conversations with a 3 year old

Ok, seriously. Emerson has been cracking me up lately. I would like to enter into evidence these conversations:

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While flipping through a board book about the University of Iowa, she saw a picture of Herky, the Hawkeye mascot.

E- "Look, Mama. It's Herky."

me- "You're RIGHT! Good girl."

E- "Mama, what kind of bird is he? I think he's a turkey, because turkey rhymes with Herky."

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After noticing a display of chestnuts at the grocery store...

E- "Mama, what are these nuts?"

me- "Those are chestnuts. People eat them at Christmastime."

She proceeded to sniff them and was making yummy smelling sounds.

E- "Mama, would you like to smell?"

me- "What do they smell like?"

e- "They smell like Santa Claus."

(I guess Santa could smell like worse things...)
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After cleaning up the baby toys the other night, I couldn't find the blue ring from Pete's stacking ring toy. Emerson has a bit of a thing for blue, so I thought she might have an idea about its whereabouts.

me- "Em, I can't find the blue ring from Pete's toy. Do you know where I might find it?"

e (while brushing her teeth, stopped brushing and deadpanned)- "You might find it under your nightstand." (and she went right back to brushing, the little thief)

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On Tuesdays, Pete spends the day with Grammy and E and I have "girls' day." On our way to the library sans the boy this morning, I heard,

e- "Mama, I miss Pete. I don't like when he goes to Grammy's. It's bad news."

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And my personal fave...
When we walked into the garage, we smelled burning leaves somewhere in the neighborhood. She quickly noted,

e- "I smell something. Hmmm, something is funny. It smells like schmutz."

At which point I looked around to see if anyone else had heard that, but sadly, I was alone. Smelled like schmutz, huh? For those of you who are curious, apparently schmutz smells like burning leaves. Who knew?

Man, do I love that kid.