The Busy Lexicon

Doesn't every mother think that her child says the cutest things? Well CMG is no exception. This being the modern world, I have two tools at my disposal to save the evidence of Busy's budding language skills for all eternity. The first, the camcorder, requires that I catch the girl off guard. If she sees me with the camera she'll start (a) hamming it up and (b) clamoring for a view. Of course, if she's on my side of the camera, then what am I taking pictures of? I do not need to record that many images of my messy playroom for all posterity.

So the second tool is, of course, my blog. I am sharing her words today with maybe a dozen people. Wouldn't you rather read about it than be forced to watch my home movies though?

Busy and the Alphabet
The inevitable mixing up of letter sounds: c/k --> t/d, f --> w, l --> y, s/sh--> y, th --> f.

Thus Kiddie Park sounds like titty part, frog and feet sound like wog and wheat, and sandals become yandals.

Busy and Grammar
As ego-centric as most babies are, Busy is taking her sweet time learning about "I" or even "me". She refers to herself as "my" and "mine". She efficiently dispenses with the entire notion of auxiliary verbs. Why say "What are you doing, mommy?" when you could simply ask, "Doing, mommy?"

Busy and the Negative
Of course all toddlers know about "no". It took Busy several months to say the word, however. In the meantime she would simply shake her head while speaking in order to negate her words. In order to say, e.g., "Buddy is not upstairs", Busy would shake her head from side to side and say "Buddy Up Tairs." I am happy to report that she has now learned to say "no" and "not." As in "Not you, Mommy!" "No-o-o! Mommy Top Dat!"

Putting It All Together
One of my favorite Busy-isms (and one that I get to hear a lot, especially thanks to Big's influence at the dinner table): I don't like it --> No my yike it! Another one is: I can't see --> No my yee!

And She Can Count, Too!
One two free five six yeven eight nine ten yeven eight nine ten yeven eight nine ten yeven twelve!

Now to get this child her own talk show.