"and all i can say is that i'm strong / and all i can say is that i'm mine"

[larryhammer]

TBD is two years and eleven months old, and it's even harder to remember not yet actually three.

Friends who haven't seen TBD for several months (or in a couple cases a year) have been struck by the changes: this is now a much more secure child, with a confidence in people and the world, not to mention self. Also a child who takes comfort from both parents -- sometimes preferentially Janni yays.

Achievements unlocked in the last month include playing the harmonica (breathing both out and in), using a screwdriver (with assistance steadying it), and chained "Why?" questions (though current favorite question is "What's that sound?"). More singing in general both learned and invented, both in English and otherwise -- including belting out "Twinkle Twinkle" and a "Baba Finger" variant of "Father Finger". There's also an obsession with making certain that I don't sing "Low Bridge" at bedtime, with the prohibition repeated at least once a day (though twice the song has been demanded, go fig).

Invisible friends come and go like soot sprites. Speaking of which, Dhowie may or may not have been a soot sprite (from known from My Neighbor Totoro), as at least once she was clapped between hands before disappearing. Others since then have been even more transitory -- names get mentioned, most of them invented rather than borrowed from people she knows, and then dropped with sometimes bewildering speed. "Where's X?" remains the most important question about them, though.

We've discovered -y as an all-purpose diminutive, adding it to all sorts of nouns (including globe-y and the stuffie now named Sheepy). Intermitently, though -- and with the flip side of Mommy/Daddy sometimes getting shortened to Mom/Dad. More interesting, Mama seems to be moving into a name for mother, with grandmothers shifting over to Grandma or Gramma (the pronunciations are nearly the same). Baba still is grandfather, though. Another amusing address is Mommydaddy, generically meaning "one of you two", which has been taking on almost pronominal usage.

Other pronunciations are clarifying, though th- remains elusive and likely will for some time. Syllables more complex words sometimes get shortened, such as s'ghetti with meatballs. Other talking, talking:

Auntie Y: "Do you know how to say strawberry in Chinese?"
TBD: "Yeah."
Auntie Y: "You do? Can you say it?"
TBD: "Strawberry in Chinese."
(concrete thinking in action)

TBD: "It died?"
Janni: "Yes, the flower died."
TBD: "Died like people?"

"Where do fish go work?"

(I jotted down a few more that trod into privacy areas and supressed -- something I suspect will happen more and more.)

And yeah, we're already planning the birthday party for the end of the month. Such is the life.

---L.

Subject quote from "Strength," Roth d'Lux.

Comments

[sartorias.livejournal.com]

y, I discovered, was a curious kind of comfort or safety net. "My feeties are cold. The dog's nosey is wet."

[larryhammer]

Why is definitely a comfort thing when the answer is already known -- as are other repeated question.

[klwilliams.livejournal.com]

Is "Low bridge" actually "Erie Canal"? ("Low bridge! Everybody down. Low bridge! 'cause we're coming to a town. You'll always know your neighbor, you'll always know your pal, if you ever navigated on the Erie Canal.") (I can't believe I still know that song so well.)

[larryhammer]

That's the one.

[movingfinger.livejournal.com]

Where DO fish go work, come to think of it? I've never seen them at it.

[puddleshark.livejournal.com]

Where do fish go work?

Indeed. Thank you (and TBD) for this reminder that the world is full of wonders...

[larryhammer]

The question was prompted by a picture book illustration of a mother fish with baby, and was sequel to "Where's Daddy? Daddy go work?"

[oracne.livejournal.com]

Fish go work in the water.

[thistleingrey.livejournal.com]

Do I remember correctly that she's taking Mandarin lessons? I don't know whether it is a feature of Chinese languages, but in Korean the usage is ultimately from sinitic book-learning--anyway, K bumonim is fathermother with honorific -nim suffix and is a way of addressing "parents" as a collective singular noun. If Ch langs per se do have it, well, multilingualism from early years is infectious and mindbending. :) (My German is terrible now, but I still make long compounds and hyphenates in English when fumbling for a term sometimes.

[larryhammer]

Not yet taking Mandarin -- we've got another year till we're old enough for the first available local class (that we've found anyway).

Japanese IIRC has a similar compound, made from the same sinitic roots. I don't know if there's a Chinese equivalent, though.