What does it mean?

Any Spanish used in blog posts is hyperlinked to its English translation.

Monday, March 12, 2012

Vocabulary!

Ok, so, it's mostly receptive at this point.

The only thing Baby Girl says with consistency is "Allá!", which is more or less Spanish for  "Over there!" She'll point into the distance and insist, "Allá! Allà!" Or, drop something off the changing table and go leaning over the edge pointing at it: "Allá!" And if you ask her something like "Vamos por allà?" she goes towards the front door and points sort of generally "out".

She also is trying reeeeeeally hard to parrot back anything you say, though she doesn't understand it. She said "ocho" pretty well this weekend, but there was no context. THCSITU says he heard her say "gato" last month at my dad's house (he's got several cats). And, what with a preschool aged cousin and a bunch of insane aunts and uncles, we spend lots of time meowing over at Grandpa's too, and she meows along with everyone else, though not independently.

But she does understand these words:
Bye/Adios: Double handed, single-hand-clap/squeeze motion 
Hola/Hello:  Waving
Panza/pancita: Gripping/rubbing her belly with both hands
Luz: Points at a light fixture or a light that is on
Abaníco:  Sorta waves her arm in an attempt to show the fan spinning
Me lo das? Hands you whatever she's got
Eso no se come. Takes whatever she has out of her mouth. Or stops putting it in. Or does neither of those things, but looks at you mischievously to see what you are going to do about it.
No me muerdas/No me vayas a morder: She knows she's not supposed to be - sometimes saying that will stop her, sometimes it doesn't. Seems to depend on how much her teeth are bothering her. 
Bueno? (answering the phone greeting in Spanish) Puts whatever she's got up near her ear (more like curls her arm and wedges it in her neck).
Basura: Goes to garbage can and points. If you hold her up and open the garbage can she will wave whatever she has over it, sometimes letting go.
Vamos pa'fuera/Vamos a la calle: She will get her coat and bring it to you and stick her arm out to put it on.
Papi: She knows that Papi means THCSITU. She will go find him if he is home/go look for him. 
Allá/Allí/Acá: She will follow your eyes to figure out what you are talking about.  
rojo/azul: she knows that one specific piano key on one toy is red, and another specific piano key on another toy is blue. But (of course) does not know red/blue in general. (Example: both toys have a red and a blue key.)
Pajaros: This kid LOVES birds. She'll stop eating to point out the window at the birds. So she points at the window or goes to the window to point if you talk about pajaros.
She also has this RIDICULOUS trick that the babysitter taught her. She grabs a stuffed animal - she has a couple of favorites for this one - and puts it on her shoulder. She starts to rock back and forth (same as if she were listening to music) and she pats the toy. "Durmiendo al ______" whatever jugete she has. It is ridiculous and horribly genderized and SO freaking cute.
In other news, baby girl LOOOOOOoooooooooooooooOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOVES trains and buses. Shrieking, pointing, looking at you and back at the bus/train again and again to see if you understand OMG THERE IS A BUS RIGHT!! THERE!!! Her whole body practically convulses as she bounces with excitement..