On my now somewhat defunct tertiary blog (this being the primary blog, Alabama Bloggers being secondary, and B-Sides being tertiary,) the best thing I ever did was run a series of forty-seven posts called Yittle Fings. Spanning from July 2009 to August 2012, I recorded all of the most funny, ridiculous, random, and profound things that Ali said.
But, sad as it is to say, Ali has grown out of Yittle Fings.
Now at six years old, she certainly doesn’t pronounce the phrase “Little Things” in a toddler voice anymore. And also, her thoughts and meanderings are much more mature, less flamboyant, and some are more private than they used to be.
But that’s okay – because Noah is now the exact age that Ali was when I began Yittle Fings, and has quite suddenly started talking in full sentences and interacting conversations, so it’s time to start him his own collection. I’m not sure if I’ll record them here or try to revive B-Sides (it seems like a grandparent-only thing to want to read every silly thing a kid says – tell me if I’m wrong after reading this,) but I’ll definitely collect them somewhere.
To properly close the chapter on Ali’s Yittle Fings, I slurped them all into a fifty-six page glossy printed Blurb blog-to-book (I used to do this with my entire blog but kinda ran out of time and energy to keep up with myself.)
I presented the book to Ali and told her that it housed everything funny she ever said as a toddler. She was hooked.
We’ve been reading through it together, and she is both amused and reminiscent, as she actually remembers a lot of her thoughts.
We also bought copies for all of the grandparents, and I told Ali that she should autograph each copy, since technically, she is the author of the book.
And in the process of creating the book, I pulled out my favorite quotes and photos to share with you. I love how they get deeper, longer, and better as time goes on…
July 2009 – 2.5 Years Old.
Ali was bemoaning not wanting to share her snack with some friends that we were about to go see. I explained that she should share, and used her stuffed Minnie Mouse, whom she was carrying, as an example:
Me: “Are you going to share your snack with Minnie?”
Ali: “No. She doesn’t have a mouth.”
Me: “If she did have a mouth, would you share your snack?”
Ali: “But she doesn’t have a mouth.”
September 2009.
When we were coming back from a football game in Tuscaloosa, Ali in full cheerleader garb. She was bemoaning that she needed to tee-tee, and she whined, “I don’t want to tee-tee on my Alabama A!!!”
A few minutes later, she announced sadly, “Alabama caught my poop.”
January 2010 – 3 Years Old.
I was trying to get her coat on her, and explained, “It’s F-F-F-F-FREEEEEEZING outside!!!”
She answered, “It’s not f-f-f-f-freezing. It’s just a little cold.”
~~~~
Chris was getting Ali in the car, and I heard the following conversation:
Chris: “Ow!”
Ali: “I scratched you.”
Chris: “That’s okay, it was an accident.”
Ali: “No it wasn’t.”
February 2010
I did something Ali didn’t like. Twice. And so she told me sternly, “You did it again. Don’t do it anothergain.”
~~~~
Ali found a piece of ribbon, and she kept pulling it around mine or Chris’ wrists. We finally asked her what she was doing.
“I’m measuring you.”
“What are you measuring us for?”
“I’m measuring you to see if you’re a girl or a boy.”
March 2010
We were reading a book, and there was a picture of an angel in it. Ali explained, “We don’t eat angels.”
~~~~
Ali was playing with her Cinderella and a Prince when she had a startling realization.
“That’s not Cinderella’s Prince!! That’s somebody else’s Prince.”
Me: “Whose prince is it?”
Ali: “It’s Prince Phillip. It’s Sleeping Beauty’s Prince. She won’t be mad.”
April 2010
Among the typical stalling methods of probing questions at bedtime, Ali asked, “Is Daddy going to wear HIS princess nightgown to bed??”
~~~~
“I’m Tinkerbell. I have on a fairy dress. I’m a princess. I have bogeys in my nose.”
~~~~
“I just talked to Cinderella. I saw her on Facebook.”
June 2010
Ali: “There were ten disciples.”
Me: “No, there were twelve.”
Ali: “No, Jesus had twelve, but I have ten.”
Ali: “…And you have three and Gramamma has six.”
Me: “What are disciples?”
Ali: “They’re colors.”.
July 2010 – 3.5 Years Old.
Ali was protesting putting on her panties without my help… “But Mommy, I’m a pretty girl and you’re a regular girl, and only regular girls put on panties!!!!”
~~~
“Gramamma would look silly if she took her hair off. She would look all skankily.”
