Nell-isms

One of the things I'm loving about this age for Nell right now is the language development.  Since turning two in May, her language has really taken off, with two-word 'sentences' quickly turning to three- and four-words, and now, she can pretty much say anything she wants to say.

At the same time, some of the sweet little misspoken words and phrases are still lingering, and there's always a tinge of sadness when each one vanishes.  Like the way she used to say "huh" instead of "yes," and then one day there was "yeah" and then "yes," and now that funny little "huh" is virtually a thing of the past.

Just a couple of days ago it was, "I yowwy, Mama," and now it's "I'm sowwy." {And I'm almost missing the "yowwy" version of "sorry."}

A month ago, shoes were - inexplicably, perhaps - "vah."  And now she's saying shoe.

A week ago, banana was "numanuh," and now it's "banumanuh."  What's next, a degree in linguistics from Harvard?  You're getting this whole language thing too fast, girlie.

Her version of "It's okay!" is "Gah-gay!"  This usually comes out in the context of, "Gah-gay, Muh-wee!  Mommy come get you!  Wight heew!  It gah-gay!"  And occasionally, if she thinks I am upset, "It gah-gay, Mommy!"  So sweet.

"Uhbuh one, doo," means "another one, too," and is uttered if she is handed one bite of something but immediately wishes another as well, such as a plantain chip for each hand.

Peanut butter is "peendaduhbuh," the baby monitor is the "momanuh," and turkeys say, "boggle boggle boggle."

When I put my hair up, this bossy little control freak exclaims, "No hair tie!  No hair tie!" and has a breakdown that I can't quite understand.  Same goes for putting on my glasses in the morning instead of putting my contacts in: "No gagiss!  No Mommy gagiss!"

She's always had a curious way of picking the ends of words, where most kids would pick the beginnings, and using them - even if they're the hard part to pronounce.  Noodles are "llll," (yes, just the L sounding part, that's right), cheese used to be "yuh" (as in "chee-suh," we eventually figured out), and the aforementioned "vah" might have been her attempt at "shoo-wuh".

Nell is a great mimicker, and mimics Ree quite expertly in every little gurgle and expression and babble.  And, after mimicking her, Nell exclaims, "Baby Wee do dat!" - usually while laughing hysterically.

Every smile from Ree elicits the proclamation: "Miyul!  Baby Wee miyul!"  And then, when Ree continues to smile {because she adores seeing Nell}, it's "Mo miyul! Mo miyul!"  ("More smiles!")

These days, Nell's sentences are filled out with gibberish babbling, a recent change that makes me think she's aware that she wants to use more than just the words she knows, and that sentences have more than pronouns, nouns, adjectives, verbs, and adverbs.  She'll often repeat me word-for-word, too, including the little words, and she's started using contractions and plurals where applicable.

It's probably worth mentioning that I'm the only person that can understand 99% of what she says.  Auntie Cara and Aunt Hannah get a lot of it, Uncle Andrew gets some, her new babysitter Sami is getting the hang of it, and Nathan is coming in at a strong 25% or thereabouts.

Anyway.

Oh, Nell, we love you so.