Laylee’s speech seems to be regressing this weekend. She’s picked up this really annoying version of baby talk that sounds more like a 23-year-old imitating a baby for a Saturday Night Live sketch or an idiot Munchkin that was too mentally slow to be allowed to welcome Dorothy to Munchkin Land in song.
I’m not sure if she thinks linguistically-deficient-demented munchkins are cute or if she just hopes this new way of speaking will scare us into giving her what she wants. It is rather scary. I had trouble explaining to her what “annoying means but I do think she caught my stop-talking-like-that drift. She told me that she wasn’t doing it. It was actually her little yellow clip talking. Also scary.
Language is important.
I found that my doctor took me much more seriously this week when I used words like “concerned”, “acute”, and “localized”, rather than my previous visit where I said things more along the lines of “freaked out”, “it kills”, and “seems weird to me.”
I remember leaving the previous visit feeling invalidated and disappointed that she hadn’t taken my concerns seriously. I was ticked, dude.
This time around tests were done, recommendations were made and I have to say, BTW, it still kills, but I have a follow-up scheduled.
So, the moral of this post is, you get more from people when you speak their language. My doctor’s language of choice is not freaked-out-new-moma-ese. My language of choice is not developmentally-delayed-munchkin-ish. And I know the yellow clip is not culpable.
so glad your doctor is listening! and laylee slays me!
Ooo, yeah. And remember that language thing when you’re working with teachers, someday, too. 🙂
Blame it on the hair clip, now THAT’S a new one. She is so hilarious.
Now how cute are you, Dorothy? Another Halloween costume, or you just dress like that normally? Claim to be Dorothy like Laylee claims to be Snow White?
Excellent use of “culpable.” Totally awesome, dude!
We also like to request that our children use proper English when speaking to actual people, which is how I have an almost-four-year-old who can correctly use AND define “cyborg.” Although that big footstool thing in the family room is an “otto-MINT.”
I hate when kids do that. The Girl (who is four and a half) will occasionally revert to baby talk. And it drives me crazy!!! She picked it up from the neighbor boy. It is so irritating when the come home talking like someone else. She’s never blamed it on the clip, though…
I hope you are ok, and that the doctor can do something to help you.
Laylee and her yellow clip are too funny.
You want to know another thing that is totally amazing about you? Not everyone could take 2 completely different experiences and see the connection so that it makes total sense and comes together into one story flawlessly.
Laylee’s baby talk (can’t really call it a reversion, since she never really did it as a baby) and your conversation with the snooty dr. would have seemed like 2 completely different blog entries to me and yet, they make so much sense together.
Nice photography of the possessed clip, by the way!
Just this morning, my 4 year old son blamed his “that’s not fair” on his “Human Torch” figure from Fantastic Four. So I took “HT” away and threatened to put him in time out for the rest of the day. He quickly fessed up to being the real back talker so that he could have “HT” back.
I’m guessing…costume in a school play?
Wild Thing starts that sometimes too. VERY annoying.
And, um, I know everyone else is saying it’s funny that Laylee said the clip was doing it. But, uh, all I could think of was the kid in The Shining who talked with his finger. Not to freak you out or anything. 😉
I JUST read a book YESTERDAY called, “It Was You, Blue Kangaroo!” about this very thing. The blue kangaroo wasn’t culpable either, but it’s a very cute “cautionary tale” for Moms, Laylees and Clips.
Doctors. At what point in their medical training do they stop being human, and start expecting suffering new mommas to articulate? I’m proud of you for being able to. Good luck with your follow-up.
If she starts squiggling her index finger while making it talk, saying things, like, oh . . . red rum? I would be more concerned. The yellow clippy barrette, not so much.
(Oh darn, I just scanned your other comments and saw that Chilihead beat me to that punchline. Great minds I guess.)
Laylee has a fun imagination. Keep telling yourself “It’s just a phase, It’s just a phase.” That is how I get through every single day of my life.
I hate it when doctors treat you like you are an idiot. I am glad that you figured out how to get your doctor to listen.
You make a GREAT Dorothy!
I know what you mean about speaking their language. That’s why I refuse to call the mortgage comapany. “Escrow”, “Prime +1”, “Fixed rate” “Home Equity”,etc. All words I don’t feel too comfortable with, and both my parents work lending. Must have skipped a generation!
Good luck with the baby talk!
I’m loving the dorothy pic. You look hot! (in an innocent, Dorothy kind of way of course.)
Doctors are morons sometimes! It took me 4 after hours freaked out phone calls, two emergency doctors visits, and four months to get them to understand that my daughter needed something besides a diet change to help her constipation.
The third time we went to the doctor about it they tried to tell me once again that I just needed to limit her milk and bananas intake. I took off googies diaper and showed her the multiple rips on her little 8 month old bottom and told her through tears that I couldn’t deal with it anymore. We were sent home with suppositories and a prescription laxative.
Why won’t they just trust the moms instincts? Or at least consider them!
Hello DOROTHY! You’re so adorable in that picture.
good tip on talking to dr’s! i will remember that!!
So true.
Love the Dorothy outfit!
This is what I feel is the true meaning of “multi-lingual”. LOL
I realized that I was way too into emulating people’s language when I started called the workers at Target “team members” to their faces. As in, “Can you call another team member over to help me?”
Just stumbled on to your blog, that clip is hillarious! Good luck with the doctor.
Even worse than a three year old channeling munchkins are my 8 year old Primary kids who insist on talking baby talk incessently (the incessently modifies both the talking and the baby talking).
In fact, on child is so horrible that I dreamed about him last night. I wanted to kill him all night long.
I guess I”m going to hell. Bummer