They say a baby's brain works 2-3 times faster an adult's brain and I don't doubt that. I just never expected to find myself in a condescending situation with my child until she was a little older...like, say, two years old.

We have moved beyond generic words, I believe. Abby is learning to talk, but her vocabulary is still not large and she is just starting, so I forget that even though she does not speak certain words, it doesn't mean she doesn't know them. As a result, I use generic terms way too much around her and she is now pushing me to be more specific!

A couple of weeks ago, we were in the parking lot at daycare and a flock of geese flew overhead. I pointed to them and said, "Abby, look! Birds!" She looked up, then stared at my face until I turned towards her. "Geese," she informed me in a very serious and patronizing tone. I was expecting a condescending pat on the head after that.

And yesterday, we were getting ready to go out, so I asked Abby, "Which shoes would you like to wear? These shoes [holding up one pair] or these shoes [holding up another pair]?" She grabbed her favorite pair, put them on my knees, leaned forward and said, "boots" pointing at them a couple of times, her eyes full of sympathy. I could have died of embarrassment. I guess she won't let me get away with using shoes to mean general footwear anymore.