Learning to talk can be tricky

Bean’s language ability is advancing every day. She’s almost always talking now. Often narrating what she’s doing or what she has just seen happen. Which makes sense, since I have spent the last 22 months constantly labeling everything she does. But she is struggling a bit with the order words go in. She understands that she what words she needs to use to let me know what she is doing, but she hasn’t quite figured out the grammar she needs to use. Often she mixes up the subject, and you can see that she knows it’s wrong, but she can’t quite get the correct order across. For example when she gives her Dad a hug, she usually likes to tell me. So what she wants to say is “Beans hugging Daddy’s shoulder” (she likes hugging shoulders a lot, usually when we’ve brought her to bed when she wakes up too darn early), but what comes out is ” Daddy hugging Bean’s shoulder”.

I think it’s adorable. And am almost sad now when she gets the sentence right on the first try.  But I guess it’s important that she learns to speak properly. Sigh.

Speaking of language I am starting to be concerned that I have doomed her to be completely misunderstood/teased when she goes to school, since I use a lot of different words for common everyday things than the general population in the UK does, and of course she now does too. There are some I’m not to worried about like cookies vs. biscuits, chips vs. crisps, diaper vs. nappy and elevator vs. lift. But the fact that what the English call trousers I call pants, and what the English call pants, I call underwear, may lead to some embarrassment for my daughter. I have considered trying to change the way I speak to make it easier for her, but I think my language is just a bit too ingrained and I’m finding it difficult.  It is a long way off yet, and sometimes I think I do worry for the sake of worrying, but still. It could be bad for my girl.

We continue to be illin’, but hopefully we’re now over the last of it. Both Beanie-face and I suffered some 24 hour bug this week. I spent Monday in bed, and hubby had to miss a day of work. Which sucked. And on Wednesday Beans became ill just as we were leaving for a Christmas party. Which sucked more. I really am sick of being sick, it’s been about 6 weeks now of both Bean and I being out of sorts and I’m ready to just be healthy again. I’m hoping our immune systems are now used to these crazy English colds, and we can go back to exploring this lovely city.

We’ve decided to do a low-key Christmas this year. Beans second birthday is the month after Christmas, so I don’t really feel the need to go crazy on presents now, just to do it again in a month. I’ve always thought Christmas was more about the food than the presents anyway. So instead of buying her a lot I’ve decided to harness my creative powers. As such I’ve started to make a few presents for my little girl that I think she’s going to love. The first one is an “Art Box”. I’ve decorated an old chocolate tin and am now filling it with random arts and crafts supplies. I’ve been collected toilet paper rolls and stickers, and have bought lots of paint brushes, crayons, glue, and paint. I’m planning on hitting up the local hobby store and getting some other odds and ends like googly eyes, pompoms and pipe cleaners to add in too. I think she’ll love it.

I’ve also just knit her a monster as well. He was so much fun, and I managed to only use yarn I had left over from various other projects. I used some buttons for his eye’s and nose, and then embroidered on the mouth and tooth. Knitting toys is an incredibly satisfying  project. They tend to be quick and I think they allow for a lot of creativity. Especially when deciding how to add on facial features.  This guy really came to life when I put on his little mouth. Originally I had planned on adding a full smile across his adorable little face. But when I got a third of the way, he looked so cheeky I decided to just stop. Hubby suggested a triangular tooth, instead of the square one I was planning on, and voila!

I really hope Beans loves him as much as I do!