Translating Bjornspeak

I've been thinking about writing a blog post about Bjorn starting to talk for several months now. I've kept procrastinating in hopes of getting a video clip of him actually *saying* some of these words, but since it seems that his intense interest in the video camera (which causes him to rush up to me and attempt to snatch it out of my hands approximately five seconds after I begin shooting) isn't going to end anytime soon, I thought I should just go ahead with the post already!

If I'm remembering correctly, when we took Bjorn in for his 15 month doctor's appointment, the item on the language development checklist for his age read something like "uses words to name at least five objects." He was right around that level of language development at the time -- just beginning to name a few things other than Mommy and Daddy. By the time his 18 month appointment rolled around, I had a vague sense that he was saying more than five words, but I wasn't sure how many -- maybe a dozen? Two dozen?

To get a more concrete picture of where his language development was at, I started a list of all the words he was trying to say. By 19 months, he had easily blown past the 100 mark. It looks like Bjorn is learning from his chatty older brother that talking is a pretty fun pastime! Granted, many of Bjorn's words are probably only intelligible to me and Aaron, and only within an immediate physical context that makes it possible for us to guess what he is most likely attempting to say. Still, when you've had no means to communicate other than crying and gesturing for the first year and a half or so of your life, even a 100-word vocabulary with questionable articulation seems like a pretty amazing development.

A few of Bjorn's favorite words these days:

FOOD/DRINK - pickle, olive, popsicle, apple, applesauce, banana, meatball, berries, yogurt, pizza, pasta, waffle, pear, cracker, water, milk, juice, cookie, coffee (no, we do not give him coffee! but he is fascinated by my coffee pot and all its weird noises)

HOUSEHOLD OBJECTS & LOCATIONS - bowl, fork, chair, DVD, computer, light, camera, clip, cord, keys, garbage, floor, wall, kitchen, bed, paci, potty

BODY PARTS - belly, eyes, arm, hand, mouth, ears

ADJECTIVES - hot, cold, hungry, messy, heavy, stuck

VERBS - try, trade, eat, carry, back (meaning "put it back on" or "give it back"), shut, push, help, hug, go, park, pour, see, jump, dancing, hiding

CLOTHING - socks, shoes, boots, shirt, pants, hood, glasses, hat

VEHICLES - airplane, bus, car, truck, van, train, ambulance, bulldozer

ANIMALS - doggie/puppy, panda, cow, piggies (may refer to either pigs or toes), bear, duck, cat, squirrel, horse

MISC. - alley, home, pictures, baby, snow, shovel, all gone, please, knock-knock, other, else (meaning "something else" or "someone else"), up/down, out/in, off/on, yeah/no

Interestingly, Bjorn does NOT say "more," but rather persists in saying "neh neh neh" while doing the baby sign for "more." This reminds me of when Leif was a toddler and for quite some time referred to blueberries as "za za," who knows why!

At 19 months, Bjorn is also starting to put together a few simple two-word phrases, such as "Where Dad?", "Grandma sleep," and "Go, Leif!" However, much of the time he has a knack for communicating a whole sentence worth of information through a single word. If you are standing with him at the bottom of the stairs and he looks up at you and says something that sounds like "key," he's actually trying to say "carry," as in, "Carry me upstairs!" Or if Leif eats a quarter of his dinner and declares himself done, while Bjorn has rapidly cleaned his plate, Bjorn will point to Leif's nearly full plate and declare, "Trade!", meaning "I want to trade my plate for Leif's!" And we are starting to get that classic toddler proclamation, "Self!", meaning "Hands off, Mom/Dad! I want to do that ALL BY MYSELF -- or suffer my wrath!!!" I'm sure we will be hearing plenty more of that in the year(s) to come :-) .

Aunt Jessica, Cousin Rachel & Cousin Libby

 Our third and final Thanksgiving gathering was at Gock and Grandpaw G.'s house on Sunday of Thanksgiving weekend. Unfortunately, I was apparently too busy herding children and eating delicious food to take any pictures! Leif and Bjorn loved seeing their grandparents, Auntie Sarah, and all the dogs, as always, and enjoyed the additional excitement of having their South Carolina cousins, Rachel and Libby, in town for the holiday. The cousins had another chance to play together two days later when Jessica and the girls came over to our house for dinner. The video below was shot after dinner when the kids were all hanging out in the living room with Aaron and Jessica. (Mitch had flown back to SC that morning, otherwise you would probably catch a glimpse of him in this video as well.) Not a whole lot of action, but enough to give you a sense of Libby and Bjorn at age 1 1/2, Leif at 3, and Rachel at 4.

Thanksgiving at Erik's house

The Saturday after Thanksgiving we had another fun family gathering, this one at Erik, Tami, and Vivian's house. Leif and Bjorn's Grandma and Grandpa B. were also there; Auntie Mirja was getting over the flu and so did not make it. We feasted on appetizers of fruit, shrimp with cocktail sauce, and garlic-topped crostini, followed by lasagna and several Thanksgivingy side dishes (corn pudding, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes with marshmallows). Leif, Bjorn, and Vivian all took advantage of the Picky Youngster Tasting Menu, consisting of plain, cold lasagna noodles with a side of jellied cranberry sauce. In the end, it didn't matter a whole lot what was on their plates, since they could only stand to be torn away from their Matchbox car races to sit at the dinner table for about five minutes, anyway. Bjorn did his best to keep up with the big kids as they drove laps through the kitchen, hallway, bedroom, and dining room. We all noticed and remarked on HOW WELL all the kids got along and maintained their good spirits throughout the evening -- an unprecedented occurrence! As I said to Aaron, any gathering where perpetually happy Bjorn is the kid who requires the most attention qualifies as a VERY GOOD evening.

Thanks to Erik, Tami, and Vivian for the delicious feast and good times hanging out with the fam!

Bjorn perusing "How Proust Can Change Your Life"

Vivian and Leif tending their carefully-designed parking lot

Bjorn getting a ride from Grandma B.

Thanksgiving Day

We had three separate family gatherings over Thanksgiving weekend this year, and the one on Thanksgiving (at our house) was the most low-key. Since we knew we would be having turkey with all the trimmings at Gock and Grandpaw G.'s house on Sunday, we decided on a simple menu of crepes with raspberry sauce for Thanksgiving Day lunch at our house. Gock, Grandpaw G., and Auntie Sarah entertained Leif and Bjorn while I made a pile of crepes, and Gock brought her always popular fruit pizza for dessert. And since it was Thanksgiving, we also enjoyed a bonus dessert of pecan pie (courtesy of Sarah and the fine people of Bakers Square) a little while later, after cleaning up the first round of dishes and roughhousing with Leif had enabled us all to build up an appetite again. I'm thankful for all of our extended family members who make my kiddos so happy whenever we see them!

Leif and Gock planning their Black Friday shopping strategy

Leif ate every last bite of his large pile of whipped cream (he insisted on pushing the spout on the whipped cream can by himself), then passed the untouched piece of pecan pie to his dad to finish. Aaron did not protest.

Bjorn ate an entire pint of raspberries (dipped in whipped cream) in lieu of pie.