motorcycles, bees... turtle?

my baby is obsessed with motorcycles. it is super hilarious. she gets these big eyes and says: "dadda! vrrrm vrrrrm." and yesterday we showed her how to rev her wrist while she says "vrrrm vrrrm" so she is doing that now too and it is soooooooooooooo cute. cute cute cute. i want to eat her. here's this little downy-haired cherub-faced baby child with sparkly barrettes in her hair, and she is saying "vrrrrm vrrrm! and revving her wrists a couple of times every hour. especially when she hears her dad, thinks of her dad, or sees/hears a motorcycle or any other loud vehicle. also when she sees motorcycle helmets. speaking of helmets, yesterday we were hanging out with auntie sissy out at the calle real center. a guy drove up and parked his motorcycle and headed toward one of the shops. sparrow got soooooooo excited when she saw him and started going toward him, saying "dadda! dadda!" until the guy took off his helmet. then--i wish i could have filmed the progression of looks that crossed her face. she stopped in her tracks, and looked first taken aback, then she did a double take, and then she looked extremely confused for a few moments before furrowing her little brow and looking in the end as if she were slightly mad that he had stolen her dad's identity. the guy was being really sweet to her the whole time and talking to her and saying hi. liz had called over to him, "her daddy rides motorcycles!" anyway, motorcycles are her favorite thing right now.

motorcycles and bees. she does the bee sign/sound every couple of hours too and so far, the animals that she thinks are bees include: 1) actual bees 2) flies 3) ladybugs and 4) this little winnie-the-pooh face printed on a pair of thomas' thrift store sweats. for some reason, every time she sees that beary face she starts doing the bee thing! maybe cause it's black and yellow?

thursday there was a big buzzing fly in the house and she got really exited about it and vigorously performed her buzzing and flying like a bee, and for the rest of the day she would do it whenever she looked toward the window. she thought that fly was sooooooo cool! how did we get so lucky as to have a real bee in our house? i don't really know what to do if she mistakes something like that. should i assume that she could understand the difference between a bee and a fly? i just think she's doing so good to even think it's a bee that i want to encourage her, not discourage. so when a ladybug landed on her yesterday i told her it was a ladybug, but then i immediately said, "it's kinda like a bee!" and focused on the bee thing more as we played with the ladybug. she didn't really get it at first and just wanted to roll it between her thumb and forefinger, but then it finally flew off and she lit up and did "the bee." then tonight, she saw a cellophane sheet that had ladybug drawings printed all over it, and she went right up to it and did the bee, and i was so amazed! had she recognized it from yesterday, or was she just thinking that up on her own since she could tell it was a bug with black on it so it must be a bee? i don't know. but i think i need to challenge her and tell her all the right names from now on.

i decided that maybe i should try to potty train her. apparently, if she can do faces on command (tigerface, fishface, roller coaster face!) she can also poop on command. it would be nice to save money on diapers. now i must 1)attune myself to her pooping prep mannerisms so i can tell whenever she is gonna poo, 2) have a word or a sound that i always make when i can see she is starting to do it, and 3) set her on the pot. anyways, liz and lisi and i decided that the word of choice is "turtle," which prompted much laughter and discussion yesterday. it is perfect! my one concern is that she will have issues with turtles--the animal--in the future if she forever associates that word with pushing out a poop. my other alternative is to say "doodoo" or "doodee" but i think i am more of a turtle mom than a doodee mom. savvy?