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dooce® - dooce.com

Pointing out the obvious

One of Leta's new favorite ways to demonstrate her outstanding retention is to identify everyone in the room. She'll point her right index finger -- the one she holds up to show how old she is -- to each person around her and say, "Dat's Mama. Dat's Daddy." And if there is someone among us whose name she hasn't yet stored in her mental Rolodex she'll get very quiet, slink over to me and whisper so that no one else can hear, "Dat is?" And the look of panic in her eyes says that I had better let her know quick because her reputation is on the line.

One afternoon last week we were having lunch with our babysitter when Leta started pointing to everyone. "Dat's Kay-yee," she said pointing to the babysitter, Katey, someone she only recently stopped referring to as Tiki. Katey says that most kids have a hard time with her name, and she's even been called KeeKee by those related to her. That's nothing when you consider that no kid can say Heather, and the closest any one of my young relatives came was NerNer. Aunt NerNer, Giant Alien Squid.

After she pointed to Mama and Daddy I asked her to point to Jon as an exercise in putting together the fact that Daddy is the same person as the one whose name Mama yells in a homicidal tone all day. She looked straight at him and said, "Der he is!" Then I asked her to point to Heather, and without any hesitation she stuck her finger in my direction and shouted, "Der he is!"

I think my new haircut may be confusing her.

Turns out I can get her to refer to me as a he on command, and we taped her doing it yesterday while we were all gathered on the bed, all of us including the animal living on Leta's head. Right before the beginning of this clip Leta was being as harpy as an old woman trying to bargain down the price of a stick of gum, and to calm her down I flipped out the monitor on the side of the camera so that she could watch herself being taped. It worked, and you can see the exact moment she recognizes herself because her face lights up with a giddy grin you might see on a man presented with an ice cream cone of cleavage.

Flash video
Quicktime movie

06.12.2006 Daily, Leta, Parenthood, Video comments closed
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  • 1. dancingnancy said:

    My birth control is SO MUCH less appealing now. Great! :) Thanks Heather! She's super adorable. I want one!

    06.12.06 - 08:10 AM
  • 2. Melissa said:

    I love that you call Leta's hair "the animal living on her head." I have hair that gets completely beyond all reasonable control, it's really quite unnecessary, and my father used to ask me, "What do you feed that thing on the top of your head?" Hilarious.

    06.12.06 - 08:15 AM
  • 3. Hippitee said:

    we cannot video my 3 year old without her commanding 'turn-it-ober'...and when she sees the digitial camera come out she comes rushing over to see the 'live feed'...we've killed the archival spontaneity with that simple introduction of the video screen...wishing you better luck...I adore the leta footage!

    06.12.06 - 08:16 AM
  • 4. lastnode said:

    Ha! Try getting a kid to pronounce Maa-haan-goo! :)

    06.12.06 - 08:17 AM
  • 5. DoctorK said:

    She's not calling you "he". It's kind of a French thing she's doing: "il y a" (there is). She's bilingual already. What a little genius!

    06.12.06 - 08:17 AM
  • 6. Beachgal said:

    Lovely, absolutely lovely.

    06.12.06 - 08:17 AM
  • 7. Sandra said:

    The look on her face when she sees herself is just priceless! She's wonderful.

    06.12.06 - 08:17 AM
  • 8. buick said:

    My sister is also named Heather - little brother called her "Head-doo". I had the misfortune to be called "Cow-wee" (karen)

    06.12.06 - 08:19 AM
  • 9. mrs.cpa said:

    If my hair would look as fabulous as your's does in that haircut, I could totally deal with being referred to as a man pronoun on occasion. Although the "big boob-ies" and the "he" are a little contradictory.

    06.12.06 - 08:20 AM
  • 10. lawyerish said:

    So Leta has gone from pointing out your "big boobies" to identifying you as a male... Well, it's refreshing to know that Leta recognizes the fluidity of gender, and has grasped that the constructs of gender have been imposed on us by society's rigid ideals, rather than being the necessary manifestation of biological imperatives.

    Hmm. I see a future Women's Studies major in our midst. Rock on!

