"Careful the things you say; children will listen. Careful the things you do; children will see and learn. Children may not obey, but children will listen."

Stephen Sondheim, who has no children, is so wise.

As Belle's language develops, I can hear Craig and myself in her words.  She says things like, "How cool is that?" and "Be right back!"  I hear Belle and think, "those are my words!"  Belle speaks to Emily as if Belle is a parent: "Emily, don't cry, sweetie.  It breaks my heart when you cry."  She has an "Emily" voice she uses (she makes her already-cute voice sounds cutsier by speaking in a higher register), as she must hear us and nearly everyone who speaks to a baby speak in a high-register voice.  And the words she says to Emily are nearly always the words I say to Belle or Emily: "It's time for your nap."  "Close your eyes and sleep tight!"  "Oh, sweetie."  "I love you sooo much."

One night recently, Belle was having a hard time falling asleep so she sat at the top of the stairs and just babbled.  Craig and I ignored her to try to encourage her to go back to bed and sleep.  While Belle sat alone on the top step, she said all of these words and phrases that Craig and I say all of the time; things we say in front of Belle, to Belle, about Belle, but most certainly around Belle.  "I'm just going to..." "Give me a minute..."  "Are you listening to me?"  "You're my lovie."  "The answer is no."  "Do you understand?"  "I love you sooo much."  "What a cutie."  "Belle is tall for her age."  "I've never cut Belle's hair. It's sooo long."  Belle just sat and talked and it was if Craig and I were listening to a recording of ourselves.

Another fascinating aspect to Belle's language development is how her language is catching up with her memory.  Just the other day, Belle said to me, "Mommy, Grandma and Grandpa took us to the circus and there was a clown there who said, 'yoo hoo' in a funny way!"  I was astounded.  True, Craig's parents took us to the Big Apple Circus...six months ago.  There indeed was a clown who walked around and only said, "yoo hoo" in silly ways.  Belle hadn't said a word about the circus in months, but it seems that the memories remain and that silly clown really stuck with her.  And now, at almost-three, she has the words to express that.

Belle says everything.  She can- and she does- tell us what she wants, what hurts, what's bothering her, what makes her happy.  It is a pleasure to listen to her.  Out of nowhere today, Belle asked me for something.  When I gave the requested item to her, she said, "Thank you, Mommy.  You're my best friend."