If English doesn’t work…

One of the reasons we’ve been working so hard on signing is the frustration L has at meal time. For example, at supper on Sunday, I fed the girls strawberries, grapes, and pineapple. Usually pineapple is too strong a flavor of L, so I didn’t put any on her plate. But, she saw her sisters’ plates and saw she didn’t get something they had. She fussed and hollered and turned at the kitchen and pointed. I was tired, I was frustrated, and I thought she just didn’t want to eat or wanted down. Ten minutes later, I finally figured out that she wanted pineapple. Pine-app-le. Three syllables that would make our mealtime a lot easier.

And when it comes to drinks, she can tell us she’s thirsty (pointing to her mouth with one finger), and she can say jooooo for juice or sign milk (squeezing her fingers like milking a cow.) But water, we’ve been stumped. Now, let me digress by saying that we also using Spanglish randomly in our house, or more accurately, Dora-Spanish. Water is as often agua as it is water. And, apparently, “agua” is easier for L to say than “water” because, thank the Lord, she started saying AGUA last night! One less frustration point to overcome.

Then, to add to her cuteness, she started saying “okiedokie” and “e-i-e-i-o” this weekend. She’ll sing Old MacDonald Had a Farm, or at least parts of it. She’s got the EIEIO down, and can do the quack-quack of a duck. If we say doggie, we’ll get some sort of wowowow with a leg-slap (sign for dog) to go with it. Cow’s say meeeee in her world, even though she says “two” clear as day. So, L’s version of Old MacDonald is as unique as she is…and just as entertaining.