Fun with Numbers

Nothing to do with numbers

We are in the great wide world of counting now. Peanut can recognize a few numbers  - 1, 2, and 8. (Please do not imagine that I can explain why those three.) Every once in a while she will blurt out one of the numbers that she knows, and you better look sharp to see where it came from because it is likely not a random vocabulary spurt but rather on the window of your taxi, part of the design on your Dickey's barbecue cup, or part of the scripture reference on your fabulous living room art. These numbers, my friends, are everywhere.

So in a double homage to numbers and the Nutter, I give you the following completely randomly numbered list:

4. I get a kick out of the imaginative number sequences as we go down the stairs, or poke on the computer. Linear is just so...tired. Who doesn't need a little 2,3,4,2,5,2! in their lives? And even better if it is in Spanglish so it can come out dos, tres, cuatro, dos, five, two! 

9. Then there is the fact that 5, in Spanish at least, is now intimately tied to a particular song in which a clown finds he is allergic to his nose paint after CIN-CO MI-NU-TOS, thus requiring that every time the number 5 is said a bellowing CIN-CO MI-NU-TOS comes from the (you guessed it) Peanut gallery.

2. It is likely that when YOU count, you begin with one. Peanut, on the other hand, mostly begins with two. I don't know if it is because I usually get us started, thus clearly reserving the number one to me, or what, but it is very funny to hear a vehement "2,3,4!" before the little one throws herself down the slide.

5. MI-NU-TOS

Welcome to our world.

Favorite Almost Words

We have had a lot of conversations in our house about how to deal with language. We have chosen to go the each one speak one route with Richard speaking to Peanut in English (mostly...) and me speaking to her in Spanish (mostly...). Because the rest of the world here talks to her in Spanish, it is definitely her default option, but she understands a lot of English and pulls out things sometimes that just surprises the heck out of both of us. There is a lot more to be said about language issues, but for now we will stick with a quick list of my favorite Peanut almost words. Or better said, the words Peanut uses to stand in for the words she means until she can get her mouth adjusted a little bit more.

1. Bi-bo (or possibly Bee-beaux, I have never asked) - this comes from Spanish "ombligo" or belly button. When Peanut first discovered her bi-bo she would lift up her shirt every couple of minutes to look at it - perhaps checking to see if it was still there. Then she discovered that other people had bi-bos too, and...well, just keep your shirt tucked in when you visit. I must admit that I love this word so much that I have almost stopped saying ombligo just so it will stick around. Quite frankly I could be happy if we called it bi-bo for the rest of our lives, and even if Peanut does not, I just might. Damn the language stickler gods!

2. Balita - this comes from Spanish "abuelita" or grandmother. It is the name for my mom, and while she could not say it at all for a while, now Peanut yells it out with gusto. In fact, I should probably have spelled it Ba-LEEE-Tah! Mom tried really hard for a while to be "Lita", but as with most facing down Peanut's astounding ability to say one's name over and over and over and over again, she gave in. Balita it is.

3. Cacago - this is meant to be Chicago. Marylen gave her a book called "Good Night Chicago" (part of her PR campaigning), and Peanut loves it. I like the book having lived in Chicago, but it did not strike me as a particularly easy book to identify with otherwise, and yet Peanut asks for it regularly. She even noted that the little girl outside the water tower was also reading "Cacago." Color me impressed.

This is another Cacago book from Marylen (campaigning...).  Peanut opened up to this page and said "PIZZA!" It doesn't take long.

4. Bubby-bee - Bumblebee, obviously. This stemmed from the song "I'm Bringing Home a Baby Bumblebee" which Balita taught her, but it now goes with eating ware provided by Marylen too. Wait, maybe this post should have been about stuff Marylen gave me...

I think there are actually a lot more that belong on this list, but they have become so "normal" that I don't even realize they aren't right anymore. Boy communicating in the US this fall is going to be fun... ;)

Verbs

We counted the other day while Abuelita Kit ("Balita") was here, and Peanut now has about 80 words or so in her vocabulary (about 10 of those in English). She understands more than she says, but she says A LOT...ALL the TIME. Often she will have a phrase that sounds something like:

alsdf a;slekfr asl;dfkj oweij fa Papi.  OR   asdfl;kl ealkm ipudibty wer Vaca.

