One of the favorite stories about my daughter (one that she cringes about even as she laughs along) is the one where she was a toddler, and her grandmother asked her what she wanted to do on a day they were spending together.

“Gramma,” she said. “I want to dip dip!”

Anyone overhearing this conversation would have wondered, what the heck is “dip dip?”

But DQ’s gramma knew exactly what she wanted to do. She drove her all the way over to McDonald’s, purchased a large order of Chicken McNuggets, and ordered every single one of their sauces. Then the two of them happily “dip dipped” for two full hours.

Toddler have a way with language. And to the outside world, it all sounds like gibberish. But to their parents, these words are remembered, cherished long after the proper words take their place.

John Kinnear wrote the words his own toddler used to day over at AskYourDadBlog.com. And he deciphered them all – from “Adonamaa” (I don’t want to) to “Habagooday” (Have a good day). And it reminded me of all the kiddisms my children came up with that I still smile over.

“Topart” – If you put things together, you should be able to take them “topart,” right?

“Zoeys” – This was my daughter’s name for Cheerios. The only explanation I have that the name got changed to “Zoeys” is that we had a dog named Zoe. How the two are related is a mystery to me, unless it was because she enjoyed throwing Zoeys at Zoe from her high chair.

“Side” – This might have been my son’s favorite word. He meant “outside”, and would stand at the door crying “side” until we took him outside to play.

“What? Tar?” – My daughter said this on one occasion when a car passed by, and we laughed so hard that she became a stand-up comedian with only one line. And yet, it was funny every time.

“Shuddup Beau!” – Ok, this was me. When I was a toddler, we had a dog named Beau. But because he was always in the backyard barking at the neighbors, I must have thought his name was “Shuddup Beau.”

And honestly, I know there are more but they are escaping me. That’s why when someone tells you to write everything down when the kids are little, LISTEN TO THEM! It all goes by in a blink of an eye….

What are some of your toddler’s favorite kiddisms?