The Stall

Well friends, it was always inevitable, but I still can't believe it's happening: my baby is leaving babyhood behind and becoming a real kid.  As if her burgeoning independence and repetitions of the mantras, "I a big girl" and "I do it myself" weren't proof enough, she is becoming more and more proficient at that most ubiquitous of childhood accomplishments, the bedtime stall.  I wouldn't say that she has become "master of the stall"or even reached "expert level" just yet - she still hasn't figured out a few of the more manipulative techniques that I remember employing in my own youth - but she would certainly fall solidly into the "apprentice" category.

One way in which she is able to delay her bedtime by several minutes is to request additional verses of her bedtime song (which we totally stole from Addie and her family, by the way).  Usually we sing it to all the friends she has seen that day, and often her grandparents get a shout-out.  And of course there is the obligatory verse each for Mommy and Daddy.  But lately she has figured out she can sing this song to pretty much any person or object on earth.  When I see her eyes starting to cast around her bedroom looking for items to sing to, I know it's time to pack it in and get the kid into her crib before we name every. single. object. in. the. universe.

Here's a small sampling of the things she deems worthy of their own special verse of the Night-Night Song:

Verse 1: Picures

Verse 2: Shirt

Verse 3: Firetruck

Practicing her latest stall technique in the car.

(Singing by Lilah, video by Mommy, driving by Daddy)

What is your kid's go-to stall technique?  I'd love to hear all about it so I can see it coming and nip it in the bud!

Linking up with:

The First Thing

Lilah is an open book.  As a toddler, her motivations and thoughts can be read on her face, through her body language, and through her short, telegraph-style sentences.  She isn't yet really capable of lying, so when I ask her if she's going to throw her spoon again if I give it back to her, I'm never surprised when the answer turns out to be "yes."  And never is she more transparent than when she first wakes up in the morning.  The first thing she says when I go get her from her crib is very revealing as to what's on her mind at any given time.

Here are some of the things she has said to me right after waking up:

When we were in Harrison sharing a rental house with a bazillion family members and their dogs: "Doggie no get Lilah?" (I'm just going on instinct here, but I think she may be just a teeny bit afraid of dogs, what do you think?)

The next morning during the same weekend in Harrison, articulated with perfect grammar and diction:  "People are sleeping."  (Actually, Lilah, you're the last to wake up.  The other kids woke the whole house up at an ungodly hour.  Thanks for showing off your super sleeping skills.  But on the other hand, now no one's going to believe me when I tell them you're usually an early riser - there goes mommy's sympathy vote!)

Occasionally we get an "Aaaadddddie" (her BFF's name) or Addie's parents' names thrown into the mix. (As if she'd rather be waking up in their home than ours...)

Lately it's often, "Jump, jump, JUMP!" (Because that is the skill she is working hard on mastering these days.)

And then of course there's the simple yet eloquently stated "Whoooaaa."  (Like, Dude, that was a trippy dream!")

But of course, the most common first thing Lilah says in he morning is "Mamaaaaa!" or sometimes, "Maaaamaaa, ah are you?"  Because, let's face it, to her, I'm pretty much the best thing going 'round these parts.  Can you really blame her?

More Lilahisms

• "Beak up" - wake up (as in, "Sit up, Mommy, quit lazing around, I want you to play with me!")
• "Bap" - lap (as in, "I want to sit on your")
• "Nahnaht Mommy, I seena mohning" - Night-night Mommy, I'll see you in the morning (from the goodnight song we sing every night before bed)
• "Shawsh" - wash (as in, "I want to play with the soap, splash around in the sink, spray water everywhere, and then you can clean up my mess for me.")
• "Beego" - mango (as in, I want to eat some)
• "Lilah okay!" - I'm okay (as in, I just tripped over my own feet and smacked my face on the cement, but I'm okay)
• "No chay buhbum" - No change bum-bum (as in, under NO circumstances are you to tear me away from my ever-so-enthralling play for something as mundane as a diaper change.  Puh-lease!)
• "Lilah ayee toe" - Lilah owie toe (as in, I cut my toe two weeks ao and I'm still talking about it. In fact, it's my current favourite topic of conversation)
• "Fofie" - Sophie (as in, one of our cats)
• "See-see" - Cereal (as in, Raisin Bran, the only cereal she will eat)
• "No my, know my ADD, no my, know my ADD" - Now I know my ABCs, Next time won't you sing with me (As in the alphabet song, with a few creative amendments)

Lilah sings her ABCs

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.

