No no

It finally happened: the dreaded and inevitable Monster No has moved into our home.

Every other word out of my sweet child's mouth is "No." Ella says "No" even to those things she actually wants. She says "Nononono" in fast, disapproving succession when Free gets out of line. It's already annoying, and it's not even an old thing. She just started obsessively saying it a week or so ago. (Or maybe it has been longer? Time gets fuzzy in this stay-at-home gig.) She has grasped the subtlties of pronunciation - a long, round "No" means she is tired, a short, clipped "No" implies impatience and frustration, and a bouncy, perky "No" is playful and inviting.

All of the sudden I hear other words coming out of her mouth too: "Ball," "Try this," "Sorry!" "Dirty," "Fire," "Help?" They are garbled, mushy, unclear, but they are definitely in there, shining like rough jewels for me to pluck out of the babble-muck. When I hear a new word, I exclaim to Chad, "She just said {insert new word here}!!" And he smiles and chuckles about how she is growing up so fast. It's a constant refrain around here these days.