Stories About Language

Two stories, one about each of the girls and language development.

First, Quinn: This afternoon we had her first sign. It may have been accidental, but she signed MILK while I was trimming Celeste's nails. I caught the sign out of the corner of my eye; Quinn was playing with a ring toy, but it sure looked like she was saying MILK. I asked her if she wanted milk (combining the word with the sign), and she gave a big smile and full body thump. (Aside: At this point in time, Celeste started demanding soymilk.) By the time, I had some milk thawed and ready for her, Quinn had moved on to something else, but she was happy when I brought her the bottle and she drank more of it than she has in a long time.

Second, Celeste: A German family with two boys a little older than Celeste and Quinn moved to the neighborhood a little while ago, and the girls sometimes play. One time, at the park, Evelin said "Gesundheit!" when Celeste or someone sneezed and I---, the mother, commented that it was nice to hear German being spoken. On Saturday, Evelin and the girls were at the park when I--- and her older boy, B---, walked up. Celeste, being her usual sociable self, immediately said "No, I---. No, B---." Later, Celeste was walking up to them and saying, "Bye-bye, I---. Bye-bye, B---."

Thinking back to when we taught Celeste to say არა as a joke for ხ---, I thought it be cute if I could get Celeste to say "Guten Tag" and "Tschüß" to I--- and B---. This morning at playgroup, with a little prompting, Evelin got Celeste to say "Guten Tag," but she couldn't remember "goodbye." I--- offered "Auf Wiedersehen," but Evelin knew that wasn't it. Then I--- offered "Tschüß." Celeste picked it up and said, "Tschüßie!" which I--- noted was very colloquial usage.
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