    06.12.06 - 08:20 AM
  • 11. Mab said:

    Those videos are priceless. We still have one of my sister picking her nose and sticking it under the couch when she was 5. The look on her face when she realized the camera was on! Ten years later, we're still torturing her over it.

    06.12.06 - 08:21 AM
  • 12. OutOfTune said:

    A young daughter of my dad's friend once said that she couldn't pronounce my name, and asked if she could instead call me "Flower".

    06.12.06 - 08:25 AM
  • 13. jolie said:

    oh heather, thank you. I really needed this today, and not only did lovely leta the meter maid make me grin, you used two of my favorite words in this post: slink and harpy.

    I can't wait until she starts calling your sister uncle september.

    06.12.06 - 08:25 AM
  • 14. TxSuzyQ said:

    Weeee!!! Finally someone with morning hair as bad as me... only I don't get as happy when someone pulls out a video camera to grab it on film!

    Leta - Learn to use the video camera and gather some blackmail footage of your own sweety! You're gonna need it me thinks! =]

    06.12.06 - 08:26 AM
  • 15. Amy Mingo said:

    My name is Amy, one I would not consider too hard to say and yet I am usually refered to by the toddler set as Mimi or Maimie.

    06.12.06 - 08:28 AM
  • 16. HeathsB said:

    my deepest sympathies, i am also a heather or eh-or to most kids; or to the french, for some reason they all sound like 2 year olds when trying to pronounce my name and its not as cute as the little ones

    06.12.06 - 08:32 AM
  • 17. sweetney said:

    oh my god THE CUTE.

    mina *still* has problems with the whole he/she thing. apparently as parents we've failed to adequately drill gender difference into her or something.

    guess its time i pull out the pink pinafores and lacey/ribbony things...

    06.12.06 - 08:35 AM
  • 18. brandy said:

    My bestfriends son just called me Bambi for the first couple years of his life.

    I think you should just have a Leta-cam or a phone line that we call and Leta could tell us the time or weather..or you could with that sassy southern lady accent you got there.

    06.12.06 - 08:38 AM
  • 19. Kari said:

    Enough about Leta, let's talk about me and the fact that I am now so addicted to this website that I check it constantly for a new update.

    Back in the day, I never saw the number of comments in the double digits, let alone below 20!

    06.12.06 - 08:39 AM
  • 20. fred said:

    my son reffers to everyone by first and last name.. it's funny to hear kids stuble across some odd lastnames like ackerman or rodriguez.

    06.12.06 - 08:40 AM
  • 21. Ramona said:

    Nicknames in my family are usually bestowed upon by the inarticulate children. My niece has called me "Chow Chow Mona" even though I remain firm that I in no way resemble a dog.

    06.12.06 - 08:42 AM
  • 22. E-Lo said:

    My baby loves watching Leta videos.

    The closest my little brother could come to pronouncing "Erica" was "Ca-ca," so I was always referred to as garbage. Nice.

    06.12.06 - 08:42 AM
  • 23. sasha said:

    If you wish to arrange a marriage in the distant future, my two-year-old Sam is captivated by Leta!

    06.12.06 - 08:43 AM
  • 24. kalisah said:

    I think it's funny that she called Katey "Tiki." My son called the sofa a "fosa" for several years.

    06.12.06 - 08:45 AM
  • 25. Amber said:

    I think NerNer is infinitely preferable to what the kids I used to babysit called me: Amburger. I mean, every kid can say hamburger, but extracting Amber out of there is hard. Bingo, Amburger!

    06.12.06 - 08:45 AM
  • 26. Pioneer Woman said:

    She is friggin' cute. I want to pinch her cheeks.

    06.12.06 - 08:46 AM
  • 27. danika said:

    Completely adorable, as usual.

    My hair is trying that same look today; why is it not cute on me?!

    06.12.06 - 08:47 AM
  • 28. Heather Anne said:

    Heather, ye who loves all things technologically advanced, is that a VHS PLAYER in the background?!

    Gosh, Leta is the cutest kid I've ever seen.

    06.12.06 - 08:59 AM
  • 29. girl said:

    our nephew calls our cousin Katey, KeeKee as well. I'm not sure if he still does it, though. his grasp of the English language has gotten frighteningly good over the past couple of months to the point where I have to be really careful what I say around him now. he's 29 months going on 7.