One is left to imagine the context in which her father and a cow might be related, but sometimes context clues help. The other really helpful thing though is that she has a few verbs under her belt. The thing about verbs is that they usually crop up on their own. It is pretty easy to teach nouns - that is a light, that is a motorcycle, that is coffee. Verbs are more organic. They are also much more exciting, so they must be written with exclamation points because they are definitely said with them.

¡Vamos! Let's go!

This one came pretty fast. I mean, we said it all the time, so I guess it makes sense. The kicker on this one is that when Peanut says it she does not say "vamos" but rather "vamoh". She eats the final "s"...like a good Costeña Colombian. Incidentally, this also was part of her first sentence when she looked at me and said "Vamos...parque".

¡Voy! I go!...but in this case it is really, Coming!

When someone knocks on your door and you want to let them know that you are on your way, you yell "voy". One night, as I was getting Peanut ready for bed, our neighbor knocked on the door. My head rushed through my various options but landed on - keep with the routine, don't answer the door, you can check and see what she wanted once Peanut is asleep. Toothbrush locked and loaded, begin brushing, and another knock on the door. I stay with the plan, but the Nutter went rogue. As soon as the toothbrush came out of her mouth she yells out, "¡Voy!". What's a mom to do? We went.

¡Ven! Come here!

Peanut hears this all the time too, and she occasionally listens. We first realized she was using the word though when we heard something like "¡Ven!" come grunting down the hallway. When I leaned over to get a better view I saw Peanut tugging on our neighbor's big Winnie the Pooh stuffed animal which was stuck between the wall and a doll carriage. It was an epic struggle, but by God, Winnie did ven.

¡Baila! Dance!

I don't know how this one got started, but I must say that the force is strong with this one. Interestingly, Peanut does not say "bailo", or I dance. She says "baila" - he/she dances or (and much more likely) DANCE! Besides the conjugation as a command, it is occasionally accompanied by finger pointing and strong glares. And since I don't think I have ever heard her say it only once (¡Baila! ¡Baila!), you pretty much get the feeling that you better start shaking something, and fast.

¡Bañar! To bathe!

This one started out with sign language, but now the word has taken over. The word usually comes out as either baño (I bathe, bathroom, bath) or baña (she bathes) - it is hard to tell. It also gets used when someone else is in the bathroom, doing whatever someone else might be doing. This is perhaps her most multi-purpose word.

¡Cayó! It fell!

One time a woman at church told her to be careful, she might fall. One time. From then on she has announced the possibility of falls, the recent falling of something else, and the result of her throwing something on the ground (which I do not categorize as "falling", but that is evidently semantics to my daughter).

¡Aleluia! Ummm...Aleluya!

 I swear I am not sure where it came from, but it is pretty freaking hilarious. It often comes out in songs, so keep an ear out. Soon we will give you a video taste of Peanut's verbal stylings. Aleluya.

November?

Yeah, evidently I kind of missed November...and half of December. I think I might be good in the sprints rather than being a marathoner...except that I don't actually run at all. Whatever.

Part of what I find is that I will have a day or two with nothing really worth noting, and then *blammo* 23 days in a row in which I should note how tremendously awesome Peanut is and how she makes me laugh and shocks my socks off every day, but if I miss that first day...it's all over. Since I totally still owe you baptism and birthday part 3 posts, then I have been that much more computer averse. Did I mention I am an avoider? Yeah, again, whatever. 

To get back on the saddle again, I am just going to post some quick Peanut facts:

1. She now has upwards of twenty words. All are in Spanish except "bye" for which she also says "chao." They include: 

Tía Mala, aka Acky

•  bravo - while clapping, often at the end of a solid mama written and performed number. This is clearly my favorite word, for what I think is an  obvious reason.

• luna - impressive particularly because she seems to have it straight that luna refers to both the moon and the dog across the street. This is her Papi's favorite word.

• nano - for banano. The trick is figuring out whether she actually wants a banana, or if she is merely pointing out the banana and making clear she knows what it is. Mama trick learning is ongoing. I have eaten many bananas.

• acky - for Jacky, or Tía Mala (Bad Aunt - more on this another time), our next door neighbor. Jacky would like me to point out that my last update of Peanut's words should have included this word as well. Jacky would actually like me to say that it was her first word, though that is possibly a complete lie.

• vamos - almost always said with great conviction. She will look at you and say "Let's go!" and head directly to the door. the fact that she has on only a diaper is not an issue.

