The Lexicon of Tessie

Tessie's vocabulary seems to be growing by leaps and bounds. Here's a snapshot of her current words and phrases, and their meanings:

• "all done" - As noted previously, this runs the gamut from "No, thank you" to "I have lost all interest in your pathetic attempts to amuse me. Stop it. Now."
• "yea" - For "yes," commonly heard after "Do you want a cookie?" or "Do you want to go to Mars?"
• "no" - Frequently heard as we guess at what she wants next: "Do you want more peas?" "No." "Do you want more sweet potato?" "No." "Do you want more water?" "No." Do you want a cookie?" [See above].
• "agua" - Water, in Spanish. She picked this one up at day care. She's bilingual.
• "shoes" - If they're on, take 'em off, or vice versa.
• "Mama" - Mommy, of course
• "Dada" - This one gets used to refer to Mommy, Daddy, random strangers, people on magazine covers, etc. Basically, all adult humans. Need to work on this one.
• "da" - Any large quadruped, e.g. dogs, horses, elephants, etc.
• "fishy" - Fish in any condition, e.g. swimming in a tank or poached on a plate. She loves both watching and eating them, as do her parents. This is good.
• "circle" - The shape, or a pufferfish, which is used to illustrate the shape in one of her picture books.
• "Tessie" - She does know her own name.
• "milk" - Preferred beverage.
• "yay" and "wow" - All-purpose sounds of enthusiasm.
• "nose" and "eye" - Body parts she can name on herself and others; usually accompanied by a finger being thrust at the part in question, whether it's hers or someone else's.
• "messy" - This one comes up a lot, especially when she's reviewing her accomplishments at dinner.
• "owl" - Every story book seems to have one, and Tessie loves to point them out.