As Leah gets into her stride in her third year, she will likely start speaking, or to put it another way, she will use the same words that we use, and she will use more words!
At the moment she has a favorite word "yaya" (which is not a word in Chinese or English) which tends to mean either water or toilet (it is normally possible to work out which); another frequently used word is "jiejie" (which is a word in Chinese for big sister) and Leah likes using it along with the word "my" (which is a word in English) when she distinguishes between whose food, pencils, dolls or shoes she is playing with, pointing at or thinking about.
As other parents know kids tend to start speaking a few syllables and build from there, so the "m" is a frequently used one (of course the first use is "mama") and none much more so than "more" (English, of course). She just uses the simple "m" for milk. The other frequently used syllable stems from "baba" (Dad in Chinese) and includes "baobao" (Hug in Chinese).
There are some other syllables she sometimes uses, and some other words she occasionally pronounces when asked to, but then doesn't re-use. But there is a long way to go; much like Hannah, who only really got into her stride once she was close to her third birthday. These bilingual kids are slow speakers. The strange aspect of all this though is that her listening is very good, understanding thousands of different words, with just exceptions of words and concepts she cannot understand yet (such as distinguishing different colors).
It means you get to have amusing conversations with her as you have to guess everything she is saying based on context and her pointing, repeat it back to her and see if she confirms you are on the right path or not. Very one-sided, but of course we don't want to dent her confidence even if most of what is coming out is unintelligible.
She is though slowly getting more into reading and starting to listen to stories rather than just look at pictures; but she still lacks the patients to do too much and has such a strong character that she'll sooner or later decide she wants to do something else, or pick a different page in the book no matter what. Thankfully the biting has stopped now, though there is the odd bit of hitting if Leah doesn't get her way and can't explain her feelings properly.
In fact she is very very strong willed, proactively going to the toilet or taking a banana; putting on her shoes and opening the door to go outside and so on. This can be a pain when she wants to copy Hannah and refuses anything else... so even if she doesn't want or like something she will still demand it because Hannah has, and even if she does not understand something, she will still do it because Hannah has. On the whole it is great, since Hannah is such a good girl; generally very obedient, good at brushing her teeth, eating and the like.
It does sometimes lead to problems when Leah can't to what Hannah does, such as running fast or playing games with her friends, but Leah does try and play with them. It is funny how keen she is on playing with Hannah and with Hannah's friends, when she has no interest in playing with other kids her own age, instead usually seeing them as competition. And let's say that Leah definitely has not understood the concept of sharing yet! So Leah is in an interesting mindset where she is very strong willed but still very obedient to do what Hannah wants.
Yesterday evening Hannah voluntarily went to shampoo her own hair in the shower which is incredible as she usually hates that (all kids at some point put soapy fingers in eyes and then fear soap again for years, as far as i can tell). This was from the conversation earlier that morning when we discussed that she needs to wash her hair so it would be easier to brush. Her memory is fantastic, though selective...she rarely remembers what happened at kindergarten, maybe because it is so similar each day that not much stands out, but she will always remember specific things that her teacher says, such as around wearing certain clothes for the next day, and always remember other things we say and remember places we have been to before.
Hannah is definitely not shy, and is the driving force when playing with her friends; she is also actively talking to her friends at school and arranging play dates for after-school and enjoys giving instructions to others, not least Leah, who usually is very obedient. It makes me wonder whether their personalities would be different if they were not sisters, i..e. would Hannah be as bossy if she did not have a younger sister to give instructions to, and would Leah be as obedient if she was not so used to following instructions.
Thankfully Hannah's friends do like listening to her and she has 3 or 4 very close friends who she wants to see every day (and she usually does at kindergarten, though this is never enough) and normally gets to play with most evenings and some weekends.
So what is wrong with this picture which is so rosy and happy with two fantastic girls getting along so well with everyone including each other and their parents? Everything seems fine so that must mean something will change for the worse with one of the two girls, or the relationship between them, at some point, won't it?
No comments:
Post a Comment