    06.12.06 - 09:01 AM
  • 30. The Mighty Jimbo said:

    you make me miss my nieces - and yet i'm still digging out the chocolate and nacho cheese they have smeared into my carpet.

    josh the dog feels the same way but mostly BECAUSE of the chocolate and nacho cheese they have smeared into my carpet. two great tastes...

    i suspect he also likes them because they smell like poop. truly part of his pack.

    06.12.06 - 09:04 AM
  • 31. Pascha said:

    My niece was almost 4 before she could correctly pronounce my name, and even then, she had to take her time. It always came out "Pa-ya." (Both sound like saying aahhhh.) Plus, she had a really raspy voice. Too cute.

    06.12.06 - 09:05 AM
  • 32. smoness said:

    Oh, that hair! Do YOU like Flock Of Seagulls?? I think so!

    06.12.06 - 09:06 AM
  • 33. Heather Barmore said:

    Having the name Heather, means being referred to as "Hedder" or "Hader" by the six and under set.

    06.12.06 - 09:06 AM
  • 34. jes said:

    I love how she embraces being on film. Such a little ham. A hairy ham.

    06.12.06 - 09:06 AM
  • 35. heathabee said:

    I'm a heather too, and my friend's two year old daughter calls me Butter because she can't say Heather. Not even kidding. I hope she never calls me Heather.

    06.12.06 - 09:08 AM
  • 36. alithea said:

    my first name is alithea, pronounced UH LEE THEE UH, like alicia with a lisp. my younger sister took to calling me SISSYA as a sort of compromise between my title and my name.

    06.12.06 - 09:14 AM
  • 37. katy66 said:

    I MISS THIS AGE! Though my Olivia is 3 right now, and I hate to say, it just gets cuter.....Until they are demanding their own cell phone, computer and web cam in their room so they can take sexy pictures of themselves, in order to put you in an early grave so they don't have to have "rules" anymore and can cash in on your life insurance policy.............

    Anyways, they are still cute now:-)

    06.12.06 - 09:20 AM
  • 38. elise said:

    My 3 year old son still doesn't have his pronouns figured out, but he does know there's a difference. He's always asking about people---"Is [insert name here] a he or a she?" He uses he/she him/her pretty interchangeably, even within the same sentence. He'll move on and learn it soon enough and it will become one of those "cute things he used to do" that we wax nostalgic about!

    06.12.06 - 09:20 AM
  • 39. Tracy aka Fuzzball said:

    Heather,

    In lieu of a memorable comment, I will just say that I LOVE the addition of Leta/Chucklette videos. They make me very happy :)

    I know, boring comment. I know that you read them, though, so I wanted to share my appreciation for your site and your darling family!!!

    06.12.06 - 09:23 AM
  • 40. kerry said:

    don't feel bad. it's completely normal for a child her age to confuse gender. for the longest time my oldest son used to call me daddy and his father mommy. and at almost 5, he's still a little confused with the gender thing. he has referred to himself and his brother as both boys and girls at different times. but then he also wants to wear my makeup and says he's pretty, so he may not be that normal afterall. :S

    06.12.06 - 09:25 AM
  • 41. katielady said:

    I have done a lot of babysitting and found that kids either called me "cake-ee" or "tate-ee". They could get one consonant sound, but not both. I have not been called Tiki, though I wouldn't mind.

    06.12.06 - 09:30 AM
  • 42. biodtl said:

    My daughter is slightly older than Leta and she calls my friend Heather "Heaven".

    06.12.06 - 09:31 AM
  • 43. tk said:

    The cuteness is painfull.....

    And your hair is great!!!

    06.12.06 - 09:32 AM
  • 44. babbling said:

    mmmmmmmmm lemon meringue pie and Leta videos. The pleasure shall surely kill me.

    06.12.06 - 09:33 AM
  • 45. Jonniker said:

    Flirt. She's a bloody flirt. It's hilarious.

    06.12.06 - 09:34 AM
  • 46. carrieoke said:

    So. cute. I love how all the 2-year-old boys have crushes on Leta.

