Break out the verbs

Moving on to V's verbs. She's only got a few so far, but it's a start! These are: going, cleaning, help and and come. These are the only verbal inflections she has so far, as noted. So when she is ready to get out of bed in the morning, she says, "Going," which means something like "Now I am ready to get up." When she wants to come in the bathroom and the door is closed, she bangs on it and she says, "Come, come!" (Privacy? Is there any parent of a toddler who remembers what privacy means?)

I've mentioned that deictics are among the last lexical features children acquire. So when V says, "Help you," she really means "Help me." It's just that she doesn't yet know how to say "me." Children learn by mimicking, of course, so she is just repeating what she hears, which is usually, "Do you want me to help you?"

V had her 18-month appointment last week, and the nurse noted that V really talks a lot. Throughout the appointment, V chatted away in both Finnish (to the nurse) and in English (to me). V starts talking the second she wakes up in the morning, usually with a demand, either "Cuddle!" or "Milk!" And it doesn't stop for the rest of the day.

A couple of days ago, though, she had a surprise for us when she woke up. We were in Paris about a month ago, and V fell in love with our friend Pierre. She must have been dreaming about him, because when she woke up in the morning, it wasn't the usual "Cuddle!" or "Milk!" but a very clear, "Bonjour!" This was followed by "Merci!" Peter and I started laughing, and of course this only encouraged her. There was then a chorus of "Merci. Merci. Au revoir!" How incredible that she would still have those words stored in her head after a visit one month ago to Paris. Now when we ask her, "What does Uncle Pierre say?" she answers, "Merci!"