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smart smart baby.
Jun. 22nd, 2008 11:49 pmM and I obviously think our baby is the best thing since sliced bread but we also are fully aware that she is a baby, and thus--a little dopey. We try hard not to attribute too much to every babble she says, or every gesture she makes. It's not that we don't think she's smart--we do! Honestly, she is the smartest baby ever to live, of course. But, those people who assume that there's a meaning to their baby saying "didididididid!" when it is clearly just babbling....well, that's not our style.
Having said that, we had a little shock last night. We were eating at a restaraunt and discussing what to do once we left. I turned to Evelyn and asked her where she wanted to go next. She pretty much ignored me, so I asked her if she wanted to go bye-bye. This usually elicits a wave, and a string of "buh bye bye bye"s, which is cute. The girl likes to go. I'm not sure she's mine. Anyway, M commented that she probably wanted to go home and take a B - A - T - H. She is really obsessed with her bath lately, and begs for it all evening long. Since we were at a restaraunt, forty miles away from the possibility of a bath, he spelled it out so she wouldn't get started whining about wanting a bath.
Except...
When he said "B - A - T - H"... Evelyn's eyes lit up and she said, "BA!!!!" and started making the sign for bath.
Thirteen months old and the child can spell. Who knew? I am pretty sure that Harvard will be calling any day now.
Seriously, I know that she can't quite read yet but we have no idea how she knew that. It's not like we normally spell it to her. We thought maybe it was the "take a" part of the sentence so we started asking her if she wanted to take a bus or a train or a picture, but she didn't respond to that in the slightest. She has done it several times since, too.
In related news, she definitely has some Swedish language knowledge. We didn't know for sure if she had picked any up (other than the random words that she is learning solely in Swedish) until today. Every night, M reads her a book in Swedish.. one of three Totte or Emma books. Two of them have references to brushing hair and/or teeth. M taught her to pretend to brush her teeth (with her finger) and smooth (or ruffle.. Emma is very contrary) her hair. It is SO cute. Anyway, it was neat because last night, she made it very clear that she did not WANT Daddy to read her a book, she wanted Mommy to read to her*. Sure enough, when I got to that page, she started brushing her teeth. We started wondering if it was the picture or the words, and have figured out that she understands both of them. She definitely follows along with the picture, but randomly, no book in sight, we have asked her in Swedish to brush her teeth or hair and she will totally do it! It is teh awesome. I am so happy that it is working out so far.
*When I was young, and envisioned reading to my child, I did not actually visualize reading in Swedish. Funny how things turn out.
One more thing. I have an insect bite on my belly that popped up yesterday morning. It's been very red and itchy, but nothing particularly unusual. The red mark is a bit streaky, though. It looks kinda like a red playboy bunny, with a round bite in the middle. Anyway, tonight, I noticed that it is now bruised around it. Ever have a bug bite that gets bruised? Should I see a doctor? Possibly pertinent facts include: I am allergic to mosquitos but have never had anything like this sort of reaction to one, and also, there are brown recluse spiders in Kentucky though I'm not sure I have ever seen one. Ahem. This is largely because I am too spider phobic to spend much time looking at pictures of them. I tried to google for info on bug/spider bites tonight but my skin was crawling too much to continue. Soo.. I am turning to you since you know everything anyway. What do you think?
Having said that, we had a little shock last night. We were eating at a restaraunt and discussing what to do once we left. I turned to Evelyn and asked her where she wanted to go next. She pretty much ignored me, so I asked her if she wanted to go bye-bye. This usually elicits a wave, and a string of "buh bye bye bye"s, which is cute. The girl likes to go. I'm not sure she's mine. Anyway, M commented that she probably wanted to go home and take a B - A - T - H. She is really obsessed with her bath lately, and begs for it all evening long. Since we were at a restaraunt, forty miles away from the possibility of a bath, he spelled it out so she wouldn't get started whining about wanting a bath.
Except...
When he said "B - A - T - H"... Evelyn's eyes lit up and she said, "BA!!!!" and started making the sign for bath.
Thirteen months old and the child can spell. Who knew? I am pretty sure that Harvard will be calling any day now.
Seriously, I know that she can't quite read yet but we have no idea how she knew that. It's not like we normally spell it to her. We thought maybe it was the "take a" part of the sentence so we started asking her if she wanted to take a bus or a train or a picture, but she didn't respond to that in the slightest. She has done it several times since, too.
In related news, she definitely has some Swedish language knowledge. We didn't know for sure if she had picked any up (other than the random words that she is learning solely in Swedish) until today. Every night, M reads her a book in Swedish.. one of three Totte or Emma books. Two of them have references to brushing hair and/or teeth. M taught her to pretend to brush her teeth (with her finger) and smooth (or ruffle.. Emma is very contrary) her hair. It is SO cute. Anyway, it was neat because last night, she made it very clear that she did not WANT Daddy to read her a book, she wanted Mommy to read to her*. Sure enough, when I got to that page, she started brushing her teeth. We started wondering if it was the picture or the words, and have figured out that she understands both of them. She definitely follows along with the picture, but randomly, no book in sight, we have asked her in Swedish to brush her teeth or hair and she will totally do it! It is teh awesome. I am so happy that it is working out so far.
*When I was young, and envisioned reading to my child, I did not actually visualize reading in Swedish. Funny how things turn out.
One more thing. I have an insect bite on my belly that popped up yesterday morning. It's been very red and itchy, but nothing particularly unusual. The red mark is a bit streaky, though. It looks kinda like a red playboy bunny, with a round bite in the middle. Anyway, tonight, I noticed that it is now bruised around it. Ever have a bug bite that gets bruised? Should I see a doctor? Possibly pertinent facts include: I am allergic to mosquitos but have never had anything like this sort of reaction to one, and also, there are brown recluse spiders in Kentucky though I'm not sure I have ever seen one. Ahem. This is largely because I am too spider phobic to spend much time looking at pictures of them. I tried to google for info on bug/spider bites tonight but my skin was crawling too much to continue. Soo.. I am turning to you since you know everything anyway. What do you think?
