is using.  Hmmm...  well, what do you do with a pitcher?
Gigi: You put milk or juice inside.
Me: Oh!  Yes, we do have two pitchers at home.
Gigi: Are they glass or ceramic?

***

And finally, I want to record her very cute little habit of saying, "Shall we talk about....?" and then suggesting a random object, for example, coats, placemats, elephants, etc.  Every once in a while we get something more interesting like, "Shall we talk about the Holy Ghost?" but usually we have little conversations where I tell her everything I know about an object until the subject is exhausted (which is very quickly for something like a placemat), and it's fun to be able to tell her about things in her world.

I so wish that my brain were as much of a sponge as hers.   What a great age!