Language Explosion
"Mo-ah. Mo-ah. Mo-ah toas!!" I dropped my butter knife.
"Mama? Party Girl wants more toast," Sass said casually.
"I guess she does!" I said, picking my knife back up. "And she just said her first 'sentence'!"
Party Girl -- like her sister before her -- is hitting the 18 month language explosion a couple months early. All of the sudden it's all words, all the time. I remember this happening with Sass and being amazed at the capacity little children have for learning. Sass was like a bucket you could never fill, Party Girl a sponge that keeps soaking it up.
She's developed this soft little sing-songy voice that she uses in between her regular boisterousness:
"Ah da dad-dee dad-dee mama mom-mee BOOK! Do-ah (dora) bay-bee do-ah HOSS! (horse)"
She sounds like a tiny little bird singing a tiny little tune and I find myself inexplicably answering her in other languages. Pourquoi? Je ne sais pas...Bien sur! I thought this quietness --unusual for her -- stemmed from cutting eye teeth that just won't pop through, but instead I think she's developed it for more practice. In between conversations and play, she's singing her little song all day long, a song that changes with her activities, kind of like a songtrack of her day.
When she's not singing along, she's busy letting us know what she wants:
"No no no no ni-ni mama maMA!" (Translation: Mother, I'd like to stay up and play with my toys and think that you best put that bottle and the whole idea of bedtime right out of your head this instant."
"Bay-bee ucky! Uck-kee! Baybee ucky ni-ni, ni-ni." (Translation: This plastic doll I've chosen to be the once and only acceptable doll out of the 40 other dolls we own needs a sucky. She needs a sucky right now and then she'll go night-night.) This is followed by "Shhhhh..Ki-et, ki-et." And we all must obey, for if you wake the baby, admonishment will follow.
"Ca! Ca!" (Translation: Crayons and paper please.) And when you refuse her the markers, knowing that she'll color the cupboards then bite off the tip, you'll be rewarded with a wrinkled nose and a very, very fake cry. Sometimes she'll even throw herself down for good measure, but then she'll stand up and remind you: "CA!"
At snack today, she kept throwing her graham crackers to the dog. I kept yelling at the dog, and then realized I was pinning the crime on the wrong culprit.
"Party Girl, no cookies for JoJo!" I told her.
"NO JO COOK-EEEE!" She screeched. And threw her crackers to the floor.
What could I do? I smiled at her second sentence of the day and put the crackers away.
"Mama? Party Girl wants more toast," Sass said casually.
"I guess she does!" I said, picking my knife back up. "And she just said her first 'sentence'!"
Party Girl -- like her sister before her -- is hitting the 18 month language explosion a couple months early. All of the sudden it's all words, all the time. I remember this happening with Sass and being amazed at the capacity little children have for learning. Sass was like a bucket you could never fill, Party Girl a sponge that keeps soaking it up.
She's developed this soft little sing-songy voice that she uses in between her regular boisterousness:
"Ah da dad-dee dad-dee mama mom-mee BOOK! Do-ah (dora) bay-bee do-ah HOSS! (horse)"
She sounds like a tiny little bird singing a tiny little tune and I find myself inexplicably answering her in other languages. Pourquoi? Je ne sais pas...Bien sur! I thought this quietness --unusual for her -- stemmed from cutting eye teeth that just won't pop through, but instead I think she's developed it for more practice. In between conversations and play, she's singing her little song all day long, a song that changes with her activities, kind of like a songtrack of her day.
When she's not singing along, she's busy letting us know what she wants:
"No no no no ni-ni mama maMA!" (Translation: Mother, I'd like to stay up and play with my toys and think that you best put that bottle and the whole idea of bedtime right out of your head this instant."
"Bay-bee ucky! Uck-kee! Baybee ucky ni-ni, ni-ni." (Translation: This plastic doll I've chosen to be the once and only acceptable doll out of the 40 other dolls we own needs a sucky. She needs a sucky right now and then she'll go night-night.) This is followed by "Shhhhh..Ki-et, ki-et." And we all must obey, for if you wake the baby, admonishment will follow.
"Ca! Ca!" (Translation: Crayons and paper please.) And when you refuse her the markers, knowing that she'll color the cupboards then bite off the tip, you'll be rewarded with a wrinkled nose and a very, very fake cry. Sometimes she'll even throw herself down for good measure, but then she'll stand up and remind you: "CA!"
At snack today, she kept throwing her graham crackers to the dog. I kept yelling at the dog, and then realized I was pinning the crime on the wrong culprit.
"Party Girl, no cookies for JoJo!" I told her.
"NO JO COOK-EEEE!" She screeched. And threw her crackers to the floor.
What could I do? I smiled at her second sentence of the day and put the crackers away.
posted by Her Grace at
10:12 PM
1 Comments:
She's growing up so fast! She's as amazing with words as Sass. Either it's in the water or you're just a darn good mom. My money's on the later.
p.s. Mrs. Irving would be proud.
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