Words, words, words

One of my favorite things about Nancy is her eagerness to use an expansive vocabulary and communicate with as much flourish as possible.  She is blissfully influenced by Fancy Nancy, the wonderful character created by Jane O'Connor, and I have encouraged that from the beginning.  Nancy loves to add the addendum, "That's a fancy word for _______" when she has just selected a word with great purpose.  We are still working on the repercussions of her having grasped the concept of past-tense before earning the vocabulary to do so - so she adds "-ed" to EVERYTHING.  "I made-ed this for you."  "We had-ed a snack." "I saw-ded a bunny!" "Remember when I save-ded the day?"  Regardless, she is a stunning verbal communicator, and listening to her go on and on about anything will amuse, bemuse, impress, and exhaust you all at once.

As is the case for most parents, I derive great joy from my child's word mix-ups ("I want to learn to jungle THREE balls!"), mispronunciations ("I sneeze-ded.  Can I have a twoshoe?"), and the surprise word selections she'll make ("(sips some water from a fancy tea cup): Mommy, I feel GLORIOUS!").  Here are my top six Nancy Word Moments since the start of this year:

4/8/13 - We made cards for Nancy's classmates to say goodbye, and I was working off an old class list. Mommy: "Next is Hrida."
Nancy: "(somberly shakes her head) No, Mommy, she passed away."
Mommy: "(taken aback, but assuming I would have heard this news before...) I don't think she's passed away, Nance."
Nancy: "Yes she did. That's a fancy word for leaving."

 4/1/13 - Daddy: "Did you tell your class about seeing the Eiffel Tower?"
Nancy: "No, I was feeling shy..."
Mommy: "You were what?"
Nancy: "I'm just kidding! April Accident!"

3/8/13 - Apparently, Nancy liked Luke's friend in STAR WARS... Olee on Cannoli. It is almost cruel how many times we've made her repeat it for our amusement.

2/28/13 - We're at Great Clips for Nancy's haircut, and she complimented the kid who finished before her: "I like your hair style. That's fancy for hair-looking."

1/16/13 - Nancy sometimes repeats things as she has misheard them. Tonight she melted my heart with her mix-up, obviously mishearing "to serve." I came out to the table and she had dished up the food onto my plate for me. I said, "Aw, thank you, honey!" She said, "You're welcome. At school we deserve ourselves, and I wanted deserve you."

1/8/13 - Mommy and Nancy, working on a sticker mosaic together, and Mommy goes before it is her "turn." 
Nancy: "Mommy! You need to wait your turn!" 

Mommy: "I'm sorry, I thought I had." 

Nancy: "If you don't wait your turn again, you're going down." 

Mommy: "... Excuse me?" 

Nancy: "If you don't wait your turn again, you're going down." 

Mommy: "Nancy, that is not a nice thing to say to me." 

Nancy: "Ms. Weiss (her teacher) says it." 

Mommy: "How does she say it?" 

Nancy: "If you make a bad choice, you go down from 'Yippee Yellow' to 'Uh Oh Orange' and if you make more bad choices, you go all the way down to 'Bad Day Blue'." 

Mommy: "Ah. Sorry, I misunderstood you." 

Nancy: "How did you misunderstood me?" 

Mommy: "It means... something else outside of schoo... Is it my turn yet?"

Interestingly enough, the word for an item that became iconic with her was omitted from her early vocabulary.  In October of last year, she and I and my mom were driving to the mall, in final preparations for moving from Florida to Chicago.  I said, "We're going to the mall to get you a coat."  Nancy said, in earnest, "What's a coat?"  

Nancy in her iconic pink coat in front of the Eiffel Tower.