“Change your language and you change your thoughts.”
Karl Albrecht
The other day I was reading a board book with Crazybaby, and on one page there were about ten different items illustrated. Just for fun, I started questioning her about the items, “Can you point to the Tiger? Can you point to the shovel? Where is the bucket?” And she got every single one! I was shocked. I hadn’t talked to her about tigers, had I? When had I shown her a tractor? And these were kind of artsy illustrations; not very realistic renderings at all. I asked my husband if he’d read the book with Crazy before and he had, but not many times. Impressive.
At sixteen months of age, Crazybaby is really excited about language. She’s been blathering on in her own little language for months, but now some of her words are clearly recognizable to us, and I’d say that over a dozen of her words could be understood by anyone. Maybe you’re at this stage with your toddler, or perhaps you’re going to go through it soon, but I find it fascinating. The rate at which children acquire language is astonishing, and the amount they actually understand is even more impressive.
I remember my sister saying that when my niece started talking, she often spoke about experiences she had before she was able to talk. (Did I explain that well?) What a concept! I imagine Crazybaby’s tales:
“I remember cutting that first tooth; man, my gums were on fire!”
“Being burped was humiliating.”
“I used to get so frustrated when your breasts were engorged and I couldn’t latch on properly.”
or my favourite, “I liked living inside your belly.”