It's zoo time!

[rivka]

Today was the first day of the season for the Maryland Zoo. It was also ideal zoo-going weather: sunny and in the upper 50s. Because we're members, we got to enter half an hour before the zoo officially opened - which turned out to be a great blessing, because it turns out that the zoo is free this weekend, and half of Baltimore had managed to jam themselves in by the time we left. But the first hour we were there was blissfully uncrowded.

I took a zebra photo that I really like:



(Of course, it's hard to take a bad zebra photo. They were madeevolved to be photographed.)

Alex was incredibly excited. She gave long narrations about each of the animals - what she thought they were doing, where their families might be, how they related to each other. We took a couple of short movies (46 secs, 1 minute 13 secs) of her narrations; I have embedded them below the cut, along with transcripts. I should note that there's not really much to see - it's all about the audio.

I also feel compelled to note that I don't usually repeat absolutely everything she says, like a bad parody of a Rogerian psychologist. I was trying to provide on-the-spot translation services so I could send the video to relatives who aren't used to hearing Alex talk.

Watch on YouTube

Translation from the Toddlerese:

Alex: Okay!
Me: Where's the zebra going?
Alex: Zebra's going swimming.
Me: Really?!
Alex: Zebra going to walk. Zebra going to walk in the water.
Me: The zebra's going to walk in the water. Look, he's going over to see the other zebras.
Alex: Go see the other zebras. That's a Mama zebra.
Me: Oh.
Alex: Hi, Mama zebra!
Me: Where's the Papa zebra?
Alex: Right there.
Me: Okay!
Alex: Hi, Papa zebra! Baby zebra hug Papa zebra.
Me: Baby zebra hugs the Papa zebra? Okay.
Alex: Tigers!
Me: You want to see tigers?

Watch on YouTube

Translation from the Toddlerese:

Alex: Here comes a seagull! Here comes an oster-ster-strich.
Me: Here comes an ostrich, yes.
Alex: Here comes an ostrich. Ostrich eat water. Ostrich eat water.
Me: Ostrich wants to drink some water?
Alex: Ostrich eat water.
Me: Look, here's the zebra right here. Look at those big ears.
Alex: Zebra feeds the ostrich!
Me: Zebra feeds the ostrich? Okay. What does the zebra feed the ostrich?
Alex: Zebra feeds ostrich food.
Me: Some food, okay.
Alex: Rhinoceros feeds the ostrich. Rhinoceros feeds the ostrich.
Me: Sounds good.
Alex: Rhinoceros feeds the ostrich.
Me: Here comes the zebra to see the rhinoceros.
Alex: Zebra kiss the rhinoceros!
Me: Oh really, the zebra kiss the rhinoceros? Are they friends?
Alex: Okay!
Me: Okay.
Alex: Zebra, zebra rhinoceros friendly.
Me: Okay!


(Also note that this is a Gratuitous Icon Post. Yay, GIPs!)

Comments

[saoba.livejournal.com]

Eeeeeeeee, the cute!

Also, wow, she's really making with the mad language and logic skills there. You can practically hear her busy little brain firing away.

[chiefted]

Forgive me for saying this but the videos made my morning. *S*.

Don't know about anyone else but didn't need the translation here at all. Alex
has a great voice, cause eveyone knows that Ostersterstrichs eat water *S*.

[kip-w.livejournal.com]

Thanks! I just showed these to Sarah.

[wcg.livejournal.com]

That's just darling.

[kcobweb.livejournal.com]

Great videos. Amazing language. I must tell you that Elena watched those with me, and her first comment was "Elena!" and we have to say, "No, that isn't you; that's Alex." :)

[tavella.livejournal.com]

I like the guy in the background in the second video, presumably interacting with another small child in the same way.

And wow -- she's only 20 months, right? That seems amazingly advanced, I tend to think of toddlers as getting into the complex sentences after 2.

[pariyal.livejournal.com]

Grr, this new laptop installation doesn't do sound yet. Bookmarked it.

[minnaleigh.livejournal.com]

That is a very cool zebra picture! And I too could easily understand Alex without referring to the transcript. She speaks so clearly!

[rivka.livejournal.com]

I just showed Alex your icon and said, "That's Elena."

"No," she said firmly. "That's Alex."

[kcobweb.livejournal.com]

Did we *need* more proof that they were separated at birth?

[klwalton.livejournal.com]

Oh, *wow*. If this is an example of her language skills, she's going to be as good a writer as her mama! That was so much fun to watch!!

I want grandchildren, damn it. Don't tell my kids I said that :P. :):)

[rivka.livejournal.com]

Yeah, you can totally see the wheels turning these days. She thinks about stuff really hard.

[rivka.livejournal.com]

And wow -- she's only 20 months, right? That seems amazingly advanced, I tend to think of toddlers as getting into the complex sentences after 2.

She'll be 23 months old next week, so she is almost two. But you're right, her language is not typical for her age.