DON'T TWIST YOUR NIPPLE GOING DOWNSTAIRS!

Tonight I was putting lotion on Carly as I was getting her ready for bed. She likes to help me do that (even though she is not actually very helpful) so I try to do it as quickly as I can so she doesn't have to help me much. I pretty much had her legs done when she asked if she could have some lotion on her hands to help. So, I put a little on her hands and told her to do her ankles. She looked at me funny and said, "What is my ankles Mama?" I was really surprised because she has known the names of her body parts for a long time--at least I thought she did. So, I pointed to her ankles and said, "These are your ankles, silly!" She immediately said, "Those aren't my ankles; those are my nipples!" It was all I could do not to laugh but I corrected her. "No, those are not your nipples--those are your ankles." and I pointed again to her ankles on both of her feet. Have I mentioned I have a very determined child? (At least one. Lol!) She continued to make her argument but I eventually prevailed by being firm, explaining where her confusion was and -- oh yah--by having Rob back me up! Why is it they only listen to Dad's sometimes? I truly don't get that! But I digress. Julie, our seventeeen year old, missed this entire conversation with Carly but was up talking to us later after we put the little ones down. When she got ready to go downstairs for the night, Rob said; "Don't twist your nipple going downstairs." There was a look of total shock and utter confusion on Julie's face and I think a bit of horror that her Dad had said the word nipple to her and it wasn't about Jonathon's bottle. When she noticed our matching Chesire grins she opened her eyes a bit wider (if that was possible) and kind of stammered "W-H-A-T are you meaning by that?!" Once we explained what Carly said, Julie thought it was absolutely hilarious, although for some reason her face was still a little bit red. Teenagers . . . go figure. :) All in all, language is such a huge thing for our kids to learn, especially the English language. And when you think of all of the things they need to learn and are trying to assimilate it's pretty amazing they don't get more things confused than they do. You know, it's funny, we worry about the "Head, Shoulder's, Knees and Toes--the eyes, ears, mouth and nose--and a few other things. But, I guess the ankles never occurred to me--didn't even realize I missed them. Guess we are a little too programmed. Anyway, now I'm trying to think if there are other things I haven't identified for her--hmmm, nosehairs, eyelashes . . . Don't worry, we have covered ear gunk and toe jam! Lol!,