Thursday, January 1, 2009

Speechless Baby Makes Clear Political Statement

First of all:
HAPPY NEW YEAR!!
and then:
Almost 21 month old Aaron is still not big into talking.  He's just started singing his own little songs and is very good to copy anything we tell him to say:  "Aaron, say 'I love you!'" and he responds with the exact same tone, tune and number of syllables, "Da da da!"  Perfect!  Except for the actual words.

He only says one name: Da-dee.  He screams it with glee when he hears the key in the front door.  He shouts it when he is rushing to show Greg something neat.  "Da-dee!! I love you enough to say your name over and over perfectly!  And I DO!  And I WILL!!"  

Ma-ma, on the other hand?  Not so much.  A few months ago he went through a week or two where he would complain "mamamamama" but since then he never ever makes an M sound except when he comes in the kitchen and sees I'm busy, and therefore must be cooking or baking something, "Mmmm-mmmmm!"  he hums, with his little eyebrows raised.

It's exciting though, as he is just starting to say "words" on his own that we haven't tried to get him to say.  The other day, after he threw his diaper in the trash he started clapping for himself and then said, "Dah-doe!"  Which was obviously "Bravo!" as they use this in Polish and he hears it all the time.  Last night we went for a walk in the neighborhood to look at lights (there are more than I expected!) and walking along the sidewalk he would let us know every time the sidewalk dipped down and back up where driveways go in with an "uuuuuunnn."  And I would say Aaron, say,"down!"  to which he would reply proudly,"uuuuunn!"  Then, "Aaron, say "Up!"  to which he would reply with the same knowing smile, 'Uuuuuunn!"  always pronounced in a scale from low to high.  And he says, "La-low" for flower, "daw" for ball,  and maybe a handful of other words, mostly "da" based.

There is one thing he says, though, that is more than impressive.  Whenever he has a smelly diaper, or is about to have a smelly diaper, he looks at me and says, "European Union."  Or comes looking for me and, once I've been found, holds up his hands and asks, "European Union?" meaning, "will you please change my stinker bummers."

I'm not sure exactly what kind of opinion he is expressing.  The rest of us are rather pleased than not about Poland's fairly recent membership in the European Union.  Still he insists on associating this intergovernmental, supranational system* with his body waste.

Well, I do have one theory as to why this might be.  We have always said, "Oooooweeeeee!"  when we smell them (I think it's part of what got Evie and David potty trained pretty early on).  Aaron used to come to me and say, "Oooooweeee!"  But has recently switched to his European Union.  So I think maybe this is more because of his mix up of our old declaration when he stinks than any sort of political assertion.  Yes, I'm pretty sure that must be what it is.

Oh, and I should mention, as this might be confusing, that he doesn't actually say the whole thing out, "European Union!" (I told you he's short on words)  He abreviates it to "EU".  But I know that's what he means because every time he comes to me calling "Eeeeeeooooooo!!!"  I ask him, "European Union?"  and he always gives a huge smile and follows me to our diaper changing spot on the floor.
* Don't worry, I just found these terms on Wikipedia.  I don't know what they mean either, I just like how they sound.

24 comments:

Kaylynn said...

Cute! Have a Happy New Year!

Stephanie said...

Wow, I can think of plenty of governmental terms that could easily be confused with excrement, so I'm sure there's more to come for Aaron. Good for him. And Happy New Year to you all.

Kazzy said...

He might have a real political future, that Aaron. You know, it's cute when a two year-old lets you know he needs changing with his cute little half-words, but when it is a four year-old and he says, "Hey, Mom. I am going to need a new diaper in a minute."? Not too cute.

Melissa said...

That is so funny. And it also makes me feel better that my baby isn't saying words yet.

Aquaspce said...

Meh, Kai didn't talk for the longest time... I think it's because everyone just talked for him so he didn't have to!

Annette Lyon said...

Hah! Love it.

Happy New Year!

Erin said...

Thanks Wikipedia for all of your help.

EU. I love it!

Happy New Year!

Alison Wonderland said...

Oh, all the da bassed words. Love them. That's all we've gotten out of the infantile Delinquent for a year or more. I'm really good at translating every word from it's origonal form into da.

Lara Neves said...

The European Union. Too funny! My 2 year old says "I tint" when she wants me to change her.

Barbaloot said...

Very impressive. From Dada to European Union.:)

Erin said...

I love how you change your blog colors every month. SO pretty. And Aaron is too cute.

Nathan said...

So does he say it in Polish (Unia Europejska) when he gets excited?

OOOOOEEEE!

Heidi said...

Oh, my! Too funny! Honestly, I rarely laugh out loud, even when reading truly funny stuff, but this had me rolling! You are such a card! (They do say that kids growing up in a two language household take longer to speak anything intelligible at all. My nephew was born in Taiwan to English speaking parents and practically raised by his Filipino amah (nanny)PLUS he had four older brothers to translate for him. He didn't speak a single word anyone cold understand until he was nearly five.) (Did I get the periods right?)

Emily said...

Haha, funny stuff. I think it's cool that you live in Poland. Except that you can't find pecans! What a tragedy.

Happy New Year to ya.

Lesley said...

Soooo funny. You had me going--how can he say European Union and not mama? Good for him! LOL!

Josi said...

You know what they say, Political genius starts at home. and no worries if Mom isn't his first word, Da-dee is simply practice toward perfect parental pronouncement of the MOST important title :-)

kitchenditcher said...

My kids are grown but when they were little I couldn't wait for them to talk. I couldn't care less about when they walked but I so wanted them to be able to talk so that I could talk with them!

Jillybean said...

What a smart kid! He will surely have a career in politics.
When my Aaron was about that age (he's also my third child) he had very few words. He would mostly just grunt and point at whatever he wanted and people would get it for him.
One day he wanted a taste of the the ice cream that I was eating. He grunted and pointed, but I told him he couldn't have any unless he said "Ice cream"
He got up in my face and said.....

"ICE! ICE! ICE!"

I gave him the whole bowl.
And we haven't been able to get him to stop talking ever since.

Sheri said...

Where do you come up with this stuff Lisa?? You are too funny!

Little GrumpyAngel said...

That cracked me up! EU = poopy diaper! You are something else :-)

Melanie Jacobson said...

Hilarious! Grant just grunts. I wonder if I could teach him to say European Union, too.

charrette said...

Our youngest couldn't pronounce his Ys so he'd come to me and say Poo-poo Lucky! I did not feel very lucky, but it was good for a laugh.

Heather said...

I haven't laughed so hard in so long! First, I totally thought that he really could pronounce European Union and that it was so funny that it meant poopy diaper, but then when I realized that you totally got me, it was even funnier, you should like submit that post for a contest or something.

Nancy said...

Very cute. I love what kids pick up on and make their own. My 4 1/2 year old had delayed speech. He said Mama once at like 18 months and then not again for a year. Now he doesn't stop talking. Plus, we keep telling him that he's going to be great at math (kids with delayed speech tend to be late potty trainers and to be mathematically inclined).