Say what?

If you would like an in-depth look at what's coming out of your mouth, just have a 2 year old follow you around for a day. He or she will pick up your most frequent sayings, intonations and hand movements.

By the end of the day, you will have a Mini-Me. Hopefully, sans bad words.

Madeline never says "yes." And I mean never. She'll say "right right," "ok ok ok" or nod her head fervently with her mouth hanging wide open in a wide, excited smile but she'll never say "yes."

I've been trying to get her to say it by making a big deal of answering her questions with a "yes." But then I realized I never say it either.

I taught her to say "right right" and "ok ok ok."

(I've also noticed I tend to say words multiple times. I got the patch and am giving myself daily injections to stop it.)

And yes, I've caught myself answering her questions by nodding excessively with a big, dorky smile and my mouth hanging wide open.

Then there was this response today:

Me: "Madeline, would you like to go play in the water?"
Madeline: "Right, right!"

Oh, honey, bless your heart. You're not even making sense.

It's also come to my attention I don't use normal verbs like "take a shower" or "get in the car."

Me: "Madeline, it's bath time!"
Madeline: "Mommy, jump in shower? Jump in shower?"

I have absolutely no idea where she's heard that before.

Then there's:

Me: "Let's go go!"
Madeline: "Hop in car! Hop in car!"

If you're around me for .2 seconds, you'll notice I say "hop." A lot. Like "hop down from the chair" or "hop up in the crib."

I must think I'm raising a bunny.

So basically, I share all this so next time you have a conversation with Madeline, you can know it's not the poor girl's fault.

She's with me, the person answering your question by nodding enthusiastically with her mouth hanging open.