Sunday, March 30

I'm Feeling Contest-ic!

I am SHOCKED at how many of you commented on yesterday's video of Alexis singing, especially the number of you that commented that you had NO IDEA what she was saying. Really? You don't all speak fluent Toddler? I'm sort of sad for you. After all, toddlers say all the best stuff.

Anyhoo, I'm taking a little pity on your confused souls. The video shows her singing two different songs. The first one is "In a House." Here are the real lyrics:

In a house in a home there are
mothers and fathers
sisters and brothers
And there’s me me me

In a house in a home there are
sons and daughters
grandmothers grandfathers
And there’s me me me

I have a family full of people who love me
People who love me
They take care of me
And I know my family is unlike any other
Your family’s made for you
And mine is made for me

In a house in a home there are
aunties and uncles
cousins and cousins
And there’s me me me

In a house in a home there are
nieces nephews
and family and friends
And then there’s me me me

I have a family full of people who love me
People who love me
They take care of me
And I know my family is unlike any other

Your family’s made for you
And mine is made for me

My puppy is nicer to me than my sister
My goldfish is quiet my kittens are cleaner
I think there’s a good chance that she’ll be my best friend someday
Let’s wait and see see see

In a house in a home there are
mothers and fathers
sisters and brothers
And there’s me me me
And then there’s me me me


Now let me whip out my Official Translator Crown that Kent State bestowed upon me back when I graduated college. Sure, the crown says Official Spanish Translator (in fun little jewels, I might add), but that doesn't mean I can't translate a little Toddlerese from time-to-time. Alexis is singing:

In a house in a home
there's sons and daughters
mothers and fathers
And there's me me me.

In a house, in a home
there's sisters and brothers,
sisters and brothers
and there's me me me

In a family there's people that love me
people that love me
they take care of me

In a house in a home
there's sons and there's daughters
there's brothers and sisters
And there's me, me, me.


Then she goes into a whole bunch of repeating the same lines intermixed with some Toddlerese that I haven't learned yet. Somewhere in there she throws in a "there's grandmas and grandfathers," but mostly she just keeps repeating the same couple of lines about brothers and sisters. She might be trying to send some sort of subliminal message. I'm not sure since I have my hands over my ears and am screaming "LA, LA, LA I CAN'T HEAR YOU."

After that she goes into her current favorite song, "Feelings." The gist of the song goes:

What are you feeling
What are you feeling
Don’t keep it bottled up inside
Try try try
Try to tell me what’s inside –side –side
Don’t keep it bottled up inside
Try try try
And tell me what’s inside

Do you feel EXCITED
(Weeeee)
Do you feel EXCITED
I’m so EXCITED


And it repeats over and over, mentioning a new kind of thing that you can feel in each stanza.

Here's the thing: I count six distinct feelings/emotions in the video. Six. If you think you can figure out what they are, there's a little something in it for you. While I'm not telling you what the prize is right now, I will say the value will be around $25, so we're not talking crappy peanuts you would get at a Pirates game, but rather some kind of decent peanuts that you might find while watching the Yankees.

In the comments, list the six 'feelings' that Alexis sings about in the video. If more than one person correctly ascertains the answer then I'll do a random drawing of those who got it correct. You can enter as many times as you like and the deadline is next Friday, April 4th at midnight. I, as the judge, declare my list of six the "correct" answer, so don't even think about trying to argue with me if your list ends up not matching mine. Deal?

OK, go!



Updated to add: Since so many whiners are blaming their computers for their inability to translate Toddlerese, I'm adding a second prize to the game. First prize has to get all six feelings. Second prize will be random from all comments, even if you don't take a stab at deciphering the lyrics.

48 comments:

  1. BTW, my twits are very likely to get hints throughout the week. If you aren't following me over at twitter, well then, you just don't deserve any hints. So there!

    Twittastic! Twittacular! Twitterific! Twitty!

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  2. Ok, I got she's amused, surprised and scared, but I was distracted a lot. Thanks for your support of team Karen!!

