Icky!

The thing about teaching babies to say things is that you're never sure exactly what they're going to take away from the learning experience. Lilli is pretty much able to repeat anything I say to her over and over and she doesn't always know exactly what it means. Sometimes she associates a meaning with the word, but doesn't really get what I'm trying to say. Case in point: "icky." I tried to teach her "icky" so that she wouldn't touch things that I deemed "icky." Things like used tissues, the dog's food bowl (truly icky; I need to wash it more than once a month), bits of garbage. This has backfired. Now she brings me things that fit into the "icky" category and proudly declares that they are ICKY!! It is cute in it's own way, but it is no fun to be brought out of a pleasant doze with the dog's food bowl and a wad of wet tissues in your face. Maybe I should teach her "chocolate" instead. That would be a nice change.