Mid-month language development update.

[rivka]

I didn't realize how much, and how quickly, her language would still be changing after we got to the point of "too many vocabulary words to count." But the verbal changes are coming so fast that I don't want to wait for the next monthly developmental update. So here's the All-Language Edition of "New Things I'm Noticing Lately."

In no particular order:

• Adjectives in the right place - "black fork," "big ball." She used to just string the words together ("ball...blue!"), but now they are clearly adjectival phrases.


• Colloquialisms: "here you go," "that way" (for a direction), "oh boy!" "me too," "see you later." Probably not a colloquialism, but too cute not to mention here: "oh, help!"


• Use of "other" and "another." For example, narrating her display of "foot... other foot." Watching me take pork chops out of the pan and put them on a plate: "Another one... another one... another one."


• Three-word phrases; most worrisomely, "Alex drink coffee."


• Use of the possessive. Oddly enough, "mine!" is very rare. But she likes to go around the table at dinner and point out "Mama's chair... Papa's chair... Alex's chair."


• The -ing form of verbs. If she's still on the floor, she'll probably say "Climb chair?" If she's stretched out on the chair seat on her belly, trying to pull her legs up, she'll probably announce, "Climbing!"


• Plurals, sometimes. I have heard her use the plural form deliberately: she put on a hat and said "hat!", and then when I made a big deal out of wearing one too, she said "hatssss!" But she's inconsistent, and besides, one of her favorite plurals is "feets."


• Narrating past events. Obviously this is very, very simple - just a few words. But, for example, after an action-packed day she recounted with great excitement at bedtime: "Zoo...library... goats!"


• The development of verbal bargaining. "No church - library!"


• In related news, we're seeing liberal use of "-time" to designate things she would like to do. "Lunchtime!" "Librarytime!" "Zoetime!" "Naptime!"


• More use of people's names, if she knows them ("Hi, Leo!"). If she doesn't, she'll sometimes say "Hi, people!" or, with unknown kids her own age, "Bye, friend."


• A ridiculous vocabulary. She'll pull at the refrigerator door asking for "pomegranate seeds." When we go outside, she'll scan the sky for a "he'copter." In her animal book, she points out and names the flamingo, rhinocerous, hippopotamus, kangaroo, centipede.


• Much clearer articulation. Sometimes we don't understand her, and often we have to translate for people outside the family. But, for example, the fruit formerly known as "s'raw" is now "strawberry."


• Echolalia. In spades.


• Hilariously, she points at her picture or her reflection in the mirror and announces, "You!"

We went to the library today. On our way out afterward, I said, "Thank you for being such good company at the library, Alex. I had a nice time with you."
"Thanks, Mama," she said.

...Wow. I know it sounds like a simple, even trivial thing, but... wow.

Comments

[ckd]

I'm still loving even this limited proxy view of Alex's growth. Thank you for sharing it with us.

[treadpath.livejournal.com]

This is so awesome that you're able to recognize and classify the developments like this. Makes me want to post something like this... even if it's just to try and organize what my house monkey seems to be doing in my own head.

Alex is a smart cookie! :)

[beaq.livejournal.com]

Polite conversation isn't trivial in the least.


And: what they said, about recognition and classification and proxy views.

[kightp.livejournal.com]

Seconded. I don't have kids, and the last time I spent extended day-to-day time with a little one was, um, 35 years ago, when I roomed with my best friend and her son from the time he was born until he was nearly 3. This is really, really fun.

[aloha-moira.livejournal.com]

I agree, this is really so much fun to watch/hear about. Particularly the echolalia. It's amazing that you notice these small changes and recognize their importance... oh, and congratulations on raising such a polite child, too!

[ailbhe]

The first grown-up thankses are... well. I can't describe the emotions. Rob and I still just about fall over when Linnea spontaneously says "Thank you very much" and "you're welcome" and we have no articulate reasons why.

[ailsaek.livejournal.com]

Wow, impressive! She's passed David now (although I did get a three-word, unprompted sentence out of him thsi week, so I'm happy).

[hobbitbabe.livejournal.com]

Wow, conversations!

[tammylc.livejournal.com]

Yeah, whenever I read one of these I realize that Liam went through very similiar stages, but I was never as aware and able to articulate them as Rivka is. Alex isn't the only smart cookie in the household.

[larcb.livejournal.com]

Yeah, we're getting so much language out of my Coral now. So fun!

Feets is very normal, once a child learns a language rule, they over-generalize it, and use it for every word. Eventually, they learn the rule for specific words. We see it all the time in our English Language Learners in Kindergarten. "Brung" is another popular variation on this.

