Lilahisms

As I've mentioned, Lilah is talking up a storm these days. Two-word utterances are now quite common and she is really starting to realize the pure power of words. While most of what comes out of her mouth is quite cute, there are a couple of word approximations that I find particularly interesting. 

The first of these mispronunciations is "boobies" for blueberries.  Lilah is a huge fan of blueberries.  She is also a huge fan of her mama's boobies.  Perhaps I would be flattered when she compares my mammary glands to a food she holds in such high esteem, if it weren't for the delicate matter of size.  I'd like to think that my boobies are slightly larger than blueberries.  They did sustain her for the first several months of her life, afterall, and she still rather enjoys their output, if I'm not mistaken, even if much less frequently than she did as a newborn.  I think this kid may need to become more familiar with the ancient adage "never bite the boob that feeds you."

And then there is my all-time favourite Lilahism, "buttcheese" for garbage.  I'm not quite sure how she came to call garbage "buttcheese," but I really can't argue with her logic.  If one were to happen upon some buttcheese, the first thing one should do is dispose of said buttcheese in some type of garbage receptacle.  Don't you think?

If you've been following for any length of time, you'll know that I'm a total word nerd and language acquisition is one of my favourite topics.  So humour me with tales of your kids' early words in the comments!

Lilish

Over the past couple of months, Lilah has had quite the language explosion.  Jargon is mostly a thing of the past.  She has gone from having a handful of words in her vocabulary to over fifty and has started combining two, and sometimes even three, words in sentences.  For me, as a Speech-Language Pathologist and self-professed word nerd, this is hands-down the most thrilling aspect of her development.  There are some words, like "up," that are pronounced perfectly and would be understood by any Joe Shmoe.  But there are many that mean something only to the select few of us who understand Modern Lilish.  Below you will find a few of my favourite Lilish words:

No. - No (Lilish is a tonal language, apparently - see variations on "No" below)
Noooo.... - No, and if you don't listen to me I'm going to lose it.
NNNOOO! - I think this one is self-explanatory 
Yeeese - Yes (kinda like the way Mr. Burns says it)
Ma-mee - Mommy
Da-dee - Daddy
kacker - cracker
ocker - yogurt
'nana - banana
keekee - cookie
shees - cheese
foofoo - tofu
otter - water
muck - milk
ed - head (she is one quarter Liverpudlian, so she comes by the silent 'h' honestly)
my- mine
shash - wash
poo-pee - poopy
bee-bee - baby
gah - car
buck - book
chuck - truck
aahhhdoon - all done
moah - more
batch - garbage
shoosh- shoes
at - hat (again, evidence of her Liverpool roots)
shaish - chair
neenup - clean-up
teedee - TV (this one is a bit embarassing, especially if you could see how excited she gets at the very thought of being allowed to watch tv)
bapf - bath
bokbok - chicken
baabaa - sheep

Here's a video so you can get a feel for the pronunciation of common Lilish words like "baby," "mommy," "all done," and "ball."

Lilish is a primitive language, but its components can be combined to form two- and occasionally even three-word sentences, such as "bye bath," "more cracker," and "no bye kitty."  Of course, those require a translator with an intricate knowledge of Lilish (namely Ma-mee or Da-dee) to interpret to the general public.