"There's a monster!"--"Monster" is usually said with much emphasis and enthusiasm. Sometimes, with the same amount of enthusiasm, he says, "It scared me!" And gives the ASL sign for "scared" which is hilarious! The monster is green with green eyes and has two heads. It can be found in all sorts of trees, the grass, your coffee, the potty and will certainly be present if he thinks it might distract Mom when Koa is in trouble! If we ask where the monster is, that will be met with an explanation that sounds like yodeling and ends in "grass" or "tree" or any of the formerly mentioned locations. Sometimes he gives more description about what the monster is doing. For instance if he is in the potty, he is also usually swimming. Or if he is in a tree, he is eating lunch. The other day Koa found a head of garlic and was sitting at the table carefully peeling it and when I asked him what he was doing, Koa said with great seriousness, "I let the monster out!"
"Carry please. I broken."--This is what he says to try to convince us that he needs to be carried at any given time. The other day he said this and I picked him up and it was the first time I really felt the baby kick me HARD. Normally when I feel the baby move it is little bitty tickles, but that time it was with a vengeance. I think Koa would have felt it if he had known to be aware of it. I guess the kids had their first fight. I hope this is not a glimpse of things to come! Today the same thing happened when I picked Koa up. Apparently this new little one likes his/her space just as much as Koa did!
"Hepitoter"--This is Koa's word for helicopter. I love to hear him say it because it is so stinkin' cute! Fortunately we live right next to Wheeler Army Airfield, so we see helicopters on a regular basis and I get to hear it quite often. He's also gotten very good at doing the sign for helicopter which is pretty complicated for little hands. We have a good friend who flies helicopters, so every time Koa sees one he insists that Keith is in it! I'm hoping Keith will take us on a tour of one sometime so Koa can get up close to a hepitoter.
"Mom, I no can find you!"--This is an indication that Koa has found a hiding place in which his eyes are covered, but likely the rest of his body is showing and I should come and pretend I don't know where he is and then tickle him until he squeals in surrender! Hide and Seek is still his favorite game, but the child will try to make a game out of anything!
"Oh my dooness!"--Koa uses this in response to anything he finds amazing, but especially when he sees large trucks. He uses it very accurately and quite often when showing us where he's found a monster.
"I like that song, Daddy!"--I think I have mentioned before that Koa loves to go to Starbucks and he knows how to get there. Every time we leave the church building he starts giving us step by step directions to Starbucks. One day as we were pulling out of the parking lot he had already started lobbying for Starbucks but Zak and I were talking and ignoring most of what he was saying. Zak was telling me a story that involved a Radiohead song. He decided to sing a line of it to make his point and when he stopped Koa said very sweetly, "I like that song, Daddy." and then began again telling Zak exactly how to get to Starbucks. Now, maybe he really did like that song (however he did not show any interest in it when we listened to it the following evening), but I tend to think he is just a genius in manipulation and knows how to charm his Daddy. Needless to say, we ended up at Starbucks. (Well, we were headed that way anyway...)
"Cuz I want to splash."--This is in explanation of anything. Specifically when I ask him why he did something. It never makes any sense. Typically conversations go something like this.
- Mom--"Koa, are you going to eat the rest of your lunch?"
- Koa--"No."
- Mom--"Why not?"
- Koa-- "Cuz I want to splash."
or
- Mom--"Koa, you know you are not supposed to drive your cars along the walls. Why did you do that?"
- Koa--"Cuz I want to splash!"
So, I have started using that to my advantage. When he asks, "Why?" to something I can't really give a viable explanation for I just say, "Cuz I want to splash." The first couple of times he looked a little puzzled. Now he just laughs when I say it.
"The Bahms coming?"--Almost every day as we are getting ready to eat dinner he asks if someone is coming over. Sometimes it's, "Wes and Jessi coming?" Sometimes it's "Brad is coming?" Most recently he asks a lot about Bethanyanne and Eric. Apparently he has a hard time saying both of their names because when he talks about them individually he calls them Auntie and Unker (which is also funny because he can actually say "uncle") and collectively they are "the Bahms". He doesn't call anyone else by their last name. The other day we were in the car going to dinner and he got his phone out and talked on it for a second and then "hung up" and said, "The Bahms are coming." I guess that is a testament to how often we eat with our friends!