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  3. I stink at Toddlerese, and only got shy, scared and suprised. She made ME feel happy though, does that count??

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  4. I am going to take a stab at this I am usually pretty good at disciphering my kids toddlerese ... I got excited, scared, surprised, loved, happy, and shy I think.

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  5. pooh. gonna have to wait until i'm not sneaking puter time while the husband sleeps. i think even the dulcet tones of alexis will not go over well at this moment.

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  6. Damn, when you run a contest, you run a HARD contest.

    I give up - isn't it just enough that I think she's damn adorable?

    Hallie :)

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  7. I've got excited and loved...I'll mull it over - I was just amazed she knew all the words, it was a pretty long song. You might have a toddler genius

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  8. Okay, who's the idiot who turned off the sound on my computer? Because I'm too big an idiot to get it turned back on. I'm not that great at lip reading so unless I get technical problems fixed I'm completely out of the running.

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  9. DARN IT! My computer is so slow lately, I can't get the video to load. And I'm SOOO good at translating "toddler"

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  10. Anonymous9:23 AM

    I heart you something fierce: love, silly, surprised, sick, grumpy, and scared.

    Okay. That's six. And, I am out.

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  11. Oh my freaking freak! She is so cute! What a flipping doll!
    I think she is saying:
    - happy "Whee"
    - scared "wah, wah"
    - grumpy "grrr"
    - sad "aww"
    - sick "urr, urr"
    - surprised "Whee, ahh, hahaha"
    I love the noises she follows up the emotions with. So cute!

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  12. i've got happy, surprised, scared, sick, shy and grumpy (not necessarily in that order lol). I listened to it over and over and wrote down which ones i understood when LOL

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  13. Is there something in there about a fairy flying high?? She is so darn cute that listening to her could get very addictive!

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  14. excited then silly, scared, grumpy (love her grumpy growl!), sick, and surprised

    is it cheating that we know that song in our house??
    love the video!

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  15. oh, man. that's great, the lalalala i can't hear you!

    brother-sister who? no hablo ingles.

    toddler songs that never end. i miss them.

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  16. I can understand the first part, now that you've provided lyrics. Still sounds like, "People know me."

    excited
    happy
    scared
    grumpy
    sick?
    surprise

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  17. What video/cd are these songs from? They are so cute...
    I'm at work, so I have to wait until I get home to watch the video of her lovely singing, but I'm sure it's freakin' adorable!

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  18. you should put her feelings song on itunes. heck, I'd buy it and play it for every grumpy soul I meet. "do you feel rumpy, Arrrr". I LOVED this... but missed the contest. Sad me.

    I am sad.
    But I won't but it inside :)

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  19. Anonymous2:05 PM

    I freaking can't get over how adorable she is singing. My Flip is leaving Amazon today. I'm scheduled to get it Thursday. My haiku will so be in toddler singing on the flip.

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  20. Toddlerese?

    OH. MY. GOSH. She is so cute, How many times a day do you smother her with kisses? Yummy!

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  21. Okay, first of all? I don't watch the Yankees. Unless they're playing the Red Sox. :P

    Second? I'd like to know WHEN a toddler had to be encouraged to let out their feelings. I thought they were pretty much out there all the time.

    I'll have to check this out from home, since I have no speakers on my computer at work!

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  22. Hmmmm...I really think toddlerease is regional...

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  23. OK - So I needed a baby fix to make me smile and I came back to listen again. This time I caught the little bye-bye wave at the end of the House and Home song. That is so precious.

    And then, did she introduce the feelings song before she started singing?? SHE IS WAAAAY TO DARN CUTE! LOLOLOL!

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  24. Anonymous4:59 PM

    excited
    silly
    scared
    grumpy
    sick
    surprised

    I know this video quite well though so I feel like I have an advantage. :D

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  25. excited, shy, scared, lonely, sick, surprised,
    I think.
    toddlerese is very subjective...I bet you just kiss and hug her all day long and tell her how genius she is........

    Love this video!

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  26. I think I heard excited, scared and surprised in there....but for the other 3.....

