Concussed in Translation
Now that Archer has broken the “first word” barrier I keep assuming that everything that comes out of his mouth is a real word. Like akababa puh haha might mean “dog.” Maybe? I think?
“Gu-waca-ka-lalalala-loooooou”
“I love you, too”
Because it kind of sounds that way. No? I think? Maybe? And after our big breakthrough with helicopter, words en ingles seem sort of possible now, where as before I didn’t even try to make out actual words in all the jibba-jabba.
Every day my mother calls.
“Any new words today?”
I think for a second. Hmmmm…
“Well… We were reading Piggies, earlier and he said “Ghee“?”
“Ghee? He’s a GheeNIUS!” (nyuck, nyuck.)
“I know, and for dish, he said “doo” which is kind of close.”
“Close? It’s EXACT! It’s perfect! He’s amazing!”
I have learned that whenever mothers are proud of their kids (me of Archer) grandmothers are proud x 1,000 and great-grandmothers probably exponentially more.
About ten minutes later my mom called back.
“I just got off the phone with your Nana and Grandma and we all agree, Archer is beyond genius. Einstien, really. He’s obviously BRILLIANT!”
“Did you tell them about his new words? Zee and Boo?”
“Yes! Too much! He’s going places.”
I hung up with my mom and took Archer in my arms and asked him if he had anything more he wanted to say.
“Can you say Piggie?”
“Eh.”
“Can you say Bowl?”
And right on cue, he grabbed his toy snail and bashed me in the face with it. And laughed.
“Boo-Vee!” he said.
And even though my head was throbbing and I felt concussed, I was proud as ever. And knew my mother would be beside herself with joy as soon as I came to and was able to call her.
***
The next step is when you and your spouse/partner start disagreeing about what a “word” is. Then, there will be words one of you can comprehend, and not the other.
My personal fave is when the little guy decided he was going to talk to Grandpa on the phone. He expounded on stuff through the receiver to Grandpa for five minutes or so, then handed it back to me.
“What’d you say to him, Dad? He was talking for a loong time with you,” I said.
“I have NO idea what he just said,” my father told me.
“Oh, well, he was telling you all about his day,” I said, and he was.
It takes conversations with people outside of the immediate family to let you know how much you are your child’s translator. You may well know more about his vocabulary than you are letting on here…
True… When my wife has the Lads for a while and they come back to tell me what they did, I have to look to her for confirmation. They are usually pretty accurate, but they also work the word “dinosaur” into most day-in-review lists.
Some years ago when Russ was a kid and after Susan cooked a great meal, I asked Russell if he could say, “my compliments to the chef…” He looked startled, then sad, then alive with promise. “No,” he said beaming, “…but I can say elephant!”
My four year old translates for her little brother, and you should see how proud she is of him when he says “sponge bob square pants.”
“He’s going places” — that’s a classic grandma statement. I love it.
Interesting…
Interesting…
Nice…
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interesting
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interesting
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Interesting…
interesting
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Sorry
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Cool!
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interesting
Cool…
interesting
Cool.
Cool!
Sorry
Nice…
David
hi semen =)
this is for you my friend =)