With much of my undergrad and graduate work in linguistics, I have long dreamed of the day when I can watch language develop first hand with my own child. As I've written in recent posts, I am very thankful that I can stay home with Lauren Clay this semester and enjoy the development myself (instead of paying someone else to have all the fun.) Her language changes daily. I feel like her vocabulary is growing exponentially now. It's exciting... although sad at the same time, because she's starting to correctly pronounce some of the words that have all been so cute to all of us. Such as:
Dandaddy is now Gran-da-daddy
Nonnonner is now Gramother (although she goes back and forth on this one.)
Itis is now Ice Cream
But...
Stroller is still Sloter
Chocolate is still Shlocket
Pluto is still Quado
Eyore is still Hee-or (that's a new one, as of today.)
One thing that is a bit challenging is figuring out what she's saying when I have no context to help me. She now gets something on her mind (like something she wants to eat or wear or do or sing) and we spend countless minutes trying to negotiate what it is she is trying to communicate. Once I figure out what she's saying, it makes perfect sense... but until that point, it's frustrating to both of us that I can't immediately grasp what she's telling me. A couple nights ago, she asked me to sing "Oh sure." Turns out, she was asking me to sing the second song on the Beauty and the Beast CD... at the start of the song lots of townspeople say, "bonjour." She calls the third song on the CD "Odd itoo." Oh, and she likes to sing "Do your ears hang low...", but she tells us, "I wanna sing 'tie it in a knock'."
Lauren Clay and I joined a Bunco friend to play today, and she (Carrie) invited a friend she'd met through swimming lessons. The new friend lives probably 1/4 mile from our house, she studied Spanish/English comparative literature in grad school, she's studied in Spain and lived in Uruguay and she's run (among others) the Buenos Aires marathon. Wow... what a cool neighbor! Lauren Clay was less than cooperative playing with the two boys (some days she shares well... today she refused to share), but the play date was a fun one, and I'm glad to meet a new friend.
1 comment:
It is so cool that we can write all of this down for our kids someday to use when they are bringing that special someone by to visit or to put on a big screen at their wedding....of course, I will probably still be saying some of his Nick-isms in daily conversations. I am a packrat of funny words...I use them til nobody knows what they mean but me...I still say some of the stuff that the Webb kids said when they were Nick's age....It is sooo sad when they start to talk normal! ;) See you tomorrow! Karen
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