Brain Spill

Vian has more than a few words in his vocabulary now and he's not afraid to show off.

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I'm having breakfast with Vian. 

We hear the bathroom flush. 

Vian gets all animated and yells "Poop!" and points to the restroom.

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Another day, the same setup. I'm having breakfast with Vian.

Yoshi joins us with a cup of tea. 

Vian points to the steam rising from the cup and yells "HOT". 

Yoshi acknowledges, yes. It is hot tea. 

Vian: "Hot Tea"  (sounds more like hottie). 

Me: Yes Vian, you're a hottie. 

Vian (yells): NO!

Me: You're not a hottie?

Vian: Amma hottie. 

Who am I to argue. ;)

Vian is picking up new words. His new addition is "Yeah". It is pronounced with an emphatic "EYAH!" (imagine a Karate yell).

I like asking him random questions that are at the edge of his understanding and watch him say "Yeah!".

But sometimes he uses his "Yeah!" with such precision it catches us off guard. Such as last night when we were getting him ready for bed.

Yoshi: Vian, would you like to hold a toy? You can pick either Pandie (stuffed panda) or the fire engine.

Vian: Yeah!

Vian has been picking up a few words courtesy of Sempi. The words he has picked up so far are the ones that Sempi uses with forceful emotion. 

STOP:

Whenever Vian tries to take Sempi's toys, Sempi yells "STOOOOP" with conviction and distress. So that's the first word that Vian decided to pick up. Now he uses it with us generously. He can't quite pronounce the sound "ssss" so his STOP sounds like "TOP".

It's a catch all phrase for stopping anything that is unpleasant. So far he has used it to stop me from giving Yoshi hugs in front of him (jealousy). It is hilarious to watch him command his toys to "TOOPPP" when they keep sliding off of the couch or the table where he's playing.

NO:

This is the second word that he's picked up from Sempi. But the twist is, Vian says NO with a tinge of joy and pride. We've asked Sempi to ask Vian's permission before taking toys from Vian's hands. Sempi being the older, more responsible brother will ask politely "Vian can I please play with the toy you have in your hand?" and Vian responds "NO" with a smile and enthusiasm. It looks absolutely savage when witnessed in person.

READ:

This one, I'm very glad he's picked it up from Sempi. Sempi is a total book worm. He asks us to read a book as soon as he wakes up, while eating, while lounging, right before bedtime, even while driving (instead we listen to podcasts while driving). Now Vian has picked up on this and he demands that we read to him while he eats. He can't pronounce "R" or "D" so it sounds more like a "WEE", "WEE". He get so excited about this that he would keep asking us to read even while we're reading him a book.

Yoshi was washing her face in the bathroom while Vian was playing with the bathroom scale.

Yoshi: Why is it upside down?

Vian: Appaaaa

Yoshi: Appa did it? 

Vian: Appaaa

Yoshi: oh, appa did it 

Vian: Appaaa Appaaa

Yoshi: no Vian, you did it 

Vian: (silence)

All of this happened while I was at work. Appa means dad in Tamil.

My younger son (16 months) can't speak any words yet but he has no problems expressing himself by pointing and grunting. When he's hungry he whines and points to the pantry. When he wants a specific fruit out of the fridge he will reject all the other ones with a head shake and sometimes a shove until I offer him the right fruit. 

This morning I witnessed him do a gesture that can only be construed as "Look ma no hands". We were at the coffee shop and he was standing on his chair and leaning against the table and taking bites out his muffin. Suddenly he realized he wasn't holding onto the table but instead using both hands to grab onto his muffin. So he put his muffin down extended out his arms while leaning against the table and started shouting "Ah, ah, ah, eh?". He was quite pleased with his accomplishment. He proceeded to show off his newly learned skill a few more times for good measure.

Words are but a hindrance to effective communication.