Little Mr. Asier Enrique (pictured left below), has been loathe to speak. He points, shakes his head, demands with his body language and cries, but has up to recently not uttered a distinguishable word.
Over the course of a few days he has acquired the following vocabulary:
- Bye – (his first word) which he says repeatedly while exiting the room, reenter, exit, reenter, exit… rinse lather repeat, all for the opportunity to apply his new vocabulary to a relevant and appropriate situation.
- Leche (milk) which you can imagine is something he cares about. I need some leche. Fetch it papi.
- Mama – you would think Mama would be the first word, but mothers always get taken for granted. The world is unfair.
- Dada – I finally have a name. Wheeee!
- Ball – let’s play ball, daddy, so I can say ball over and over and over. Smile, throw the ball, and say ball. Repeat until daddy distracts me with something else.
I think that’s it. I’ll add more if I think of anything else.
6. Block
And btw Dada came before Mama… just to set the record straight. Before that there was Mummm for “I am hungry”, Mum “for hello listen to me” and Mumm for “Mami…” In my book that did not count. It was nothing as distinct as that night he turned around and said “bye bye da da!”
As for myself, I do find it flattering that he expects me to know what is in his brain.
So.. What’s the first curse word you’re likely to teach him?
🙂
You know it’s funny, but they seem to intuitively know that vulgarities aren’t really appropriate in their contexts. None of the words really seem to fit the realities of childhood, and they seem to know this naturally.
Unfortunately, I have been to known to let loose with a stream from time to time (realities of adulthood), and they have yet to imitate me. Good for them. They set good examples for me. 🙂
Well, I remember just knowing that it wasn’t nice. You shouldn’t take the Lord’s name in vain and you shouldn’t take the devil’s at all. Which is too bad, ’cause Lucifer’s a nice name.
Curse words had a bad gut-feeling attached to them (and still do to some extent). I think the “coolness” of application came from daring yourself rather than actually imitating your parents. But promise to blog when it happens, so we can pin the word on the f-scale of obscenity:)