2. The Nutter eats basically everything.

I know that this will change at some point, and I will likely pine away on this very blog about the "way things used to be," but for now let me just say that my girl can eat. She eats little cooked broccoli trees (and gives a hearty "yuuuummmmm"), auyama (kind of like sweet potato), green beans, black-eyed peas, chicken, open-faced tuna fish sandwiches with pineapple and melted cheese (hey, she asked...), creamed spinach, pumpkin pie, raisin bran, soft-boiled eggs, obviously I could go on and on. The part you should actually be impressed with is that she does it with FOUR TEETH. I mean really, with all this intake, don't you think they deserve friends? 

On a different note, I am greatly heartened by the variety and quality of my potential future meals when all my teeth have departed.

3. We dropped the bottle at her birthday.  

Now she  only drinks from cups (usually with a straw). While there are many things I miss when they go, that is not one of them.

4. She has started her campaign to be Queen of Carnaval.

Each year just before Lent begins, there is Carnaval. In Barranquilla the season of Carnaval basically begins at 12:01am on New Year's Day and from then on there are parties, dancing, and appearances by the Queen. The Queen of Carnaval is a highly coveted honor, usually given to children of wealthy families (nothing too surprising there). Though Peanut was born in Barranquilla, she does not have Colombian citizenship (long story), so that counts as one more strike against her. She, however, is undeterred. 

Deciding that if the odds are high then one must simply work harder, Peanut stops to greet every person (and dog, and cat, etc) when out on a walk. In the land of "Hola Vecina!" (Howdy neighbor! - mostly to cover up the fact that no one actually knows your name), everyone calls out to Peanut by name. She stops to wave at the ladies in Bible study at the back of the Catholic church. She always walks onto Doña Olivia's patio. She makes sure to wave to Carlos, and she often stops to watch the guys at the gym. Even better is that they stop too. One moment, pumping iron and looking tough. The next minute, five guys in sleeveless t-shirts googly-eyed and waving at the little girl on the sidewalk. Wish I had a picture of that to put up here.

5. Peanut looks up a lot.

I notice not only because I get to sneak in kisses under her chin when she does it, but also because she often loses her balance if she is standing and looking up at the same time. It reminds me of how little we all look up actually. Go ahead, do it. It's okay. 

Here's to being back in the saddle, to the ride, and to the marvelous view...be back soon.

¿Ño?

Yes, I do owe you photos and stories from the birthday extravaganza. No, this post is not going to have any of them. Here is the thing. If I keep waiting to post anything until I get enough time to get everything together for that birthday post...well, let's just say you will miss a lot and I will go crazy. We don't want any of that, am I right? 

So, because things are literally changing around here every day, I am going to jump in this nap time glory moment to give you a Peanut-ism we are thoroughly enjoying.

 

Peanut loves the phone. 

We do not have a land line, but she watches us talk on our cell phones several times a day. For a while, every time the phone rang, she would quickly put her hand up to her ear and look around until we answered the phone. Saying "briiiiiing, briiiiiing!" did not mean anything to her, but if she caught even the tail end of a faint electronic possibly-it-could-be-a-ring-tone sound -- well buddy, that hand was on her ear in a flash. It was pretty hilarious, and we thought it was awfully stinkin' cute...until it got even cuter.

 The other day we realized that the Nutter had a new word. Every time she would put her hand to her ear (with one of our phones or without) she would say, "¿Ño, Ño?" In Colombia, when people answer the phone they say "¿Alo?"  It sounds a lot like "Hello" really, but for some reason Peanut comes out with something that sounds like a cross between "No" (like huh-uh, I don't think so) and "Anyong" (or 안넹 which is a Korean greeting, used as we might use hello). We knew she was smart, but heeeeyyyyy...

At any rate, now she not only says "¿Ño?" when the phone rings, but also says it when the phone isn't ringing (confusing...) if she wants the phone. Got it? 

The best is to watch her play with our neighbor, her abuelo Alex, who will even call her on one of our phones just to watch her gawk in horror as the cell phone in her hand actually rings and has a voice come out. Remember, she is (already and yet) only one year old. She likes the phone, but she doesn't really get the phone. Usually when she realizes that something is actually happening with the thing in her hand, she passes it off like a hot potato. Well, either that, or she starts punching buttons like mad - basically making the caller on the other end of the line go deaf, but whatever.

Another day I will tell you about all the new functions Peanut has taught me on my phone. Well, as soon as I figure out how to unblock the keypad.

 And don't worry; one day I will get that birthday post up.  Just don't hold your breath.