Xie Xie

One of Gioia's favorite phrases lately is Xie Xie, or thank you in Mandarin. Each morning, she repeats:

Xie Xie. Xie Xie. Xie Xie. Ma Ma. Ma Ma. Xie Xie. Ma Ma.

Well, you are welcome baby. Certainly.

It is interesting because I don't think many English speaking babies are saying Thank You at this age. Thank you is hard for a fifteen month old. They have to put the "Thanks" with the "you," which is hard to do. But Xie Xie is easier, at least for Gioia. It is one word, really, just repeated. She tends to turn words into repeated phrases anyway - like saying "fu fu" for Dou Fu (tofu). Xie xie is much easier for her than thank you. The pleasant result of all of this is that I have a fifteen month old who thanks me all the time.

On an unrelated note, we just found out that babies should not be given bubble baths. They can cause yeast infections. Umm, ooops. Because she has had a bubble bath every other night since...well... we got her. Yeah, oops.

So bubble baths are now a thing of the past. But, as a remnant from our previous, ignorant days, we have this massive tub o' bubbles sitting in the bathroom. Tonight as I gave her a (bubble free) bath, she repeatedly pointed at the container. I finally brought it over and asked, "Is this what you wanted?" She looked straight at me and said: "bubble."

Oh dear. No more bubbles, kiddo. How do you explain "Mommy screwed up" to a toddler?