This week's favorite toddler phrases

This week we have gotten a kick out of our toddler's growing vocabulary. It is interesting as a parent to see words and phrases you use coming back at you, likely with a different context. It also is fun to see what new and creative phrases that a little one comes up with to express what he sees, hears or feels.

Here are some notable phrases for us this week. What is your toddler saying that you KNOW he picked up from you? What creative phrases does he/she say that are going down into your blogs/journals or notes?

1) HELP! (OK, I don't know where this one came from, but he is saying "HELP!" every time we "encourage" him to do something that he doesn't want to do. Examples include - taking a bath, going potty, going to bed, etc. We went to a restaurant this week and as we were sitting there, what did lil man do? He yelled, "HELP!" at the top of his lungs. I looked around to see if someone was going to come after us. Why do I get the feeling that this is the first of many times this lil man will call us out as he grows up. :)

2) "It's not yours!" (So, lil man loves to say "mine" and again, what almost three year old doesn't? For that matter, I bet adults wish they could say that too!! We use this phrase when the dog takes something that is not his, but this phrase is coming back to haunt us as lil man says it to everyone he meets. We went out for Gelati (really we DO eat at home the majority of the time) and a lil girl around his age was looking through the glass refrigerated case and picking out the flavor of gelati she desired. What did our guy do, he proceeded to yell (his voice carries like his dad - and I swear if we did a science experiment, I think that if you listened carefully, you would hear him speaking if you were within a 10 mile radius). Anyways, lil man proceeded to yell, "That is NOT yours!" He clearly did not want to share the gelati with anyone.

3) "Don't squeeze the penguins!" (Come on. I know, you too use this phrase on a daily basis, right? His new favorite show is the Penguins of Madagascar and in his recent "hall monitor fashion" he now likes to remind us NOT to squeeze the penguins. Try that one out on your friends and family at home. Sure to generate some strange looks. Especially if you are in the grocery store like us and he yells it aloud."

4) "Dat, dat, dat, dat, dat." (Now, another phrase that I am sure must be one of your favorites. Lately when he is running to the slide. He says this. I guess it is because there are still some things he can't seem to express. It is cute and my hubby reminded me of it).

5) "Cars/airplanes/trucks/diggers(you get the idea) are sleeping. They are taking a nap." (When we are in the car or outside he loves to point out all of the vehicles that he sees. Lately when a car is parked or a digger is not being used, he likes to say that they are sleeping and taking a nap. This is just a sweet phrase to us. Only one a parent would love!"