Bad hair! The Bee Gees! A calendar of 1979
... to bring you an episode of the $25,000 Pyramid. Remember that game show?
Well, apparently Willow was Dick Clark in another life, because she remembers it too. Wait, Dick Clark is still alive. How old is that man anyway? Like 150?!
But I digress ... So Willow cuddles up in bed with me for a few minutes each morning, and she tells me things. Usually, it's just words she knows. Lately, though, she's been categorizing them. She'll sit on my chest and and recite, "Pink ... bwack ...white ...yewwoh ... orange..." and then wait.
My job is to respond, "Colors!"
Then she'll do another one: "Carrots ... peas ... ice cream ..."
"Food!" I'll guess, and if I get it wrong, she keeps going:
"Fry-fries (French fries)...eat-dog (hot dog) ..."
And I've got it: "Plastic food in your toy kitchen!"
Bingo. Then she starts again: "Mama ... Daddy ... Bee-dah (brother) ...Nan..." and so on.
She loves this game. I feel like that at 22 months, categorizing words like this is a sign of unadulterated genius, but since I've never seen a normally developing child acquire language, this is probably totally normal. Everything she says seems like magic to me.
But this morning she stumped me. After we went through "Animals," "Flying stuff" and "Shapes," she came out with this list:
"Five ... car...Tar-Brown (Charlie Brown) ...eight ...Corny-corn (unicorn) ... Tar-Brown..."
Any thoughts?
Best TV Show Ever
Saturday January 22 2011 02:38:51 pm
Amanda Broadfoot
I really appreciate all the votes in favor of Willow's genius. I've decided that her last mysterious category was her list of the elements in the best TV show ever. She has developed an affinity for Charlie Brown second only to her brother's passion for the blockhead, and her unicorn is never left out of any game. Plus, she loves counting stuff more (The Count was a good shout!) more than anything else. So a show in which two Charlie Browns and a unicorn got together to count stuff would be BEST.SHOW.EVER!
@BigDaddy: Some seriously bad things HAVE been done to that unicorn. We will say no more.
@Ashley: I know what you mean. I spent about three years in search of a "label" (Dx) for Billy, and now I find myself in a place where the only label I care about where my kids are concerned is that they're MINE :-) Love both of them and their unique brains.
@Maura: Yes, indeedy: "Yewwoh" is just about my favorite word. Also, "Wiwwoh," which both of my kids say for "Willow." I will kinda miss it when they can both say Ls properly.
@Jenny and @Kristina: I have been told by many a speech therapists that girls chatter earlier, in general, than boys. It all starts to level out in elementary school, but typically, little girls learn language faster, because our brains are wired for communication. Now Billy's has been obviously been more delayed than most, but I thought it was interesting that there is such a known difference between boys/girls.
Friday January 21 2011 03:12:24 pm
kristina
Your daughter is a total genius! My 23-month-old started saying mama and dada at the typical age, but then stopped. Then he started just grunting and pointing. He has now progressed to incessant babbling of many different single-syllables, but mostly he'll just work on one at a time over and over, with his voice raised, lowered or enunciated at certain points for emphasis. He is supposedly a "normally developing child"...
Things that rhyme?
Friday January 21 2011 02:45:47 pm
Alain
(and yes, I know Five Car, Charlie Brown and Unicorn don't really rhyme... But she *is* only two years old)
Yewwoh
Friday January 21 2011 10:36:52 am
Maura
In my book, Willow gets the "genius" vote!
How much does your heart melt every time she says "Yewwoh"? Each time Ollie says, "Mama, will you pway Wegos wif me?" I drop everything, because how could I ever say no to a sentence like that?
Henry learned how to pronounce his "L"s in September, the week he started kindergarten. Next stop: learning to pronounce "th".
Snippets 'N Stuff
Thursday January 20 2011 09:46:27 pm
DeeAnn Lancaster
Not a clue! Chances are you'll figure it out someday :) My daughter is pretty good at figuring out Cody's puzzles when I cannot. Sometimes it takes team effort! Good luck and keep enjoying her!
Thursday January 20 2011 08:29:34 pm
Nan
Maybe it's a new recipe. As I recall, the unicorn was in a stew recently. That recipe may have needed a little more roughage.
Thursday January 20 2011 11:52:13 am
Ashley
My thoughts are that I just want to squish those adorable cheeks!! She is too cute. I love that she wants to play games. I'm continually surprised by what my daughter does/says. I can't tell if it's because she's a girl, a 2nd baby, or NT, or all of the above but she keeps me on my toes!
Thursday January 20 2011 02:26:37 am
Cheryl D.
Sounds like a genius to me!
Total 14 comments