Tuesday 4 March 2008

How Far They Come

This week, Colin has started to speak in full sentences, putting two thoughts together:

"Colin touch Cleo's (the cat) fingers, and Cleo hurt Colin."
"Thank you very much for changing diaper."
"Colin and Daddy went for walk, and saw the cars come in the gate."

I still marvel at how language comes to us. I think of how hard it is to learn a new language as an adult, considering all the aspects one needs to remember. Then I watch as Colin comes leaps and bounds each day as he masters new concepts. And to think that at 18 months, he only had two words: Mommy and Daddy.

Also, has anyone ever realized how difficult pronouns are? This is our latest challenge. Colin, hearing me use the word "you" in reference to himself, constantly uses it in sentences. For example: "Mommy pick you up?", when he wants me to pick him up. How do you explain that where I say "you", he says "I", and where I use "I", he needs to use "you"? Let's not even get into his and hers, although he does understand that sometimes he can call Mommy's things "hers". I try different tactics each day to help him understand the proper use of these grammatical aspects of language, remembering that in time he'll catch on - we all do.

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