Wednesday, August 10, 2005

Kidspeak

Dddragon was not that quick to talk. Said her first word at about twelve months. Said, "See? " That's "see" with a question mark. She was sitting in her walker – they call those things "walkers" but they're really "roller-arounders" if you ask me. Which you didn't. Just sayin'. Anyway. Where was I before I was so rudely interrupted? Oh, yeah. Dddragon was sitting in her walker, and she rolled (see what I'm sayin' about the rolling around part?) her little baby self right up to the television, pointed her little baby finger at something on the screen, and said, "See? "

Guess I'd overdone the "see? " on our little walks around the neighborhood. I would point at a flower, and say, "See? Flower." And " See? Doggie. " Trying to teach her things like flower and doggie, but instead she picked up on the "See? " part. You see what I had to work with.

By the time she was four, she was talking. A lot. A whole lot.

Once just the two of us were driving down the street from L.A. to a place in the San Gabriel Valley – actually I was driving, ddd was just riding – she was yakking away non-stop. This was a trip that was going to take about an hour. It wasn’t a trip that should have taken an hour, but it was a trip that was going to take an hour because my brother-in-law Gene was the one who told me how to make this trip, and he never used the freeway. Afterwards when I used the freeway it was a twenty-minute trip.
But I digress.
As usual.
Sidetracked again.

Anyhoo. Ddd is hanging half out the window – yeah, yeah, she was in the front seat, and we didn’t use seatbelts in those days either. Guess I was a neglectful mother. Ddd is talking, talking, talking, and I’m half listening, and she says, "Where are those letters ? "

"What letters? "

"Those letters on the street." What the…what is this kid talking about?

"There aren’t any letters on streets. Do you mean the words that tell you that people can walk across the street? Ped Xing? "

"No. Those letters. Those letters that are on the map and the globe."

Ah. She has seen us reading maps and had noticed that there are words on the lines that represent the streets. That kid. Had to laugh at that. She talked so much on that hour's trip that I remarked to Mama, "I thought she’d never talk. Now I’m afraid she’ll never shut up."

Not so far. Shut up, I mean. That’s why I learned to use the freeway system.

She had no clue that there was anything that normal folks didn’t shout right out loud either. Not sayin’ she was abnormal. A touch unusual maybe. Friendly. Like that.

About two years later a neighbor told me about seeing ddd walking to school. Emma, the neighbor, called out to ddd, saying, "How’s the new baby brother? "

Ddd shouts back, “He’s fine! He had some trouble with his penis, but it’s okay now."
Some kid, huh?.

Nivek’s circumcision had apparently made an impression. Emma 'bout fainted apparently. It’s possible that she herself had never said the word “penis” out loud. Her problem. Not ddd’s. Not mine either. As far as I was concerned ddd could tell the world. Actually she just might have done that. Talked a lot. Seriously. She was so cute.

Not sayin' she's not cute now of course. Just sayin' not as cute...

20 comments:

mireille said...

not only cute, but TALENTED. just sayin' xoxoxo

Scott W said...

My parents had us use the word 'splasher' instead of penis. I never understood, and unfortunatley it's too late to ask why.

My friend, Maude, at three years said her first words. She and her mother were in the basement of their building, her mom doing the laundry and Maude told her 'You're not doing that right.' Her mom just about fainted! That same year she asked for a check book for Christmas/Hannukah.

Libby said...

she wasn't weird she's a 'free spirit'!
LibbY!

BarbaraFromCalifornia said...

You have the most delightful and spirited family stories!

I live in the San Gabriel Valley!!! I can't belive you mention that place.

Be well.

Fred said...

I wanted a boy at some point, but was blessed with three lovely girls. One thing I'm happy about not geting a boy is having to watch the circumcision. I would've fainted on the spot. It would have been quite a thud, I'm sure.

Doug The Una said...

I wonder where Dddragon got the chattiness from. Just sayin'

The Lazy Iguana said...

Dont let her on the radio. The FCC has a big problem with the word "penis". Maybe it is because nobody on the commission has one???

GodlessMom said...

It sounds like DDD at four was a lot like my little one right now! Yack Yack Yack! Getting stuck in traffic with a little one like that can give you a nervous twitch!

Lila said...

That's a funny story -- I forgot about that!

OldHorsetailSnake said...

This is so damn cute. I can just hear dddragon saying "Mommmmmmmm!"

I gotta run over and see if she's plotting to get even ("I had the MEANEST Mom in the whole worrrllld!")

Mikki Marshall said...

You are your family make me smile.

Trucker Pete said...

As a small child, I must have heard my parents joking around because I told a family friend, "My Daddy is a peckerhead!"

Libby said...

OMG!! SPAM, HERE TOO!!
LibbY!!

Trucker Pete said...

Oh wow. Comment spam. I bow down before the great exposure of your blog. *bows down*

Janey said...

My sister in law never spoke kiddie speak to my niece and nephew. They knew all those interesting words from day one. The only ones embarassed were the adults. Kids are so open and honest, too bad they have to learn not to be. This is such a cute story and I like your blog and than you for visiting mine.

http://janeysjourney.com

The Lazy Iguana said...

Hey! I want comment spam too!

Then again....maybe I don't.

Jamie Dawn said...

You pushed her to talk and now you're wanting her to shut up. Come on, TLP, give her a break!

dddragon said...

lol, jamie, one of my twins is a chatterbox, too.

SquirrleyMojo said...

wait--so does she talk now?

katiedid said...

I love that. "See?" is so much better than my kids' first word (twins, but when one learned it, so did the other). They. Barked. The. Dog's. Name. They could have cared less about communicating with the people. They wanted to speak with the dog. And when he "speaks" he yaps. They somehow decided that he was just saying his own name over and over again, so their first word was a loud "FRED!" Well, "fr" was a tricky combo, so it was more at "ED!" But we, and the dog who was pleased to have compatriots to bark with, knew what they meant.