As Jonathan learns to know his world better he becomes more skilled at imitating it, hence his newest tricks.
Just recently I wrote that I was so proud of Jonathan going to bed when asked. Such an obedient boy! The ink is not dry on the paper which I printed of that blog entry (I print each entry as part of the documentation process this blog actually is...) and Jonathan has taken to resisting my request of going to bed and after he is in it to stand and even dance in his bed, when he does not want to go to sleep. This new tendency is the base of my fear of buying him a new bed. A pregnancy in the family is the catalizator of changing Jonathan's bed, and moving him up to a “big boy's” bed. The problem then is that he will be able to get out easily. Today if does not want to sleep he can stand, and call us (whining) but he cannot get out! With a bed for older children that option will become a possibility. Ahh, parents will do almost anything to maintain the peace achieved each evening, after the children are all in bed... but eventually we will have to allow Jonathan to sleep in a bed suitable for children and get him out of his crib...but I try to postpone this day as much as possible.
I have to give Jonathan credit that he does not call me to his bed in vain. He either wants me to bring him a drink (he likes to cuddle with his bottle and drink before he falls asleep, a result of not taking a pacifier...) or he may want some company (someone to sit with him a bit) or he calls us to announce that his nappy is full, and then he will clearly point to the changing table in his room, telling me what my nose has already guessed! It took me some time to recognize and understand he trick of gesturing towards the changing table, but once I got it, I was very proud of my clever little boy!
Another new trick - Jonathan has learned to drink our of a straw. Daddy thought him this and he is really quite skilled at it. He drinks from a bottle and from a straw, but when he tries to drink directly out of the glass or cup alone, he spills the contents. Drinking out of the glass calls for help from mommy and goes through without getting soaked only with the quantity of liquid in the cup is very small. Still whenever he sees adults drinking from their glasses, he want a sip too (Jonathan always liked to share food and drink...). Jonathan likes to practice drinking in the bath-tub – then he can get as wet as he likes.
The newest trick in the bath tub is to press the shampoo bottle, get some shampoo on his hands and then soap himself on the belly, imitating mommy soaping him up... I congratulate him on learning to use soap to get clean but am in ever angst that he will shove the soapy hand into his mouth and then start a tantrum following the bad taste...so far I have managed to prevent that from happening by continuously washing his soapy hands, he just dips them in more shampoo and soaps himself again, and I wash them again... and so on....
He also likes to wash mommy's hair. Pouring water from one plastic cup to another is his main entertainment when taking a bath. If mommy or daddy join him, he is happy to oblige us by pouring the water over our heads and helping us wash. The kindergarten teacher says that when they allow the toddlers into a makeshift pool (a necessity in Israels all to hot summer), Jonathan is quite a handful! He just loves water so much and splashes around and drives the caretakers crazy...
Imitating his surroundings becomes more and more prominent in Jonathan's actions. If we make funny noises, he will try to imitate them. A game is immediately created in that we will have a “conversation” of sounds. Mommy making a funny noise and Jonathan repeating it and vise versa...
We sat in a cafe this afternoon and Jonathan's daddy decide to have some fun by sticking a spoon onto his nose. Jonathan immediately followed suit and tried to do the same by grabbing a spoon and pressing it to his face. It was very cute to watch.
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
Jonathan's Vocabulary
Considering that Jonathan is 1 year and 9 months old, one might say that the fact that he hardly speaks coherent words is something to worry about. I say he compensates so well with body language that he manges to explain exactly what he wants most of the time, thus he need not bother to learn to talk...
Maybe the fact that we intend to enter him into a new group in the kindergarten in September, in which older children are present will help speed up his talking, after all until now he was the oldest in a group that is formed from a mixture of babies and toddlers.
My husband is especially frustrated, because the little that Jonathan does say is in Hebrew. This is of course understandable when one looks at the odds. Kindergarten and family meetings are all in Hebrew, as is the noise in the street, as well as the many DVD's that Jonathan possesses and watched daily (a true TV junky from the start...). German is spoken only at home and only if daddy is around. The strongest argument for Hebrew is probably that it is the language that mommy speaks...when I am with Jonathan alone and my husband is not there, then I speak Hebrew. Even my husband speaks Hebrew with Jonathan sometimes – to practice the little he knows of the language.
So what can he say?
His first clear word was “Lo” which means “no” is Hebrew. A very powerful word and the means the boy has to show resistance and explain what he wants (or not, for that matter). The word is repeated, sometimes in an angry like tone to stress that he really is against what is going on...and recently he has added the finger gesture of moving the finger from side to side as a sign for “no” - a gesture that every Israeli knows...
He points his finger to a certain direction and then says “atze” a sound that is close the the word “this” in Hebrew. Jonathan can get quite a few things done by simply pointing... mommy brings him books, allows him to press the button to run the DVD etc...
