English Language Learner

Sixteen months is an active and social age. It is wonderfully amusing to watch Macie grow and develop, becoming such a little individual. Observing Macie play and interact with her world, I am amazed at how much she understands. In addition to comprehending and responding to language, Macie’s speech and language development has increased exponentially. Her constant babble is slowly becoming intelligible, as her word count grows. When Macie can’t articulate the proper word, her facial expressions and physical movements frequently communicate her meaning. Macie’s recently expanded communication skills have made her even more entertaining. Below I have shared a list of English words that Macie is now using, as well as short anecdotes and commentary about her use of the English language.

List of English Words

Ball

Dog

Duck

Moo

Mom/mommy/mama

Dad/daddy/dada

Mine

My

Milk

Baby

More

Done

No

Yes

Bye by

Vroom

Hi

Book

Gunner

That (as in, “I want that”)

Peanut butter- almost

Blueberries- almost

Dog Obsession

Macie is absolutely obsessed with dogs. One of her first words was “dog”, she has at least six dog stuffed animals, and her “lovie” is a raggedy stuffed dog that has been washed so many times that he is starting to come apart. Currently this “lovie” is stained with blueberries and peanut butter- Macie’s two favorite foods- and is in need of another washing. Every time Macie sees Gunner (our border collie/Australian shepherd mix), a dog outside, in a book, or on TV she immediately gets excited, waves, and says “doawg”. If she hears a dog barking she calls out for them and starts looking around with wide, alert eyes. Needless to say, dog is one of her most frequently used words.

Possessive Language

The most surprising of Macie’s new words is her use of possessive language. A few weeks ago she started saying “mine” in response to having something taken away from her. In these circumstances Macie shrieks “mine” and eagerly reaches out her arms, impatiently requesting the item back. Macie makes it seem as if her human rights have been violated when you take a possession away from her. Such a drama queen. Macie has also been using “my” lately to demonstrate ownership and relationship. Most often she says “my daddy”, but I have also heard her say “my dog” and “my book”. Clearly Macie is confident that all three belong to her.

Mimicking Language

Even though Macie can’t completely communicate in English, she certainly understands the flow and sequence of sentences. For a few months now she has even been mimicking our sentences, not that we can understand her exact words. The best example is from a few months ago. Our dog, Gunner was barking ferociously and Josh yelled, “Gunner, shut up!”. A moment later Macie yelled, “dada, shu uh!”. Although it wasn’t verbatim what Josh said, it was close enough in both the word structure and fluctuation. We cracked up, amused at the idea that Macie may have just told her father to “shut up”. I’m sure it won’t be the last time we hear that out of her mouth…though hopefully not for a few years.

Repetitions in songs

When listening to music, Macie often mimics the sound of a repetitive chorus. For example, in the Nicki Minaj song “Super Bass” the chorus includes repetition of the word “boom”. As soon as Macie hears the song, she immediately starts to shake her head and repeat “ba, bo” sounds. By this point you should not be surprised that my daughter listens to modern pop music as opposed to “toddler radio”. I promise, I tried to play toddler music, but I seriously wanted to drown myself in Nyquil after about an hour of “the wheels on the bus”.

Uh Oh

Macie says “uh oh” all day long. She says it when she or someone else drops an object, when she can’t find something, when we correct Gunner, when we correct her, and often for no apparent reason. When Macie says this phrase it is with wide eyes, raised eyebrows, and a very serious expression on her face. She intentionally makes eye contact with you so that you understand the magnitude of the situation. Imagine McCauley Caulkin’s facial expression on the “Home Alone” movie cover…but much more adorable.

Ah, Ah, Ah

Per our PAT educator’s recommendation, we try to avoid saying “no, no” to Macie. She suggested that rather than correct Macie, we should redirect her attention. This is all good and great in theory, but in practice it can be challenging sometimes. When Macie is determinedly digging in the trash and ignoring my attempts at distraction I automatically revert to the “ah, ah, ah” phrase. Technically, I’m not breaking Tina’s rule- I’m modifying it…right? (Why am I such a chronic rule follower?) Macie has gotten so used to hearing this phrase that she parrots it right back to me with a big, precocious grin on her face. You can tell that she takes me seriously, right?

Momma!

Basically, any time Macie needs something she yells for me. Seriously. She even yells for me when I am in another room and Josh is playing with and taking care of her. Most of the time she yells for me when she is hungry or to tattle on daddy for not giving her exactly what she wants. When this happens Macie indignantly calls for me, wanting nothing to do with her “uncooperative” father. Funny how quickly I have become the fixer and helper.

My Daddy

As mentioned in previous blogs, my husband works odd hours that change on a monthly basis. Additionally, he often has three or four consecutive days off work. Macie gets used to him being home on these days and can never quite adjust to his rotating schedule. On days that Josh works, Macie often looks at me and says, “mahy daddy?” with her hands and arms in the “what” gesture (arms bent, palms facing upward), as if to question where he is and when he will be home. When Josh does pull into the driveway, Macie excitedly runs to the window, giggles, and waves- eager to give her daddy a hug.

My Daughter the Southerner

As Macie’s word count steadily increases, I have noticed that some of her words are spoken with a Southern accent. She has always pronounced “dog” slowly, so it sounds like “daowg”. Then I noticed that Macie’s pronunciation of the word “my” sounds like “mahy”.  Even still, I didn’t notice Macie’s Southern accent until she put her first three-word sentence together. Last week Macie found her Christmas stash and immediately started playing with her walking, barking toy puppy. When she put the toy dog down I tried to place it out of her line of vision. As soon as I took the puppy, Macie yelled, “Mahm, mahy daowg!” (Mom, my dog!) and held out her hands for me to return the puppy. It was one of the cutest things I have ever seen. I’ve always been partial to a Southern accent, but hearing my baby speak that way is incredibly endearing. I’m guessing that this is just a phase in Macie’s language development and that she will eventually learn to speak like a Midwesterner. In the meantime, her Southern accent will be endlessly amusing while it lasts.