Words are Highly Underrated

Mimi's vocabulary is developing day by day.

We speak to her in both English and Japanese, though English seems to be dominant these days.  We'll eventually balance that by enrolling her in a Japanese preschool here in SF.

At a little over 16 months, she's already developing a working vocabulary.  I guess that's a result of her being so headstrong.  She wants what she wants.  And she's beginning to realize that the only way she'll get it is by asking for it.  As such, her vocabulary has grown substantially in terms of nouns.

Here's a selection, with their phonetic equivalents where applicable, of Mimi's vocabulary:

Mama:  Mother
Papa:  Father
Mimi:  Herself
Wan-wan (Japanese): doggie
Nyan-nyan (Japanese): kitty
Bi:  Bib
Buh (book) / Huh (hon, Japanese)): Book
Ne-ne (Japanese): Sleep
Shuz: Socks and Shoes
Die-pah: Diaper
No, Arghh!, Wah!: No
Joos: Juice
Doh-zoh (Japanese): here you go
Goh!:  Let's go
Bah-bah:  Bottle
Stah-pi!:  Stop it!
Yo-ee-sho (Japanese):  Ah, there we go

There are more, I'm sure, but it's hard to recall all of them.  Imagine coming up with every word you know.  It's tough! 

Of course, her working vocabulary, what she understands when spoken to her, is far larger.  She's able to understand some basic commands, but only when she wants to.  If I ask her to get her shoes, she'll seek them out.  When I want her to pick up her blanket in the morning or after a nap, she does so without a fuss.  When it comes to eating her dinner, she just turns her head and screams. 

She's also become a veritable mocking bird.  The other day, while making burritos, she piped up with "tortillas!"  It wasn't repeated again, but she got it just right the first time.  A week or so before, while I was looking for Mimi's immunization records, I dropped a box on my foot.  Under my breath, not knowing she was right behind me, I whispered, "shit."  And a half second later, five feet below me, I heard a gentle little "shih!"  Sumie and I definitely have to be careful.

Still, we can't help but teach her a few bad things.  After all, we don't want her to be a goody-two-shoes!  Sumie and I tend to tease each other in the evening.  When it comes to teasing Sumie, it's all about her glaring lack of street-smarts and mechanical intuition.   For me, the massive gut, hick-town upbringing, and ongoing lack of a job come into play.  Regardless of the topic, the teasing usually devolves into one of us saying, "Stop it!" and teasingly smacking the other.  This has had an unexpected impact on Mimi.  Her first "phrase" was "stah-pit," combined with a little smack to the leg.

But it's not only her words that are developing.  Mimi's been picking up some of our routines as well.  When it comes to closing doors, she's all over it.  She even makes sure her fingers are out of the way.  Say it's time to climb the stairs.  Not only will Mimi remove her shoes before going up, she'll even close the child proof gate!  But our favorite is when Mimi decides it's time to throw something away.  She'll pick something up off the floor, such as a miniscule piece of onion skin, open the cupboard door below the sink, place the paper-thin refuse in the trash, and then close the door.

Once the cupboard door is closed, she'll then secure it with the child-proof latch.  Rather ingenious, I think. 

We're continuing to read her books each day, in English and Japanese, and share music, both children's songs and classical.  She's learning more and more.  Hopefully she'll soon be able to use all the words in that little brain of hers to start asking for things.  That would be wonderful.  Screaming and pointing, I have to admit, is getting a little old.