"Pease," Plurals, and Parties

1. I taught Belle a new word: Please. I was tired of Belle reaching and whining so I asked her to say, "please" instead of whining when she wants something. I learned that Belle is a quick study (though she pronounces it "pease"), and also that I am a total softee. Now, whenever Belle sweetly says, "pease," I give her whatever it is that she wants. Her voice is so sweet and her "pease" is so cute that she has me wrapped around her teensie weensie finger. A prune before dinner, "pease." OK! A bite of Mommy's rice cake, "pease." You got it, Belle. In my defensive, she usually repeats her "pease" several times in a totally non-whiny way. I argue that even a tougher mom (any other parent, really- I am such a pushover) would struggle to say no to Belle's adorable "Pease. Pease. Pease."

2. Belle is adding new words to her vocabulary daily. Interestingly, she has a tendency to pluralize most nouns. For instance, Belle does not say "bye bye." She instead says, "byes" (perhaps a shortcut, since "bye" is actually two "byes"). Often, Craig and I are "Daddys" and "Mommys," though we're each just one person (maybe it's Belle's version of the royal we?). Anyway, she's talking and we understand, so it's all just fine(s).

3. When we moved into our new house, a few people asked us if we moved onto the party block. I learned that the "party block" is the next block down from where we live, and they are dubbed the party block because of the block party they have annually for which they close off their one block and bring in a fire truck. While we are actually a few houses in from THE party block, our whole street is pretty friendly. When the weather was nice last week, Belle and I went out for walks nearly every day. We always made friends with neighboring children and dogs on these walks. On Tuesday, we found a half dozen kids playing in one neighbor's yard (on the party block proper). On Wednesday, we met Leo whom Belle hugged when we said our "byes." On Friday, we were invited in to someone's home for an impromptu playdate. I look forward to more neighborhood fun as the weather warms and we are outside more. While we don't live on the party block, our street feels like a party to me.