My youngest daughter can talk like a good'un nowadays. She stubbornly refuses to put together more than two words at a time, but I'm confident that this has more to do with her well-developed sense of mischief than with any lack of verbal ability. She takes a cheeky and obvious pleasure from gently winding up her loved ones: smiling exuberantly, for example, as she denies obvious truths, such as her own name, to her sister; enjoying the mild frustration this causes, but sensitive enough to avoid overstepping the mark. Usually.
My benign pride compels me to conclude that it's the same sense of mischief that causes her to refuse our suggestions for three-word sentences. So "Water!" is yet to advance to "Water please Daddy," but it's because she won't, not because she can't.
Why am I so confident about this? Well, I'm strongly encouraged by the size of her vocabulary. She employs an efficient dual-usage system for some words, as I seem to recall her sister did at the same stage. I think we can all learn something from this. For your pleasure, and/or evidence, here's an enjoyable glossary:
Bubbaiii
Goodbye; goodnight; so long, suckers.
Daddy
Daddy; any man (usually) with glasses and/or only a modest coverage of hair on his/her head.
Disoooooaaaaaaaaaar
Dinosaur; anything with teeth.
Dum-dum
Dummy.
Dummins
Doc McStuffins (Disney character. Not my favourite. Not anyone's favourite, except perhaps for my daughters).
Elloooooooooo
Hello.
Fock
Fox (I know. We're working on it).
Horses
Glasses; horses.
Mine
Any toy or foodstuff that somebody else wants.
More
I'm hungry.
NO!
No; I wish to annoy you at great length, for my own amusement. I can do this all day long, you know.
Nottar
Water.
Paintball
Paintball; pumpernickel (don't ask).
Phone
Phone; anything rectangular which can potentially be held near an ear.
Poopoo
Poo; guffers (an inability to distinguish between these definitions has caused us to waste a large number of nappies)
Scissors
Danger; fun.
Sorry
It may or may not have been an accident and I cannot guarantee that I won't do it again. But I'm really cute.
Tangled
Rapunzel (you'll get this if you've seen it).
This is but a selection of her favourites. There are more whence these came. Every day I am surprised and impressed to discover the rapidly growing number of things for which she already knows the right names. But I had a late night last night and my memory is not at its best.
I'm trying to think of a witty summation to finish with, but I can't find the words.
