Yoving it.

Hmmm. A bit behind, eh? Let's catch up: Elle started a new daycare last week and is doing swimmingly, she's wearing size 8 shoes and we just returned from a 10-day trip that had us driving nearly 3,000 miles to, around and from Ohio (oh, and she and I drove up by ourselves and survived but very much welcomed Tim's participation as the main driver on the return trip). So. Now that we're allll caught up, I present a story from our travels that actually extends beyond them - one that I was reminded of when Meghan posted this about her son.

Elle has always been an excellent communicator. Every time someone comments on how well she speaks for her age, I say "Yes, she started early and took off from there!" She's always spoken very clearly, too, aside from a few  short-lived misprounciations, like one that makes me smile any time I think of it - she called my friend Lara's husband "Mr. Wob." As in, "Mr. Wob was home today." Except his name is Rob. Too cute, right? She also has a cute way of saying "Noffing" for nothing. Amazingly precious.

But anyway, when we were in Ohio, my family picked up on an adorable speech slip-up that Tim and I had pretty much just accepted and love: Elle can't say the soft "L" sound, a fact that has prompted my dad to tell me countless times that it's cruel we named her "Elle" and she can't say that very letter. She can say her name without problem, and even proclaims the spelling on occasion: "E-L-L-L-L-L-L-L-L-L-L. That spells Elle!" (Close, kid.)

Elle does not yike the cold weather in Ohio.

We've gotten very used to Elle saying "I yike it," "I yove you," and "Where's my yunch?" Some times she asks to have a "yittle" bit of something. Then there's the more complex "piyyow" for pillow, "catepiyyow" for caterpillar and the "yeyyow" for yellow. Overall for a two-year-old, she speaks very clearly, and I love (yove) the way these more babyish words sneak in to her otherwise sophisticated diction.

Things got pretty funny once the whole family picked up on it. Elle noticed that we were all laughing at one point on Thanksgiving day, and I told her I was sorry we were making fun of her speech impediment. Clearly, she said, "I don't have a speech impediment." The kid repeats almost everything, and most of it she repeats perfectly, but in this case, it was more hilarious than usual.

Working on some Christmas yights with Grams.

The fun continued throughout the trip. We enjoyed looking at all of Ohio's Christmas "yights." My mom has a stuffed, electronic cat that looks a lot like Baby, the cat they have. The toy cat's name? Lulu. So when I asked Elle if she wanted to play with Lulu, I got a curious "Yuyu?" in return.

Yucky the Kitten.

Tim's mom has a new kitten. When I texted my sister to tell her about it, I said "Get this - the kitten's name? Lucky." It took my sister about 30 seconds to write back and say "Oooooooh. Yucky?" I heard Elle and Grandma talking about it one morning, and Grandma told Elle that Lucky was a lucky ducky because she had found her when she'd been abandoned on the side of the road, skin and bones and all alone. Elle said "Yucky ducky?" Later that afternoon, I told Elle that she was lucky to be getting a cookie after lunch because she'd already had some candy as a treat. Thinking I was calling her the kitten's name, Elle said, "I not Yucky, Mommy."

I am going to miss this yittle speech hiccup when it's gone.