Recently a switch turned on in Annie’s little head that is making her grow and change in leaps and bounds. She’s changing so fast, in fact, that each day she seems like an almost totally different kid. You would think I wouldn’t be so impressed with her changes since I spend 95% of my time with her, but I am. That shows you just how fast she is growing and changing.

Yesterday, for example, I was flushing the toilet when Annie sauntered into the bathroom and said, “Bye, bye Poop!” I did a double take and stared at her in shock before asking, “Did you just say, ‘Bye bye poop?'” Annie laughed, waved, and hollered, “BYE, BYE POOP!”

Where the heck did she learn that?

Well, it turns out that one of the early stages of potty training is to get your kid to understand the whole concept of using the toilet, so Heather has been teaching her to say, “Bye, bye poop.” Still, the fact that Annie picked up on this phrase before I was even aware we were teaching it to her gives you an idea of how quick she is.

“Bye, bye poop!” isn’t the only new addition to her vocabulary. Each day she surprises me with a new word. “Car, sky, more, down, bunny, cookie…” She can even use them in a sentence – she loves those Annie’s brand bunny cookies, and all day long she tugs at my leg and whispers, “More bunny cookie?”

She’s learning people’s names too. Yesterday she saw a photo of her cousin, Michaela, and cried out, “Michaela!” Okay.  It actually sounded more like “Mgggalla,” but I was very impressed nonetheless.

Perhaps the most jarring change though is Annie’s sudden decision that Elmo and Abby are WAY cooler than “Yo Gabba Gabba.” I recently turned on an episode of “Yo Gabba Gabba” for her to watch, and after I sat down she handed me the controller and firmly said, “Elmo. Abby.” She wouldn’t let up until I cut off poor DJ Lance mid song and turned on the little red dude. Annie immediately clapped her hands and started dancing. She has Elmo on the brain now so much that she even says “Elmo” as she sleeps. Yep. The kid actually dreams about Elmo.

You know how people tell parents that one day they will turn around and their kids will be grown? I think I’m starting to get the idea.