    I guess I need to brush up on my toddlerese - must be too far from it to remember it all correctly!

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  27. I can't listen now because I'm at work but I'll try to remember when I get home. Although, I'm not that great at speaking toddler - I usually just smile and nod...

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  28. I work with preschoolers all day and have to translate with at least half of them so if I don't get this, I'll be so bummed! I think it's:
    Excited
    Silly
    Scared
    Grumpy
    Sick
    surprised

    Sissy said she thinks there's a happy & a shy in there too but I'm sticking to my guns

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  29. Okay, I am finally able to sit down and focus on this important task without interruptions.

    I got:
    1.shy
    2.silly
    3. scared
    4. grumpy
    5. sick
    6. sad
    But then I heard her say "Whee", so I'm confused.
    If I got any of this right I will be shocked.

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  30. I got excited, scared, happy, sad, maybe sick..but then I got lost. Sounded to me like she was getting rained on...but I don't think that's a valid toddler emotion!

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  31. posting again cause i just want to say that Alexis is just too darn cute for words....and don't worry she'll eventually outgrow her love for that silly football headed girl

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  32. She is freaking adorable, ya know?

    excited
    silly
    scared
    grumpy
    sick
    surprised

    That grumpy growl is the cutest!

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  33. She is so adorable singing that song! It wouldn't be fair for me to guess because I know ALL the words. We are big signing time fans in this house, too! :)

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  34. I couldn't care less what Alexis is singing because she' just so adorable, she makes me cry!

    If you're ever out this way, I'd babysit her in a heartbeat.

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  35. Anonymous12:14 AM

    Sounded like excited, scared, grumpy, sick, happy and surprised?

    But I'm not sure about the whole sick-as-an-emotion thing.

    Seriously, I understand her as well as I understand my 3 year old.

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  36. excited, proud, determined, relaxed, suprised, shy

    Kay I think I got it!

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  37. Anonymous11:53 AM

    These might not necessarily be in the right order, but here they are:

    - excited
    - silly
    - scared
    - grumpy
    - sick
    - surprised

    And what the hell is wrong with normal kid songs like "old Macdonald" and "Twinkle, Twinkle?"

    I've never heard of these songs. Are these North Dakota traditional songs or something? I must get Little Man to start singing Frere Jacques again so he can wow Alexis with his charming French toddler songs.

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  38. Anonymous1:55 PM

    Well, I'm at the office and I can't hear the little munchkin, so I'm just leaving my random comment in hopes of winning a random prize. I am so random.

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  39. me again...you said come back so i did (okay you didn't say it to me in particular...but i'm here all the same)

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  40. Anonymous10:50 AM

    Okay....I have to watch the video again because I am not getting it.

    But I am adding my comment now anyway since I don't want to miss out.

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  41. hmmmm....I've got
    1. scared
    2. grumpy
    3. (so) excited whee!
    4. sick
    5. surprise (su-pize!)
    6. silly

    you totally made my day with testing some of my ACTUAL skills (speaking toddlerese, though there are local dialects).

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  42. excited
    scared
    surprised
    happy
    silly?

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  43. I've got them! Here we go:

    excited
    silly
    scared
    grumpy
    sick
    surprised

    Am I too late? Do I get a prize? Did I cheat?

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  44. Oh boy.

    I get scared, silly, sad (cry) sick, happy and wee wee wee (excited!).

    My kids watched this three times and wanted to know if we could have you both over for supper to see her in person. So, you up for a trip to Canada for dinner? :)

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  45. Excited, silly, scared, grumpy, sick, and surprised.

    Now, I'll post the offical version, I like the prices. But dang, I was so close on my own too!

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  46. Anonymous10:37 PM

    Excited, silly, scared, grumpy, sick, and surprised

    Fine. I will use those. I'm a sell out. ANd, I feel shame. BUt, am willing to sell out to get a shirt.

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  47. (a) I am one of those people that has a bad computer. Apparently these "work" people don't like to accomodate my blogging needs. Like they pay me or something.

    (b) I'm not too proud for 2nd place. Bring it on.

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