“book” is the last syllable of the Hebrew word for bottle.
“bee” is the second syllable of “dubi” which means teddy bear – Jonathan has a favorite cuddling teddy, that he sleeps with and liked to carry with him about the house.
“or” means light, he uses it to ask to turn on the light himself or that his room be lighter up in the morning.
He says “se” and taps a chair – to signal that he wishes me to sit (on the particular chair tapped) the “se” sound connect well to the word “shev” which means “sit” in Hebrew and which he has heard mommy say often enough (he must sit to have his shoes put on every morning before leaving the house).
Waving his hand from side to side and saying “baba” means goodbye (baba is the closes t he gets to bye bye at this time).
A similar gesture of opening and closing his fingers and saying “bobo” has a total different meaning, it means to come with him. He walks in the desired direction as he calls for one to follow him. “bo” means come in Hebrew. “bobo” is a repetition, and Jonathan will continue to repeat himself until you indeed follow him where he want to go. Lately he has improved this particular word and he says “boi” which is the female form of “come” in Hebrew (very fitting to use the female form when one addresses one's mother, no?) and sometimes he even says “boi hena”, which means “come here”.
Another surprising choice of word is “maim, which means water. He will use it either to ask for a drink, or when in the bath tub, as he enjoys splashing around and pouring water from one cup to another.
A special place in his vocabulary belongs to animals. He has picked up certain animal sounds and has gotten very good at making them whenever he sees a relevant image. His favorite books now are animal books. He looks at the book, points at a picture, makes a sound and gets compliments from every adult around him! No wonder animal sounds are his hobby! “moo” is the most popular (he also has a blanket with a cow on it...) as he tends to confuse almost all large animals with cows. A monkey that goes “uh uh uh” is also a favorite. A dog barks “oh oh” and sometimes sounds like the monkey, Jonathan is not yet so strong on his H (in Hebrew a dog barks “Hav Hav”, in German it's “Wau Wau” - one never gives this kind of thing much thought unless one is married to someone who grew up somewhere else...). He knows that horses go “hihihi” and make clicking sounds when walking, he knows that zebras also go “hihihi” but does not associate the clinking sound with them...
he knows donkeys go “i-aah” but tends to confuse them with cows. He does not confuse the sheep's “meeee” with the cow's “mooo” but the cat's “miaoow” is a bit confused with the cow sound. He knows a duck goes “ga ga” but a hen goes “guk guk”.
Screaming and throwing a tantrum is also becoming a habit unfortunately. This is Jonathan ways to show that he is not satisfied with the goings of his world. I suppose some of the tantrums are a result of frustration in his ability to express himself, but others are just plain tantrums, a part of the almost two year old toddlers vocabulary and a source of pain for his parents. Let us hope that when he learns to speak the tantrums will lessen.
Another words he likes to use is “wow” to show enthusiasm. If he likes something or sees something new, he will say “wow” with true enjoyment.
He has also recently started saying “puwa” when he wants me to open something for him. The sound resembles the end of the Hebrew word that means “to open”. He also says “gur” which is the last syllable of the Hebrew word for closed. He will use it to ask me to close something. Strangely enough he usually catches onto the last syllables of words, but perhaps this is so because in Hebrew pronunciation the last syllable is the one most emphasized in 90% of the words.
He also imitates sounds he hears. He can sing notes almost to perfection and has some regular tunes he sings, he repeats words from his DVD and his toys. The most recent one is the words “doctor” that he repeated after hearing it spoken form a start trek figurine his daddy got at a Burger King shop (they come with the child meal)...
A light at the end of the tunnel has recently showed itself for my husband, when Jonathan started reacting the his first German work. “kuesschen” means kiss. Daddy asks for a kiss in German and gets one! Jonathan is generally a true Casanova! A professional flirt from birth. He has a few of the girls in kindergarten totally nuts about him, he can choose with which little girl to dance and which little girl to hug and kiss. Today he decided to “French kiss” a new candidate, daddy saw it and thought it was just so sweet when the two toddlers hugged and kissed. And with this positive note, I end today's entry.
Maybe the fact that we intend to enter him into a new group in the kindergarten in September, in which older children are present will help speed up his talking, after all until now he was the oldest in a group that is formed from a mixture of babies and toddlers.
My husband is especially frustrated, because the little that Jonathan does say is in Hebrew. This is of course understandable when one looks at the odds. Kindergarten and family meetings are all in Hebrew, as is the noise in the street, as well as the many DVD's that Jonathan possesses and watched daily (a true TV junky from the start...). German is spoken only at home and only if daddy is around. The strongest argument for Hebrew is probably that it is the language that mommy speaks...when I am with Jonathan alone and my husband is not there, then I speak Hebrew. Even my husband speaks Hebrew with Jonathan sometimes – to practice the little he knows of the language.
