Cute things Arwen says--so that I don't forget!

Arwen has come a long way since her first word, which, by the way, was "Mama," just like I wanted.  Ok, really, she said, "Hey," before that, but I don't count that. At all.  Anyway, now 26 months, she's whipping out full sentences and new words every day.  But there are just some things that she says that are too adorable not to share and that I want to make sure I never forget, so here we go:

1. We've gone from "Mama" to "Ommy." She just does not do that "M."  She also doesn't do the "W" in Wake, so he's "Ache" or "Achy" (Don't worry if you just got that Billy Ray Cyrus song stuck in your head right then--I did, too).

2. She calls seat belts "beat belts."  No, I am not abusing her.  She has absolutely no concept of being whipped with a belt and likely never will.  I have no idea where "beat belts"came from, but lots of things besides seat belts are "beat belts," such as belts (makes sense), buttons (doesn't make sense), and snaps (yep, also doesn't really make sense).

3. One of her latest things is "need."  Everything is "I need..." This started a few weeks ago and culminated in her screaming, "I need MawMaw!" in the middle of her dedication service.

4.  Another favorite of hers in "Help!" This started at one of Wake's awards programs. I was at work, so Jay and Arwen went by themselves.  She did pretty well at first, but then, as little ones will do, she started getting squirmy.  She was desperately trying to escape from her daddy when she suddenly screamed, "Help!" just as they were calling Wake's name for an award.  Everyone around Jay apparently started laughing, which if you know Jay, you know he just loved getting that attention. That was months ago, but she still loves "Help!"  A lot of times now, it's "Help, PawPaw!" or "Help, MawMaw!" Jay says that in Arwen-ese "Help" means "Free me from my oppressors."

5. We have been working on animals, colors, counting, and ABC's.  Arwen pretty much knows all of her farm animals and their sounds and has for months.  She's gotten quite good at her colors lately, although she has trouble with red vs. orange and pink vs. purple.  I've heard her count up to 6 and do her ABCs to "p."  She's been really into the ABC song lately, but for Arwen, it comes out "A B Keys."    She also refers to letters as "A B Keys."

6. Arwen has special names for lots of things: "neigh-neighs" or "yee haws" for horses, "Me Maow" for Mickey Mouse, "Min Maow" for Minnie Mouse, "Yo hos" for pirates (you know, "Yo ho ho"?), "EE EE OO OOs" for monkeys, and "po" for pillow.

7. One of her favorite things is Gerber Grabbers--or any of the other brands, though we call them all grabbers.  Or at least everyone but Arwen--she calls them "gabbas," as in "I need a gabba, Ommy."

8. Arwen is, of course, spoiled rotten, and she has already learned how to manipulate and get her way.  Her go-to: "Peas," aka "Please."  Who could say no to that? She also says, "Tanks" (thanks) or "Ting Goo" (Thank you).

9.  Arwen loves to sing, and just like her daddy, Arwen likes to make up songs. Some of her favorites are "The Mommy Song," "The PawPaw House Song," and "The MawMaw House Song." Mostly they consist of saying the title over and over. Also, "house" usually comes out "how," so it's really "PawPaw How" and "MawMaw How."

10.  Even at 2, Arwen gets a lot of mileage out of "okay" and "'kay."  If I ask her to do something, it's "Okay, Ommy!" If she falls, it's "'kay, Ommy!" as in, "I'm okay, Mommy."  You think this is because I we always says, "You're ok!" when she has an accident so that she doesn't have a meltdown???

11.  When Arwen was much younger (yes, I know she's only 2; you know what I mean), Jay taught her a bad habit (I know you are shocked, but it is true).  If they were playing and she took a toy, he would say, "Hey!" in this completely indignant tone of voice. Well, guess what Arwen says now anytime you have to take something from her? And, yes, she has indignant down.

12. And my very favorite of all...As badly as I wanted Arwen to say "Mama" first (which she did, remember?), I wanted equally badly to hear her say, "I love you."  Now she does, and, of course, like all things, she does it in her own Arwen way: she says, "I uv oo, koo, Ommy!" ("I love you, too, Mommy).  Well, I mean, she tells other people that she loves them, too, but I thought I would use Mommy as an example. You understand, right?)

I'm sure there a plenty that I have overlooked and plenty of new ones to come, so I may have to write a sequel in the future, so be warned! My sweet girl marches to the beat of her own drum, and I love her for it!