Say What?!!

Lilah is at the stage in her language development when her babbling is starting to sound more and more like actual actual words and phrases in an actual language (this is what we fancy-pants speechies refer to as "jargon"). The Hubs and I are constantly doing a doubletake these days and asking her, "Did you just say...?"

In addition to the handful of real words she says (like "hi," "mama," "dada," "more," and "bubble"), here are a few of the things we could swear she's come out with in the past week or so:

"I'm outtie."
"Goitergoitergoitergoitergoiter."
"Mind yer biznaz."
"Oooooooh. Big bad bog buggy!"
"Zookeeper?"
"Duuuuude. Totally badass."

She hasn't yet ventured an attempt at "unbesmirched," but I'm sure it's on the tip of her tongue!

Anecdotal "Evidence"

Turns out, I might actually be good at my job.

You see, like any good speech-language pathologist, since I started my carreer five years ago, I've been telling parents of children with speech and language delays that they should model language and play slightly above their child's current expressive language level. For example, if their child is currently using one word at a time, I encourage them to model additional single-word vocabulary and two-word phrases. This should make it easier for their child to copy and move on to the next level of language learning.

Okay, kinda boring, right? I'm getting to the interesting part. I tell parents to think of themselves as their child, only six months ahead. I don't remember whether I picked up this little tidbit from one of my practicum supervisors, or from one of my teachers during my Master's program, or whether it was just a rule of thumb that I myself invented when I was just starting out and trying to find ways to explain the whole idea of "modeling language at the appropriate level" to parents. In any case, it turns out that this little nugget of wisdom has actually been borne out in my observations of Lilah!

Without fail, every single time we hit the playground, Lilah seeks out a child about six months older than she is and sticks to them like glue. It seems that her brain knows exactly what kind of stimulation it needs and commands her body to seek it out. She is utterly determined to keep up with these kids. Her gross motor skills aren't actually that far off, for the most part, since she's quite steady on her feet, but the differences in language and play skills are striking. It absolutely amazes me that kids as young as Lilah can know exactly where they are headed and who can teach them how to get there. It also feeds my conviction that children should be exposed to playmates of all ages, not just children in their immediate cohort.

Before I became a parent, I always felt slightly uncomfortable about teaching parents how to interact with their children. Yes, I had my fancy degree and my book-learning and the research to back it up, blah, blah, blah, but I worried about my credibility. Turns out, I was giving pretty good advice all along! In truth, I always knew that, but now I have my experiences as a parent to back it up. I knew there was a good reason I wanted kids (you know, apart from that whole "unconditional love" thing)!

I can only hope that my new-found confidence and understanding balance out the absent-mindedness, separation anxiety, sick days, and early departure times that are sure to come with the territory of heading back to work after a year maternity leave. Yeah, I may be a total mess when I return to work, but at least I'll have my street cred!

Lab Rat

I knew my kid was smart, but... yesterday she earned herself an honorary Bachelor's Degree from UBC, just by looking at blinking lights and listening to nonsense syllables!

I took Lilah to be part of a study on infants and language acquisition. I assure you, nothing could be more thrilling to this self-professed word nerd than to have my own child involved in this research! It is changing the face of what we know about how infants and children acquire language. I had to learn about it while doing both my undergrad and grad school at UBC, so it's pretty cool to now be connected to the very same research through Lilah.

Lilah in her "Infant Scientist" t-shirt, and with her degree certificate!

Next stop, Master's Degree...!