So what can he say?
His first clear word was “Lo” which means “no” is Hebrew. A very powerful word and the means the boy has to show resistance and explain what he wants (or not, for that matter). The word is repeated, sometimes in an angry like tone to stress that he really is against what is going on...and recently he has added the finger gesture of moving the finger from side to side as a sign for “no” - a gesture that every Israeli knows...
He points his finger to a certain direction and then says “atze” a sound that is close the the word “this” in Hebrew. Jonathan can get quite a few things done by simply pointing... mommy brings him books, allows him to press the button to run the DVD etc...
“book” is the last syllable of the Hebrew word for bottle.
“bee” is the second syllable of “dubi” which means teddy bear – Jonathan has a favorite cuddling teddy, that he sleeps with and liked to carry with him about the house.
“or” means light, he uses it to ask to turn on the light himself or that his room be lighter up in the morning.
He says “se” and taps a chair – to signal that he wishes me to sit (on the particular chair tapped) the “se” sound connect well to the word “shev” which means “sit” in Hebrew and which he has heard mommy say often enough (he must sit to have his shoes put on every morning before leaving the house).
Waving his hand from side to side and saying “baba” means goodbye (baba is the closes t he gets to bye bye at this time).
A similar gesture of opening and closing his fingers and saying “bobo” has a total different meaning, it means to come with him. He walks in the desired direction as he calls for one to follow him. “bo” means come in Hebrew. “bobo” is a repetition, and Jonathan will continue to repeat himself until you indeed follow him where he want to go. Lately he has improved this particular word and he says “boi” which is the female form of “come” in Hebrew (very fitting to use the female form when one addresses one's mother, no?) and sometimes he even says “boi hena”, which means “come here”.
Another surprising choice of word is “maim, which means water. He will use it either to ask for a drink, or when in the bath tub, as he enjoys splashing around and pouring water from one cup to another.
A special place in his vocabulary belongs to animals. He has picked up certain animal sounds and has gotten very good at making them whenever he sees a relevant image. His favorite books now are animal books. He looks at the book, points at a picture, makes a sound and gets compliments from every adult around him! No wonder animal sounds are his hobby! “moo” is the most popular (he also has a blanket with a cow on it...) as he tends to confuse almost all large animals with cows. A monkey that goes “uh uh uh” is also a favorite. A dog barks “oh oh” and sometimes sounds like the monkey, Jonathan is not yet so strong on his H (in Hebrew a dog barks “Hav Hav”, in German it's “Wau Wau” - one never gives this kind of thing much thought unless one is married to someone who grew up somewhere else...). He knows that horses go “hihihi” and make clicking sounds when walking, he knows that zebras also go “hihihi” but does not associate the clinking sound with them...
he knows donkeys go “i-aah” but tends to confuse them with cows. He does not confuse the sheep's “meeee” with the cow's “mooo” but the cat's “miaoow” is a bit confused with the cow sound. He knows a duck goes “ga ga” but a hen goes “guk guk”.
Screaming and throwing a tantrum is also becoming a habit unfortunately. This is Jonathan ways to show that he is not satisfied with the goings of his world. I suppose some of the tantrums are a result of frustration in his ability to express himself, but others are just plain tantrums, a part of the almost two year old toddlers vocabulary and a source of pain for his parents. Let us hope that when he learns to speak the tantrums will lessen.
Another words he likes to use is “wow” to show enthusiasm. If he likes something or sees something new, he will say “wow” with true enjoyment.
He has also recently started saying “puwa” when he wants me to open something for him. The sound resembles the end of the Hebrew word that means “to open”. He also says “gur” which is the last syllable of the Hebrew word for closed. He will use it to ask me to close something. Strangely enough he usually catches onto the last syllables of words, but perhaps this is so because in Hebrew pronunciation the last syllable is the one most emphasized in 90% of the words.
He also imitates sounds he hears. He can sing notes almost to perfection and has some regular tunes he sings, he repeats words from his DVD and his toys. The most recent one is the words “doctor” that he repeated after hearing it spoken form a start trek figurine his daddy got at a Burger King shop (they come with the child meal)...
A light at the end of the tunnel has recently showed itself for my husband, when Jonathan started reacting the his first German work. “kuesschen” means kiss. Daddy asks for a kiss in German and gets one! Jonathan is generally a true Casanova! A professional flirt from birth. He has a few of the girls in kindergarten totally nuts about him, he can choose with which little girl to dance and which little girl to hug and kiss. Today he decided to “French kiss” a new candidate, daddy saw it and thought it was just so sweet when the two toddlers hugged and kissed. And with this positive note, I end today's entry.
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