    06.12.06 - 09:39 AM
  • 47. Janell said:

    Oh, my mom used to hook up an 80's style camcorder to our TV in the basement so the picture would show up on the screen. My baby brother at age 4, then the only one not in school, would dress up as a ninja turtle, swing his numchucks, and make his own movies. No lie, they're still funny and he's now a theatre major in college. Kids must love seeing themselves on the "big screen!" Leta is adorable!!

    06.12.06 - 09:41 AM
  • 48. vegasandvenice said:

    It is my most heartfelt belief that it is high time the Mensa people were alerted of Leta's skills!

    06.12.06 - 09:42 AM
  • 49. the niffer said:

    Dude, even our cats have a crush on Leta.

    06.12.06 - 09:43 AM
  • 50. Kathleen said:

    Growing up with multiple younger cousins meant hearing my name butchered by countless little kids. Unfortunately, they all butchered "Kathleen" the same way. For years I've been known as "Assclean".

    06.12.06 - 09:45 AM
  • 51. blazingkate said:

    As a Kate, I've been referred to as "Cake" by a three-year-old, which makes people terribly excited when they hear that Cake will be arriving later, and much less so when it's actually me that shows up. Unless I come bearing cake.

    06.12.06 - 09:47 AM
  • 52. Coyote said:

    My three sons are named Greg, Keith and Eric. Greg and Keith had the nicknames of Greggie and Keeker. My daughter is the youngest of the tribe, and when she was little, she called her brothers JeeJee, KeeKoh and UckUck. I always told people she was an Eskimo in a past life.

    06.12.06 - 09:49 AM
  • 53. Snickrsnack Katie said:

    I am a Katie and I was called Tatie by my boyfriend's son for the first 2 and half years of his life. My niece calls me Tayyyy, and I stress those extra 'y's - it is almost like Tay-yay-yay.

    I am impressed that Leta knows your first names. Little Patrick couldn't quite grasp his father's "human name" until he was about three - and Little Patrick is a Junior. I think the fact that he is a junior was confusing. In his mind, he was the ONLY James Patrick.

    Leta is too cute for words. And too smart!

    06.12.06 - 09:52 AM
  • 54. ben said:

    "Heather" is a tough one for the little ones. Our nephew used to pronounce it in an amusing way: Aunt Heiffer.

    Either that, or that's what the rest of my family actually called my wife behind our backs.

    06.12.06 - 09:53 AM
  • 55. Greg said:

    It's like having your very own little science experiement. I need to get one of those.

    06.12.06 - 09:54 AM
  • 56. Madame M. said:

    Note to self: do not watch clip of Leta while breastfeeding ever again, as risk having child yank nipple off in mad dash to say hello to Leta.

    06.12.06 - 09:57 AM
  • 57. Meretrice said:

    My poor sister. My parents named her Michelle, along with half of the other childbearing couples of the early 70s. She was renamed "Shell" by myself when I was a youngin'. It is name that she has been stuck with her whole life, with not a little bit of resentment on her part.

    When my own little girl came along, she developed a fascination at about 18 months with the seashells that I used to decorate our bathroom. She would play with them for hours at a time. Obviously, she couldn't pronounce "seashells," she called them "shar-shars." Aunt Shell was renamed "Aunt Shar" by my Daughter. Shell was actually quite pleased with the new name. Eventually, Daughter learned how to pronounce her "L"s and "Shell" made a comeback, much to my sister's dismay.

    06.12.06 - 09:58 AM
  • 58. Shalini said:

    Oh awwwww.. I keep saying it.. the adorableness is just oozing out! So cute!

    06.12.06 - 10:00 AM
  • 59. Kassi Gilbert said:

    Hey, I LIKE the name "Ner Ner". And that Ner Ner is a Giant Squid makes it even better. Have a nice day!

    06.12.06 - 10:00 AM
  • 60. rivetergirl said:

    Ah, the brilliance of the toddler. My kindergarten graduate still calls her dad "mama" and me "daddy." We're interchangable to her. Yeah, we're parents. She doesn't care which one we are unless we're yelling at her, then the other parent is her savior.

    06.12.06 - 10:02 AM
  • 61. MommyofOne said:

    Heather,

    When Leta says "Mama" it looks like she makes the ASL sign for "star". Cute!

