Friday, April 11, 2008
Language Development
No photos with this one, but here are a couple amusing vignettes about language development.
Story 1:
Garin and Mel are having lunch, minestrone soup. Garin starts signing "cat" and pointing at his bowl. Mel tries to figure out exactly what he's trying to communicate: "does the cat want your soup?" (G shakes head no) "does the cat like soup?" (G shakes head no) "did the cat eat some soup?" (G shakes head no) (for the record, while signing is very helpful, it is an inexact art and often requires conversations like this)
Garin is now pointing emphatically at his bowl: point, signs "cat", points, signs "cat", point, point, signs "CAT" (you really can tell that emphasis even with a sign instead of a word)
The proverbial lightbulb comes on: "are you pointing at that bean? do you think that's a kitty bean?" Garin emphatically nods, seeming to say "yes woman, that is what I have been telling you for the last 3 minutes" (insert voice of Stewie from Family Guy for that last sentence if you want full effect)
Mel tried to correct it, "not kitty bean, kidney bean, kid-ney bean" Garin nodded, signed "kitty" and pointed at the bowl. Mel gave in, "yes, it sounds a lot like kitty bean".
A similar thing happened last month when G and Mel were doing yard work and wearing bandanas. The conversation went something like this: G: points at his head, points at Mel's head. Mel: "we're wearing bandanas", G: signs "banana", Mel: "ban-da-na", G: nods, signs "banana". Mel: "ban-DA-na", G: nods, points, signs "banana", Mel: "yup, close enough".
Story 2:
One of the cats jumps up next to Garin, he says "Anya!" Mel: "no, that's not Anya, that's Neaira", G signs "cat", Mel: "yes, she's a cat, her name is Neaira". Realizing this name might be a bit much for him, she says, "Ne-Ne, we also call her Ne-Ne". Garin looks at the cat, looks at Mel, looks at the cat, points at his knee. Mel: "yes, that's your knee, and the cat's name is Ne-Ne, they sound the same". Several minutes were spent repeating the following pattern: G points at cat, Mel says "Ne-Ne", G points at knee, Mel says "knee" . . . and on and on and on.
This whole language development thing is really fun to watch.
Story 1:
Garin and Mel are having lunch, minestrone soup. Garin starts signing "cat" and pointing at his bowl. Mel tries to figure out exactly what he's trying to communicate: "does the cat want your soup?" (G shakes head no) "does the cat like soup?" (G shakes head no) "did the cat eat some soup?" (G shakes head no) (for the record, while signing is very helpful, it is an inexact art and often requires conversations like this)
Garin is now pointing emphatically at his bowl: point, signs "cat", points, signs "cat", point, point, signs "CAT" (you really can tell that emphasis even with a sign instead of a word)
The proverbial lightbulb comes on: "are you pointing at that bean? do you think that's a kitty bean?" Garin emphatically nods, seeming to say "yes woman, that is what I have been telling you for the last 3 minutes" (insert voice of Stewie from Family Guy for that last sentence if you want full effect)
Mel tried to correct it, "not kitty bean, kidney bean, kid-ney bean" Garin nodded, signed "kitty" and pointed at the bowl. Mel gave in, "yes, it sounds a lot like kitty bean".
A similar thing happened last month when G and Mel were doing yard work and wearing bandanas. The conversation went something like this: G: points at his head, points at Mel's head. Mel: "we're wearing bandanas", G: signs "banana", Mel: "ban-da-na", G: nods, signs "banana". Mel: "ban-DA-na", G: nods, points, signs "banana", Mel: "yup, close enough".
Story 2:
One of the cats jumps up next to Garin, he says "Anya!" Mel: "no, that's not Anya, that's Neaira", G signs "cat", Mel: "yes, she's a cat, her name is Neaira". Realizing this name might be a bit much for him, she says, "Ne-Ne, we also call her Ne-Ne". Garin looks at the cat, looks at Mel, looks at the cat, points at his knee. Mel: "yes, that's your knee, and the cat's name is Ne-Ne, they sound the same". Several minutes were spent repeating the following pattern: G points at cat, Mel says "Ne-Ne", G points at knee, Mel says "knee" . . . and on and on and on.
This whole language development thing is really fun to watch.