[txanne.livejournal.com]

Feets! She's studying to be the next Manolo!

[therealjae.livejournal.com]

I just taught first language acquisition in the first half of the semester, and it's fascinating to me just how many of these things are detailed in the literature! It really does work that way. :-)

-J

[kip-w.livejournal.com]

Sweet. Thanks for this.

"Alex drink coffee." Next come the tattoos. (They wash off.)

[minnaleigh.livejournal.com]

This is so much fun to read! Also, Happy Birthday! I hope it's a good one.

[green-knight.livejournal.com]

It's a brilliant list for sure, but the echo really was the most wonderful.

*That'll* teach you to be more careful in the future...

Happy Birthday!

[chiefted]

I do love watching her grow, even if by way of livejournal.

Three-word phrases; most worrisomely, "Alex drink coffee."

Take some solice in the fact that she isn't saying "Alex drink venti triple shot vanilla latte"

[minnehaha.livejournal.com]

Wow. Language is fun.

B

[fairoriana.livejournal.com]

What an adorable girl! She's obviously verbally very gifted!!! (And her articulation must be quite clear for you to get that much of it!)

Grey has shown quite a fondness for iced tea (winces). It's unsweetened, but somehow I don't think that's an appropriate beverage for a 1 year old.

[casperflea.livejournal.com]

I found there's a real tipping point in language development - from acquiring words, mostly nouns, like crazy, to really having language and parts of speech and verbs and such (even with tons of mistakes). It sounds like you've got it right now, all right! So fun!

[wcg.livejournal.com]

*smile* This is so much fun to read. (Also, happy birthday!)

[rivka.livejournal.com]

Well, in fairness, I am a psychologist. I've studied child development intensively, and I make my living noticing patterns in human behavior. It's a training thing.

Your writing about Liam is cool in an entirely different way. For example, I think you do a better job of evoking what it feels like to be his mother.

[rivka.livejournal.com]

That is great! It wasn't "David drink coffee," I hope?

[rivka.livejournal.com]

It's so cute, isn't it? Alex has followed the classic pattern: she started out using "feet" correctly, because she'd learned the vocabulary word by rote. Then, somewhere along the line, she picked up an understanding of the rule - so "feet" became "feets." It's so cool that what looks like a regression or a mistake is actually a sign of more sophisticated understanding than before.

[rivka.livejournal.com]

it's fascinating to me just how many of these things are detailed in the literature! It really does work that way.

I knew something was up when she requested a subscription to Language Learning (http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/journal.asp?ref=0023-8333&site=1) for her first birthday.

But yeah, I know exactly what you mean. She really brings my Developmental Psychology courses to life - I feel like I understand things like Piaget's concepts of assimilation and accomodation much more deeply than I ever did before.

[rivka.livejournal.com]

Thanks! So far it has been a very good one, and it's supposed to end up with sushi tonight.

[rivka.livejournal.com]

Well, of course not - she's not up to seven-word sentences yet. But I fear that it's only a matter of time.

[rivka.livejournal.com]

Thank you!

Fortunately, after several days of saying "buttcrack" at every opportunity, she seems to have forgotten it. But yes indeed, we've learned our lesson.

[rivka.livejournal.com]

Thank you! It's been very happy so far.

[puppytown.livejournal.com]

Oh, she is so cute! I love reading these posts about her development.

Happy happy happy birthday!

[lcohen]

eep! very happy birthday!

also, feets is a great plural and one that i still use ;-) .

[norah.livejournal.com]

I love that you're tracking this so attentively. I feel like things change so fast I forget to note them!

[rivka.livejournal.com]

Thank you! I will do my best to live up to the "three happys" level. :-)

[rivka.livejournal.com]

I agree that our word usage should be determined, in part, by how cute a word is or how much fun it is to say. Which is why Alex hears nary a correction from me when she talks about wearing "slippies" on her feets.

(and thanks!)

[mjlayman.livejournal.com]

Happy Birthday, Rivka! Alex is sure growing up.

[mjlayman.livejournal.com]

It has polyphenals in it.

Happy birthday from me, too!

[dakiwiboid.livejournal.com]

May the coming year bring you every happiness, and lots of time with your family!

[sciamanna.livejournal.com]

"Feets" just means that she's actually grasped the grammar of the plural, rather than just copying. It marks a genuine step forward compared to a stage where the only plurals were copied (and not necessarily understood as plurals, as well as the rule not being necessarily understood).

Language acquisition is so fascinating. Thanks for the updates!

Re: Happy birthday from me, too!

[rivka.livejournal.com]

Thanks so much!

[rivka.livejournal.com]

Thank you! And yeah, she really is. It's a little scary.