    Jessica

    06.12.06 - 10:11 AM
  • 62. CartwheelsAtMidnight said:

    LOVELOVELOVE the Leta-Movies. Thanks!

    Oh, and my niece mixed up her pronouns (she even made up several) until the better part of her 5th year. According to the specialist, nothing to worry about and now she's over 6 and not a bit confused at all. Just took her a while to figure it all out.

    06.12.06 - 10:13 AM
  • 63. Urs said:

    completely unrelated, but DUDE!, where's jon?

    06.12.06 - 10:15 AM
  • 64. sara said:

    sigh...

    seriously - I think that Simon is in LOVE with her. I show him other videos of kids and he's never interested. Pull out the Leta clips and, good lord, the kid wants to eat my iBook monitor!

    thank you for keeping us supplied! sometimes it's my ONLY hope of keeping him happy!

    06.12.06 - 10:16 AM
  • 65. Muffin said:

    30 seconds after I brush my hair I look like I threw my hair into the air during a windstorm and ran underneath it. The most wonderful thing my mom ever taught me was the beauty of the ponytail.

    Its really not fair that Leta has the same kind of hair, and yet looks so cute.

    06.12.06 - 10:21 AM
  • 66. Ang said:

    Leta is cute beyond words. And your picture today...priceless!

    06.12.06 - 10:37 AM
  • 67. JustLinda said:

    My youngest daughter, who is just behind Leta in months, just recently started with the 'naming everybody' game. Only she often mistook her two oldest sisters (who no longer live at home) for each other. So she would call Katie Amber and vice versa. Katie kept correcting her "MY name is Katie."

    The other day, when this happened, Rae replied by putting her hand on her chest and saying "I name Rae-Rae" as if the two of them were meeting for the first time.

    Ain't nuthin' better than a 2 year old trying to master the language. You can teach them ANYTHING. During the day, if you ask "Where is the moon, Rae?" she'll tell you "China!" It's almost as good as having my own little circus monkey, god love her.

    06.12.06 - 10:45 AM
  • 68. issa said:

    Very, very cute. I also love the picture you posted of you two walking.

    She is getting so big.

    06.12.06 - 10:47 AM
  • 69. meredith said:

    Try having a name like Meredith when you live in france. No one can say it. Then again, with a name like Heather, you wouldn't have it any easier.

    06.12.06 - 10:47 AM
  • 70. issa said:

    Very, very cute. I also love the picture you posted of you two walking.

    She is getting so big.

    06.12.06 - 10:47 AM
  • 71. PixieMegh said:

    So. Freaking. Cute!!

    It's okay, according to my niece/nephew Meghan=May Man/Mennan

    06.12.06 - 10:59 AM
  • 72. Amy said:

    My son Noah came in just as I was watching this video and he said
    Who is that, Mommy?
    That's Leta.
    Is she our friend?
    She is someone who lives in Utah.
    Please turn on Sponge Bob, Mom.

    Leta is going to be famous among my son's generation...

    06.12.06 - 11:02 AM
  • 73. TigerLambGirl said:

    I swear.

    I just felt my tubes come untied.

    06.12.06 - 11:04 AM
  • 74. shy said:

    awesome! just adorable!

    06.12.06 - 11:13 AM
  • 75. Monyikka said:

    every time i see that kid i wonder how the two of you manage to refrain from eating her alive.

    SUCH A DOLL!

    06.12.06 - 11:17 AM
  • 76. TigerLambGirl said:

    Ah, Heather - your bring up so many lovely memories with your stories;).

    One day in 1995, I heard my husband's car as he was arriving home from work. As is usual, I went to open the front door - with my daughter trailing just behind me.

    When I opened the door, I was pleasantly suprised to see my husband carrying a fresh bunch of beautiful flowers in one hand and his flight/helmet bag in the other. Just as I was about to say how beautiful the flowers were - our two year old adorable bundle of cuteness thrusted her hands across her little chest and exclaimed:

    "Slowers, sor me?!"

    At which point, her Daddy knelt down on one knee and presented them to her, whilst giving me a wink and a kiss over her shoulder.

    She could not, for the life of her, pronounce 'f' until she was about 5 or 6. I can still hear her little voice saying those words (she's 14 now) and it always warms my heart.