~~~~
We’ve been having a lot of conversations about Noah, naturally [I was halfway through my pregnancy at this point.] I’ve been trying to get her to think about him and what he’ll be like. We had the following conversation:
Me: “Do you think that Noah will have light hair or dark hair?”
Ali: “Light hair.”
Me: “Do you think he’ll have straight hair like me, or curly hair like you?”
Ali: “Straight hair like you.”
Me: “Do you think he’ll have blue eyes like you, or hazel eyes like me?”
Ali: “Blue Eyes.”
Me: “Do you think he’ll like making biscuits with you and Pop?”
Ali: “No! He will like to stay home with YOU when I go make biscuits with Pop.”
[For the record, all of her predictions were right. Except for the last one.]
August 2010
I looked in the backseat on the way home one day…
“Ali, WHY are you sucking on your toes???”
“Because I’m thirsty!!”
September 2010
“Wow Daddy!! Your toot was so loud it hurt my ears!!!! Do you have a picture of it??”
~~~~
Ali, jabbering in the backseat… “I really, really, REALLY like Daddy. Daddy and Poppa and Nana and Gramamma and Pop and Amanda are my favorites.”
Me: “What about me? Am I one of your favorites too?”
Ali: “No, you’re just regular.”
Me: “I’m not one of your favorites????”
(Long Pause)
Ali: “I think you’re one of Daddy’s favorites, though.”
November 2010
Ali is often creative with her after-bedtime-callbacks. Only once has she ever done the typical-kid “I’m Thirsty!!”.
Last week:
“Daddy!!! Daaaaaadddddy!!!!!!!”
Chris goes in… “What, baby?”
“Daddy, my bum is too big!!!”
December 2010
As Ali was sitting on the toilet, she informed me, “Usually poop is brown, and brown is just NOT my favorite color.”
~~~~
Ali is very excited about pink and blue bows on mailboxes, and always points them out and informs us as to what type of baby those people just had. Then, after one of these sightings, she informed us thoughtfully,
“I remember when I was born and there was a pink bow on the mailbox.”
“Oh really? Do you remember being in my tummy, too?”
“Yes!”
“Was it dark?”
“Yes!”
“Was it comfy?”
“Yes!”
“Was it gooey?”
“Eww, No!! Only PUMPKINS are gooey on the inside!!”
February 2011 – 4 Years Old.
Ali kept scratching all over the other day, so I asked her if she had an itch.
“No, I don’t itch.”
“Well why do you keep scratching, then?”
“Because there are ladybugs inside the blood of my skin and when I feel them, I
have to scratch to get them out. And that’s how it works.”
“How many ladybugs?”
“There are four of them.”
“How did they get into your blood?”
“Well, there’s a little hole that opens up in my toe on THIS foot. They crawl into the blood of my skin through that hole.”
“But when you scratch them it gets them out?”
“No. I can’t get them out. They have to get out on their own.”
“But you said…”
“Only they can get out. They have to go back out the hole in the toe on THIS foot. Then after they get out, they close the hole up REALLY tight behind them so it doesn’t hurt me anymore.”
May 2011
“When was Jesus a baby?”
“Two thousand years ago.”
“TWO THOUSAND?!!?!?!? Was that before my nap???”
~~~~
“Mommy! I’ll help you give Noah a bath, because I like to see the circle thingy in the middle of his parts wiggle back and forth when I pour water on it.”
September 2011 – 4.5 Years Old.
Ali was in the backseat, and she started making a siren noise. Then she explained, “That tells you there is something that will get you. A tornado or a bear or a monster. Or a bad robot.”
~~~~
We were out at my parent’s house, and Mom and Ali were picking flowers. All the while, Noah and I were getting swarmed by mosquitoes.
Gramamma: “Okay, Ali – let’s be all done now. Your Mom and Noah are getting eaten up by mosquitoes.”
Ali: “But we can pick some more because that would take FOREVER! Mommy and Noah are big and mosquito’s mouths are teeny tiny. They won’t be eaten all up for a LONG TIME!!”
November 2011
“Sometimes when I’m in my bed and I call you and you don’t come, I think you might have been turned to gold.”
January 2012 – 5 Years Old.
“What if I ate that whole bag of fruit loops?”
(I held it up to her stomach) “Look – it’s bigger than your tummy!! You couldn’t eat it all!”
“If I did, would I die?”
“No, but you might throw up.”
“Well, at least it would be very colorful throw up.”
~~~~
“What if when babies pooped, they pooped out stinky computers full of poop?”
May 2012
“Hey Ali – what’s that all over your shirt?”
“Hmm. Maybe bird poop?”
