But-ter

The other day Emma was having a rough afternoon. She was cranky and clingy and she would not let me cook dinner. She wanted "up" all the time. When Steve finally came home he jumped right in to help with dinner by buttering the bagels. Emma noticed the but-ter right away (Emma enunciates each syllable like it is written) and kept repeating the word while practically hopping up and down. When she wasn't saying but-ter she was saying up. Her voice was getting higher and higher. Her eyes were getting more and more frantic. She was over-tired and hungry. It was a crucial time. It could have gone from bad to horrible in a matter of moments. Then Emma would disappear completely and the monster would awake. :)
Since Steve had dinner under control I scooped Emma up and started to dance with her. She was still saying but-ter and trying to watch Steve. The dance turned into a but-ter chant that reminded me of the Native American dances around a fire. The chant went like this: but-ter, ch, ch, ch, ch. (the rhythm was like this: 1 and 2 and, and 4, for those of you musically inclined.) Every time we said but-ter I hopped up and down and then for the ch's I shuffled my feet and rocked her from side to side. Emma absolutely loved it! She calmed down right away and had an extreme shift in mood. She was no longer angry but happy and giggly. The monster went back to sleep, and Emma and I were doing the but-ter dance around the kitchen. It was the funniest sight!
Now the but-ter dance has become a sort of ritual and Emma associates dancing and hopping with the word but-ter. Just this evening during the apricot show we all started dancing and clapping about apricots. (Is this too weird?) Again, Emma loved it. She was so into trying to hop when we did that she actually caught some air and had her first official hop. :) It didn't take her too long to say but-ter while she was dancing and clapping. Just the image of her hopping around all nakey while saying but-ter cracks me up. Oh, the things we do to amuse our kids!