    She's totally got Daddy wrapped round her little finger still.

    06.12.06 - 11:22 AM
  • 77. Wendy Mac said:

    I have countless hours of video footage of my daughter as a toddler watching herself on the teeny screen and giggling and blushing. And that's it.

    Call me crazy, but I think she has "Oscar Winning Actress" all over her.

    06.12.06 - 11:29 AM
  • 78. Julie said:

    Cheer up, when my mom was little, none of her siblings could say her name (Linda). So she got called "Ninny." Which was fine until her youngest brother changed it to "Dumb Ninny."

    Thanks for the smile, Miss Leta. I needed one today! :)

    06.12.06 - 11:30 AM
  • 79. NewfieldBella said:

    My son is 4 1/2. He refers to me as "he" and answers his daddy with "Yes, mam"

    06.12.06 - 11:34 AM
  • 80. Paige said:

    That is too funny. I've been coming to your site for awhile now with my husband. It is one of his favorite sites and now mine. I love to read about Leta. She is adorable!

    06.12.06 - 11:37 AM
  • 81. monkeyaker said:

    Until she starts speaking in a low british accent and referring to you as masseur and madame, you're probably in the clear.

    06.12.06 - 11:54 AM
  • 82. Heather said:

    I'm a Heather too whose younger cousins had no idea what to do with my name... of course my revenge came earlier when I called my Grandpa Burley "bumpa barley."

    06.12.06 - 11:55 AM
  • 83. Manda said:

    I've been trying to teach my niece my sister’s name. Although, I would love to see when she shows up to her first day of school and has the conversation, "My mom's name is Mom too!!"

    06.12.06 - 11:57 AM
  • 84. Smooshtie said:

    Awww! She is so adorable!!!

    06.12.06 - 11:59 AM
  • 85. solaana said:

    I love how she looks like she's kind of embarrassed to be on tv, the way most kids seem to be when they realize they're being taped. Except me, of course - my dad had the video camera permanently attached to his head so there's all sorts of evidence of my real personality out there.

    06.12.06 - 12:00 PM
  • 86. Gora_Kagaz said:

    awww....what a cutie! yea...most kids have trouble pronouncing my name, too. although nerner doesn't sound like a bad nickname.

    and i found your previous post absolutely hilarious :)

    06.12.06 - 12:02 PM
  • 87. jenlovely said:

    i don't think it's your haircut. my kid's 3.5 and she still refers to girls as he's. we're working on it but i see no hope for the immediate future.

    by the way, leta is unreasonably cute. she's the kind of cute, that hurts.

    06.12.06 - 12:04 PM
  • 88. katherinengg said:

    Hi there! I found your site a few weeks ago and I have gotten hooked. I can't say what it is exactly, seeing as I a)Have no kids b)My dog is two states away and c)I'm not married (I'm a lesbian - which probably explains a) Anyway, it doesn’t really matter what it is that I enjoy about it, just as long as I do. Keep up the good work!

    06.12.06 - 12:08 PM
  • 89. Kelly said:

    My daughter referred to my brother George as "Jew" for the first few years of her life. He had to tell her repeatedly that he was in fact Cathlolic.

    Other names:
    Josh = Dos (she was already computer literate apparently)
    Grandma = Wama
    Grandpa = Papa
    Move = moose

    And I remember once when I told her to be careful, she shot back "No mama. YOU be kurkul."

    Aw, why can't my 10 year old still talk that way? Ha.

    06.12.06 - 12:12 PM
  • 90. salmonday said:

    I like how, when Leta is identifying herself and her hand disappears off the screen, another hand comes in to fix her hair, like she's Miss Elastic Arms.

    06.12.06 - 12:22 PM
  • 91. J_Bo said:

    Your bedroom is the same color as mine!

    My daughter referred to everyone as a 'he' when she was first learning pronouns, so it's probably got nothing to do with your haircut. She's almost nine and still has problems with the 'sh' sound! And she still calls me Daddy, too. Whatever!

    06.12.06 - 01:02 PM
  • 92. Kristine said:

    Kara is 13 and she still calls me Dad.

