a bit of confusion

For the past week, whenever I've gone to pick up Bridget from daycare she greets me with a huge smile, outstretched arms with elbows and palms turned up, and a loud, clear greeting: "Dada!" Try as I might to correct her, she's been thinking I'm Dada for some reason. And yesterday when Al picked her up, she yelled, "Mama!"

I cracked up when I heard that. She's known who Dada is for months now, but really only says Mama when she's tired and cranky and then it's more like a cry: "Mom-ma-Mom-Ma-Mom-Ma." Somewhere along the way, though, she got a little confused. So yesterday when she did it to me again at home (I love the way she twists her arms upward when she wants to be picked up!) I asked her, "Who am I?" before I would pick her up. She hesitated, looked at me for a couple of seconds, and said, "Momma!" That's right, kiddo. I'm your mommy, not your daddy.

I know I should just stop here, keep the post to one topic, but I can't resist since I'm taking the time to blog. Bridget is an avid talker; she talks almost non-stop. Trouble is, right now she's talking her own language. She even "talks" on the phone all the time—she will hold up any random object, like my keys, a toy, my actual cell phone to her ear and say, "Hello? Hi?" and then proceed into a conversation with someone over something in her secret language. She'll keep at it for five to ten minutes at a time and has been doing it for more than a month now. It's hilarious. She also knows (understands) much more than she lets on. I know this from the random words she pops up with:

• "Ready?": She said this when Beth was over and we were getting ready to go to Dad's for Father's Day.
• "Shoes": She said this the first time when she saw her shoe on her floor, picked it up, and handed it to me. Now she says it all the time, only it comes out more like "szoooz."
• "Cheese": I often have to bribe Mya to come in the house by offering her cheese. Now Bridget stands right next to Mya at the fridge waiting for her piece. This also comes out like "zeeeez."
• "Shh": I held my finger over my lips and told her, "Shhh" a couple of weeks ago while cousin Lily was sleeping, and did it again while we were playing. Since then, she's been holding her own finger up to her lips saying, "jjjshhjj" (that s-h combo is a bit hard on her, apparently!). 
• "Cockadoodle-doo!": Must have learned this one at day care. This one comes out as "cock-cock [pause] do-doo!"

There are more that I can't think of at the moment, but I'm telling you—being a mom at this stage is fun!