Monday, June 30, 2008

Talking


Iyyar is starting to talk more, and much more expressively, and now that I am home with him while Barak is at school I get the benefit of it much more than I did before. Barak tends to kind of dominate the conversation when he is here, not surprisingly, and until now I was hardly ever with Iyyar without Barak there. So now I am hearing all kinds of gems.


For example: in general, I buy generic diapers, but I get Pampers for Iyyar and Avtalyon to use overnight because they leak less. Pampers have Elmo on them, so they are very popular with Iyyar, who is right there in the Elmo target age bracket. I brought a bunch of Elmo diapers for the trip, and now Iyyar is, sadly, out of them (and into generic Titulim, which seem fine) while Avtalyon still has a stack left. A couple of days ago, I was putting Avtalyon into a clean diaper with Elmo on it, while Iyyar watched--rather resentfully, as it turned out. "No want it!" he told me emphatically, lips pushed out in a pout, shaking his head firmly for emphasis. "No want it Elmo baby tooshie!" If I can't get Elmo, NOBODY gets Elmo.


Speaking of Elmo, he is very much a fan. He refers to all Muppets generically as Elmo, but does also identify Ernie (uh-nee), Big Bird (bih buh), Grover, (go wuh) and Cookie Monster (kumana!) Diction may not be his strong point, but expressiveness is. He does the best faces, and also gives the best hugs; if you ask him for a hug, he'll usually say no, but if you then act all hurt and pretend to cry, he'll rush up to you, fling his arms around you, and carol "hug!" Better than that it getteth not.


He's got a new name for Barak, who is now "Ayyar!" (funnily enough). When we drop Barak off at school, Iyyar is often perturbed: "Where Ayyar go?" And sometimes, when waking up from a nap or in his high chair, Iyyar will call roll.


"Abba? Where Abba go?"


"Abba's davening."


"Ayyar?"


"Barak's at school."


"Naya?"


"Binyamin's home."


"Ah koh?"


"Yaakov's at home too."


"Baby?"


"Baby's shluffing."


"Baby oofing?"


"Right, he's shluffing."


Then, seriously, "Oh. Kay."


When he sees a park, which happens roughly every sixty seconds around here, he demands to avail himself of it ("pay! pay!") and when he sees the falafel store, he knows just what he wants "Ah foo! Ah foo!" And he's developed a habit, clearly derived from his big brother, of calling me in a very peremptory fashion. "Ah MA!" he bellows, righteously, sometimes whacking me insistently on the closest body part (and getting told off for potching). Pay attention to me NOW!


And, of course, he lives to go outside ("annai!") and eat, well, just about anything, but especially cheese ("shee"), milk, ("muk!"), bananas ("na na") and anything that I am eating ("DAT!")

7 comments:

miriamp said...

Do you let him use the computer (supervised, of course) yet? Try http://www.sesameworkshop.org/sesamestreet/?scrollerId=games

It's very flash intensive, but there are some good very easy pre-reader games (my 4 and 5 yr olds love them, and the 2.5 yr old loves to watch. Barak will love them too, and Iyyar will love watching his favorite muppets...)

I won't tell you how much my 14 month old talks, but she was wondering around the children's room at the library today rearranging the shelves for them and saying, Book! Book! Book! Little tiny kids who talk are so much fun to watch and listen to.

Anonymous said...

It's the phonetic transcriptions that get me. I wish I had done more of them when the girls were growing up.

I do still vividly remember that H. couldn't say the "-rl" or "-rld" consonant cluster. So she was "da best guh-loh in da wuh-load."

I miss hearing "SKWUH-loh!" for "squirrel," but seeing as how she's eight now, I suppose I should get used to her now correct diction.

uberimma said...

You just like them because of that lexicography thing. :)

My favorite right now is how he says "garbage." It comes out backwards--he says "jarba." And "cottage cheese," which comes out "cotchi."

LC said...

. . . "garbage." It comes out backwards--he says "jarba."

My oldest said "gah-boo". And I probably only remember because it figured prominently in the no-more-pacifier "drama" (actually not so much of one) when he was going on 2 and I was expecting his first sibling.

SuperM said...

I actually have transcribed a lot of the baby langauge. My current favorite is the 2 year old's word for Band aid: "an-baid."

handknitter said...

In case you're interested: my new kitty is eating, drinking, and pooping just fine, and emerges from her hiding spot for some cuddles when asked. Son Number Two is keeping her fed and brushed. She hasn't ventured out of the basement yet, but I've caught her peeking up the stairs.

She's a real sweetie pie!

Unknown said...

I tutored English to the older sisters of a little girl decades ago. They were all from Egypt. Winter was a New Adventure. She used to say "mit-nas" for the wooly hand coverings we wear.