    06.12.06 - 01:10 PM
  • 93. TiffyWiffyPooPooWanna said:

    My kid has insisted on both of his parents "Daddy", no matter how many times I try to teach him that I am "Mommy". It's fine, though, because now I just call him "Corky"....

    06.12.06 - 01:15 PM
  • 94. AmyFrances said:

    She's so fucking cute, that "Yeeeeeeeta."

    06.12.06 - 01:16 PM
  • 95. Jenny said:

    I love her teeth. What a smile. (My stupid exclamation point is broken, which is why this looks so bland.)

    06.12.06 - 01:37 PM
  • 96. Fireflower said:

    adorable, as always. You're setting the bar of cuteness higher every day! How are we supposed to compete with that?

    06.12.06 - 01:40 PM
  • 97. KaraMia said:

    Wait till she starts asking if that man with the big belly is pregnant...ha, you have so much fun in store.
    The confusion is just begining..lol

    06.12.06 - 01:41 PM
  • 98. guinnevere said:

    oh man the unruly hair is too cute.

    06.12.06 - 01:53 PM
  • 99. dre said:

    My name is Aundrea (pronounced ON-dre-uh), but to my cousins, ages 6 & 4, I'm simply "Ya-Ya". Sometimes I even refer to myself as such, "Do you want to come over to Ya-Ya's this Saturday?"

    On a semi-related note, I have 2 horrifying stories of mistaken gender:

    1) When I was 19 I had very short hair, (I thought it was adorable) I lived in Australia, and worked in a souvenir shop. I was outside the shop one day hanging up clothes when a woman came up to me and asked, "Excuse me. Are you the woman, er the man, from the shop? I'm sorry, what are you??" I could've died. I mean I actually had on a floral skirt!

    2) Not long after horrifying-mistaken-gender-story #1, my sister and I were standing in line at a local clothing store. The saleswoman asked, "Who's next?" This elderly lady replied, pointing to me, "He is, or she is, whatever. You can't tell these days."

    Ouch.

    06.12.06 - 01:57 PM
  • 100. gorgeoux said:

    I'd be very surprised to hear that Leta hasn't been born with a sixth sense for all cameras in the world. If I ever give birth and my offspring hasn't got it, s/he is going to be sent back immediately.

    There's nothing wrong with KeeKee. My favorite 5 y.o. princess is called Kira and she could only call herself KeeKee until 4 or so. KeeKee rules! And NerNer? Depends on the sweet lips ;)

    06.12.06 - 02:23 PM
  • 101. Nickki said:

    Thats f-ing adorable.

    06.12.06 - 02:33 PM
  • 102. Rita Arens said:

    I have no idea what people did before they could allow their children to watch themselves on camera. The little angel wants to watch only herself, all the time. And you can always tell she's watching herself by the way she checks out her inner gums. AWESOME. I'm raising Paris Hilton.

    06.12.06 - 03:45 PM
  • 103. Jill Asher said:

    I was out to dinner tonight and my younger daughter pointed to a man across the restauant and screamed "Mommy, that man has no hair". Oh, they are so honest at this age!

    06.12.06 - 04:25 PM
  • 104. zitsmom said:

    Our first son called me "HUH-Hee" (Honey) for about 2 years.He is 18 and it still makes me laugh to remember it...now he just grunts alot and calls me Bee-otch.All those sleepless nights and that is the thanks I get :)

    06.12.06 - 05:10 PM
  • 105. Lena said:

    I think you found your new tagline: NER NER - GIANT ALIEN SQUID.

    Catchy.

    06.12.06 - 05:43 PM
  • 106. blackbeltmama said:

    That is the ONLY way I could ever videotape my daughter at that age. She still loves watching herself on video. It makes for some fun family nights.

    06.12.06 - 05:47 PM
  • 107. wrensuicide said:

    You guys are so adorable.

    06.12.06 - 06:08 PM
  • 108. hey*jude said:

    Ours was "THERE SHE ARE!" about ANYTHING... the little pirate in him, I guess. Speaking of pirates (Feathersword), now that he know the Wiggles, he's even picked up an Austrailian accent. He's sings/says "caah" instead of "car". Funny little shits!