~~~~
“I had the baddest dream anyone could ever have. I dreamed a wolf was trying to eat me. Then I had the most exciting dream anyone could ever have!! I thought I was in this world and I was downstairs and I was flying all around the house.”
Then she got really quiet and leaned over and whispered, as she was bursting with excitement…
“And, now that I’ve done that in my dream, I’m pretty sure I know what I need to do to fly in this world.”
“Seriously?? How awesome!! What do you have to do?”
“Well, I’ve got to flap my arms really hard – like this. But before I try that, I have another idea too. If I start out running really fast, I might just take off.”
August 2012 – 5.5 Years Old.
“Sometimes, when I’m in the bathtub, I tell the waves to be calm like Jesus – just to see if I can do it too. AND – after a minute — they are!!”
~~~~
And that’s it…three years, reduced to quotes and photos.
I’ll be sniveling over here in the corner if you need me.
Oh, I was wondering when these would come to a close :( I must say that I read B-Sides religiously and loved these posts the best. Please tell me you’ll keep Noah’s there!
I’ll keep them somewhere – either here or there!
I loved it! Can’t wait to see what Noah has to say. I wish I were detail oriented enough to do this for my girls. Love the book too!
It’s not too late! Just open up a notepage in your iPhone – that’s where I track all of mine.
That is precious! I wish I had something like that for my kids (my oldest is now 9) – maybe it’s not too late. Great idea!
I LOVELOVELOVE kid quotes. Quinn’s not even two yet, but I’m definitely planning on keeping track of what she says. I love reading others and will probably go read through all of yours on B-Sides.
“I think you’re one of Daddy’s favorites.” is my favorite quote.
Mine too – it was so hopeful and reassuring. As if all was not lost for me yet…
My first thought was, “Thankyouverymuch, Rachel, as if I need another reason to feel like I jipped my kids outta something!” But, honestly, this is awesome and precious. I am envious of moms who are intentional when I am merely trying to keep my head above water. High five to you!
Aw, thanks! And sorry! Believe me – I spend most days barely treading water in most areas.
I have love the yittle fings ever since I discovered your blog. Please continue with Noah somewhere easily accessible to the rest of us! I think the idea of getting them printed up with photos is one of the best ideas ever! What a great gift idea for relatives, and what kid wouldn’t be inspired to read by a book full of their own funny and adorable toddler-isms! Her kids will really get a kick out of it one day in the very distant future I imagine. I really needed to read something happy today, thank you!
it is funny how much the sweet/not so sweet/cute things our kids came up with says about us as parents. my son used to bring me a sonogram-to-first birthday photo album and say “mama, let’s wead about me.” i loved that… it was a chance to hold him close.
i love the fact that you record so well.
So great! Love her yittle sayings. I have a page on my blog devoted to stuff our kids say. Sometimes, kids are more entertaining than most of the comedians out there.
And you just reminded me that I still haven’t finished the Blurb books I started for the kids. *Sigh* I thought I was done with the youngest ones book but then found about 6 more folders of pics on an external hard drive. I am not sure if I want to thank you… or glare at you. :)
Sorry! And You’re Welcome! ;-)
oh please post noahs sayings. I just love what kids say/think/reason.
I can’t believe how old our “babies” are getting. So sad. :'( The yittle fings were some of the first posts I read and they inspired me to keep track of K’s funny sayings, so thanks! I was planning to make a book too but I didn’t think about making one for the grandparent. Great idea! Thanks for the laughs Ali!
I loved reading all of Ali’s Yittle Fings on B-Sides and laughing so hard I cried. I hope you continue with Noah.
I quite enjoyed the Yittle Fings.
Well, you know I love them. I would love to see them here … I mean, I put my Slices of Life, which are basically the same things, on my blog — and people seem to like them. I would love to hear Noah’s Yittle Fings here! :-)
awwww, i loved them! too cute and funny. my absolute favorite was where she scratched chris on purpose. too funny! but they all were. love it.
Nora is almost six and there are so MANY thoughts I’ve written down in the blog. This past weekend we were at the mall, I had flip flops on and she kept stepping on my toes!….
her: (sigh)….”Mom, this is why we don’t wear flip flops, people step on your toes.”
This statement with very expressive hands and a why am I teaching you this tone.
That’s fabulous. I get that teaching voice from Ali a LOT!
OMG I LOVE this idea!!!! I have been keeping things jotted down in evernote. I’ll hear something hilarous that Andy says and it goes right into the saved note. but, this book idea is awesome. i may have to do this!! thanks for the idea
and…i love hearing the silly kids stuff from other moms. that makes for the best convos a lot of the time ;)