Antidisestablishmentarianism

When I was a kid I remember asking my Dad what the biggest number was (he told me it was infinity plus one, but now I personally think infinity to the power of infinity would be bigger), and also the longest word, which I was fascinated by. So when Bluet asked me what the longest word was, I was able to tell her that it was antidisestablishmentarianism. She then spent several days practicing until she could say it (spelling will come next). It was somewhat harder to explain what it meant when she asked, and she became bored during the explanation of what the established church was.

Here she is saying this very long word

Wilder's Words

Having mastered walking and stair climbing, next up is talking. So far we have:

Ba-bye (Bye Bye, with a wave often, sometimes involves closing the door or waving to the school bus that takes Bluet and Ilona every day)

Bey-ey (Belly, accompanied by patting belly)

Za (Zip, accompanied by a small chuckle when he sees a zip)

Chz (Cheese)

Shz (shoes)

Mama (general purpose I want that/what is that/do something for me word)

Done (said at the end of dinner)

Ba (first word, meaning ball. He will also bring you a ball (with great glee) if you ask him to)

Ed (head)

Am (ham)

Pa-pa (paper)

Bk (book, usually involves presenting/gently hitting you with said book until you read it 3 or 4 times)

Ca (car; if he picks up a toy car he will also make the noise a car makes)

Na-na (banana)

Kacka (cracker, as in the foodstuff)

Abby (Happy, often said several times in a row whilst walking around)

Swiss weather (part I)

Last weekend it was summer. We purchased a paddling  pool for the garden, filled it with water, and Bluet and Ilona were easily entertained.

Another weekend in swimming costumes and sun hats. This made entertaining the kids ever so easy, as we could make full use of the garden

We also bought Ilona her own swing, so that she and her sister could swing together

Sunday, still sunny, so another playground, another swing

And even time for a game of snakes and ladders before snacks

Aside: Ilona is getting very big - there are some 3 word sentences these days, and she is getting very good at answering yes-no questions accurately. Mostly in English (to us at least). Her favourite German word for the last 2 or 3 months has been 'jacke' (pronounced 'Yakka', meaning 'jacket'. she says this a lot as she likes to put on her coat and go outside (to swing). She also says 'shoe' and 'milk' in a German way. Bluet meanwhile likes to tell us what the German word for various things is, but will occasionally be overheard counting to herself in German, often on the swing, or singing a German song from playgroup.

Ilona's words

We made a list today of all the words Ilona can say. She understands many more (and we probably forgot a few). You will notice an abundance of animals, the most famous muppet and lots of words that start with 'B'. The most used ones are probably 'uh oh' whenever anything 'falls' on the floor, 'no', accompanied with a shake of the head, when anything is offered, and 'mine' whenever she sees anything she wants. Also, she likes to touch our coffee mugs in the morning, and say 'hot', and stand by the door, opening and shutting it and saying 'door'. 'Nose' and 'eyes' are usually accompanied by a small hand moving rapidly towards the relevant feature of your face, and 'bye' is said every time anyone leaves (including other passengers from the tram).


 

Bluet's Word List

Here is a continuously updating list of all the words Bluet has said in approximate chronological order:

Baby (Baba, to refer to herself, the baby on the shampoo bottle, or any other picture of a baby lying around the house; no longer used to refer to herself, she has solved the conundrum of the mirror)
Daddy (Addy, usually)
Mama (usually Mamamamamama)
Doggy (usually followed by high pitched squeals of excitement)
Uh-oh
This (dis)
Bye Bye 
Banana (or, a word that is long and begins with 'b' and is said at breakfast time, or when a banana is in sight)
Thank you (usually said in response to receiving a banana)
Ball
Fish (ish)
Mine (first heard a week or so after she visited her cousin Lila Boyle and experienced many struggles over Lila's Elmos)
Squirrel (said one time only, the week after she first learned what a squirrel was)
Bluet (looking at herself in the mirror, or pointing at herself, not said for a while, though she definitely knows it is her name)
No (nonononononono, more useful for Bluet than parents)
Ruthy (Pronounced 'Roo-t' to refer to her nanny)
Hug (one time only) 
Kiss (one time only) 
Nose (one time only, she can identify it at will, though) 
Eyes (one evening only, but many times, pointing at everyone's eyes)
(although she can also identify her (or our) foot, ears and shoe, she has never said any of these words)
Hello (reserved for the phone)
Hi (general purpose greeting; she also likes to wave at people she knows, like all the doormen on 79th street). 
What's that? (wa da, or something)
All done
I see (often said whilst playing 'where's Bluet')
Okay (Current favourite; particularly adorable when used in response to question, e.g. 'can I put on your shoes').
Bubble
Up (new this week, whilst pointing at the sky)





 

Talking update

So we are getting there with this learning to talk business. Bluet definitely quite often says 'thank you' at appropriate moments. She can also say 'baby', 'doggy', 'daddy' and 'mama', although we don't hear those do often as she mastered them a while ago and therefore they don't need practise. She can also say banana, particularly at breakfast time, and 'nose' one time - she even can identify both her and our noses about 50% of the times we ask, so it depends on whether she can be bothered or not. And often her pointing finger points too enthusiastically and ends up up ones nose. Also, if you ask her where her belly is, she lifts up her shirt and puts her finger in her belly button. A video of this will surely soon follow.

She also does this thing where she takes her toy plastic mobile phone (a v. generous Christmas gift from Angela's parent) and puts it to the back of her head, then runs around the apartment talking into it. I tried to record the sounds, but it is difficult as she gets distracted by my recording equipment*; this is the best I could do:





*iPhone