Sugar and Spice

"Well, it happened."

That's the text I got from Andrew about 2 months ago when Sadie repeated something he'd said that was, let's just say...not nice.
He followed up with "consider me warned/on probation", which I appreciated but knew in my heart of hearts was not entirely fair. Yes, Sadie dropped her first curse word on Andrew's watch, but there's no way I'm going to claim innocence on this one.
While we've been reveling in her mad verbal skills and willingness to repeat almost anything we ask of her, we both have been fully aware that the day would come when she'd say something entirely inappropriate.
Though we are thoroughly enjoying listening to her rattle off most of the words and phrases she's picked up ("woah, dude" and "easy tiger" are my current favorites) her latest installment is not great.
Yes, folks, Sadie has been saying "Dammit". She repeated it after I let it fly on the way to the airport on Christmas Eve when I realized I had forgotten something, and we all ignored it. I hoped it was a one-off and that she wouldn't associate emotion or circumstance with it.
Well, about a week later, my mother-in-law told me that she'd said it while getting her diaper changed. Uh-oh. Then a couple of days ago, while I was at the computer and she was playing with stickers at the table behind me, I heard her say it when she accidentally ripped one. *cringe* Still, I was cautiously optimistic that she didn't really "get it" and that if I continued to ignore it, this little linguistic phase would pass quickly.
Tonight in the grocery store, she said it when she dropped a sticker that the produce guy had given to her (maybe she just has issues with stickers?) and she proceeded to repeat it as I rolled her up and down aisles in the shopping cart, actively ignoring her. I finally stopped the cart and gave her a stern look and shook my head. She stopped. I was hesitant to do or say too much because I was worried that any reaction on my part would turn into something like this.

On the flip side, she has started saying "love you" to us and to family on the phone. She blows kisses, gives strong hugs, and kisses both of us goodnight now. She's been saying "excuse me" (skew-mee) and "sorry" (sah-wee) for a few weeks now and today, she said "thank you, mommy" (kankoo mommy) about 2 dozen times. She said it when I put food on her plate, put her shoes on, helped her with her puzzle, put on music for her, and a few times for no reason at all, aside from the smiles, hugs, kisses and lavish praise these words elicit from yours truly. Ahem. Is she a pleaser already? And she's not even a second child!

Her sweet little voice, deep blue eyes and chubby cheeks are irresistibly adorable. She might just have us wrapped around her little finger already.
Dammit.