    06.12.06 - 07:31 PM
  • 109. TigerLambGirl said:

    I got up this morning. Took my son to school.
    Got home. Sat down to check emails. Checked dooce for new posts. But, seeing as there weren't any, I read this one again. This, of course, meant I saw the wee picture of Leta's beautimous smile again.

    Really, Leta's cuteness factor is enough to untie fallopian tubes. She's so scrumptious! I'm SO broody! My husband will totally panic.

    Next tag line topic:
    Wreaking havoc on fallopian tubes.
    That's it. From Sweaty Goat Balls to untying tubes.

    06.12.06 - 07:33 PM
  • 110. Charissa said:

    My little boy points when my husband or I or the new baby farts and says "Mama (or daddy, or baby) Poop!" He also can't say the letter "f" so when he wants food he points and says "Poo!" We walk by the food court here and he says "Eat hot poo! Play Nascar!" referring the the arcade game he loves.

    Kids can drive you nuts, but don't moments like that just make parenthood priceless?

    06.12.06 - 07:47 PM
  • 111. Akky said:

    Hey hey, been planning to leave a comment for a billion years now. I have thought if two million and six things to say to you but have never had the motivation to make an account. Here I am! (Akky hears the roar of the crowd.. or, you know, the silence of the the readers who'll skip over this).

    Leta is gorgeous. She seems like such a smart little cookie. Love all the vids you post. If I have children, I hope to raise them in much the way you and Jon seem to be raising Leta. Encourage them to learn, love them and let them see the funny or stupid side of a situation.

    I have managed to make this post more about me than it should've been but the point is that... you blog rocks my socks off and congrats on being such a rad mum.

    06.12.06 - 08:06 PM
  • 112. Andreas Berg said:

    Yeah, she's really lovely. Don't worry about "he" or "she", she will find out the difference maybe earlier that you want her to... ;-)

    06.13.06 - 12:05 AM
  • 113. kim from germany said:

    she's so adorable speaking english and all... ;)

    06.13.06 - 02:09 AM
  • 114. Ms. Pants said:

    Honestly, I don't know how the two of you aren't just giant puddles of goo from the cuteness. That's what cuteness does. It turns you to goo. Perhaps you're just goo inside....

    Ooooh, I wonder what happens if someone squeezes you too hard....

    My neph referred to food as "NingaNinga" and drinks as "NingaDa" for almost a year. Totally freaked my brother out. So of course, we encouraged it. Much like we encouraged the other one who wanted to wear his mom's shoes, carry around a purse and doll, and refused to answer unless we called him Alice.

    You can see why I'm now afraid to have children.

    06.13.06 - 04:20 AM
  • 115. be OH be said:

    "ice cream cone of cleavage"

    that is a beautiful metaphor of sorts.

    06.13.06 - 05:43 AM
  • 116. amelia said:

    My partner and I have a daughter. I am Mommy Amelia and my partner is Mommy Kristi. When our daughter was learning to talk I was called "mama mia." The first time our daughter heard the ABBA song Mama Mia she ran to me excitedly shouting "Your song, your song!" She is now almost five and still thinks it is my song.

    06.13.06 - 06:15 AM
  • 117. monkey said:

    I still can't get Connor to refer to me as anything. He knows I'm mama/mommy. But when we try to get him to say "Mama", he laughs and says "DADA!" If I say "Mommy", he says "Daddy". And if I try to break it out ("MA MA") he mocks us with the exact paced "DA DA". But as long as he's not saying "Hey Stupid" I think we're good.

    06.13.06 - 06:38 AM
  • 118. katehopeeden said:

    My daughters couldn't say my brother's name (Noah) and started calling him DOH-AHH. Which I quickly manipulated that into DOH-DOH. My nine year old, who can certainly say "Noah" now still calls him Uncle Doh-Doh.
    Which is almost as cool as the fact that my very well endowed sister (Ruthie) was called "Aunt Boobie" for an entire three months by my then two year old.
    Every day was like Christmas.
    ~K

    06.13.06 - 07:06 AM
  • 119. Jac said:

    Heather for us was always "Header".

    06.13.06 - 07:06 AM
  • 120. Creatrix said:

    Laughing at Aunt Ner-Ner... keep the videos coming, Leta is aDORable.

    06.13.06 - 07:13 AM

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