Conversations before bed

Appu- NEEN!
Dad- Well Appu, for someone who spent the first year of his life saying GU, you could say GREEN, or at least GEEN.
Appu (happy)- NEEN!!
Dad- No no, Appu. GEEN.
Appu (still happy)- NEEN! NEEEN!!
Dad- G-G-G-G... GEEN!
Appu (very happy)- G-G-G-G-G!!
Dad- GA-GU-GU-GA-GU... GEEN!
Appu (ecstatic)- GA-GA-G-G-GU-GA-GU... NEEN!

New Appu Words

If you want a chance to read the table, please click on it.

Cliccare sulla tabella per ingrandire.

Appu dice...

As an amateur linguist, here is a report on my ongoing research with a young subject exposed to 2+1 languages (the Malayalam language being for the moment not assimilated, it seems). This is Appu's established vocabulary at 20 months and two weeks of age. When more than one word is commonly used for the same object I have included both. Words spoken only once and never again or spoken in presence of unreliable witnesses have not been included.

Riprendiamo le comunicazioni

We have been in India for about a month now. Unfortunately in this month there was never a moment when none of us was sick, and hence the lack of blogging energy. Right now I am feeling well though, so it is a good time to get started again.

A few quick updates:

Appu has a new word. He says "ca" for "car"... but also for "light", "cup", "I'm hungry", etc.. :)

He is now able to walk up and down the stairs on his own, with one hand on the wall or the railings, and he is very proud of this new skill, all he wants to do is going up and down the stairs. He had a lot of fun with this in Calicut after Christmas, at his grandparents' house.

The Calicut trip was also a lot of fun because of the cousin Jaydev, who is now one of Appu's favorite little people.

By the way, the only picture I can offer you at this point is from the first day in Calicut, early morning, just off the train. Someone was not tired...





Siamo in India da circa un mese ormai. Vari piccoli ma fastidiosi problemi di salute ci hanno perseguitati fino ad ora, ma adesso stiamo tutti bene e non ci sono piu' scuse per trascurare il blog.

La foto che vedete sopra risale alla prima mattina a Calicut, 27 Dicembre. Il piccolo Rajiv ha apprezzato moltissimo la casa dei nonni, con una lunga scalinata da percorrere avanti e indietro fino allo sfinimento (sa fare le scale da solo!), un sacco di giocattoli del cugino Jaydev, e soprattutto... il cugino Jaydev in persona! Il cuginetto ha quasi quattro anni, ma non disdegna la compagnia di un devoto ammiratore un po' piu' giovane. Si sono divertiti un sacco insieme, a parte qualche breve momento di disaccordo subito risolto. La presenza dello zio Vijay (fratello di S., detto "chicha" dai piu' piccoli, che lo adorano) e' stata la ciliegina sulla torta.

Altre novita':

Pian piano Appu comincia a dire un paio di parole comprensibili in mezzo ai lunghi discorsi in una strana lingua aliena che non abbiamo ancora decifrato. Oltre a "ba" o "pa" per "ball" (o "palla"?) adesso dice "ca" per "car". Naturalmente gli stessi suoni sono anche riservati ad un sacco di altri oggetti, come lampada ("ca"!), cereali ("ca"!), e cosi' via.
A Calicut c'era una fotografia di S. e i suoi fratelli e Appu indicava la foto e poi indicava S. e diceva "pa!". Poi pero' indicava gli zii, mostrava di riconoscerli nella foto e diceva "pa!". Anche il tavolino su cui c'e' la foto e tutti gli altri soprammobili sembrano essere "pa"...

Saremo in India fino ai primi di Marzo e cercheremo di mantenere il blog attivo senza altre interruzioni. Buon anno a tutti!

First words

Little Rajiv is beginning to form his first real words and it is a fascinating process.
It is a bit difficult to keep track of his vocabulary, because sometimes he will use one word one day and then never again. For example he said his name - "Appu" - a few times, with a strong American accent by the way, but just when we were getting all excited about it he dropped it. Sometimes he makes vague "m" sounds that could be interpreted as mommy requests, and occasionally he will say "mamma", but now he hasn't said it for a while.

The one word we are sure he understands and speaks himself is "ball" ("palla" in Italian). He has a toddler sized soccer ball and if I ask him for the "palla" he goes around and looks for it. He also looks for it immediately if he sees a picture of the ball in a book or on his alphabet blocks. For a while he was saying "ba" or "pa" for it, but now he seems to have settled for "bai" or occasionally "pai". If he sees the picture of the ball he screams "bai!" and then we go to find it.

He probably thinks there are many other things he says, in his cute tonal babbling, but unfortunately his his parents don't get it. Sorry Appu, please don't give up on us... :)

Bits

Sorry, there doesn't seem to be time for proper posts these days, so bullets will have to do:

• Rajiv has learned to clap his hands. Now if we clap, most of the times he claps back. I know it's a basic skill, but mommy is amazed!
  
  Rajiv ha imparato a battere le mani, dopo vari mesi passati a cercare di insegnarglielo. Adesso se uno di noi batte le mani lui ci imita felice.
  
  
• We think he might be getting some words, apart from "mamamama". Yesterday we noticed he was saying "bukbukbuk" while holding a book and his babysitter Kristen confirmed that she also heard suspicious "b" sounds in presence of books. So it seems that little one is starting with English. What a disappointment... I mean, great!
  
  Il piccolino sta iniziando a dire qualche pezzetto di parola. In particolare ci sembra che stia cercando di dire "book" ("libro"). Vai Rajiv!
  
  
• By the way, Rajiv is happy with the new babysitter and so are we. She helps us out for a few hours three times a week and will stay with us until the first week of August. After that we have a very promising home daycare lined up, with a lady called Sally who was recommended to us by our neighbours.
  
  Rajiv ha subito fatto amicizia con la nuova babysitter Kristen. Lei ci dara' una mano fino alla prima settimana di Agosto e poi Rajiv iniziera' pian piano ad andare ad un nuovo nido che promette molto bene. Speriamo!
  
  
• In the meantime the work on the house goes on. We painted our bedroom, a major effort that involved working late at night while little one slept and camping in the living room for about a week to avoid the fumes. The color turned out to be quite different from what we expected, but we like it (and even if we didn't we would repaint).
  
  Next big project: dishwasher installation. We managed to remove the old one yesterday night. Now all we have to do is remove the small dead mouse from behind the cabinet and install the new dishwasher. That should be fun...
  
  Intanto il lavoro nella casa nuova procede. Abbiamo ridipinto la notra camera da letto - dormendo nel soggiorno per una settimana - e adesso ci prendiamo una meritata pausa dalla pittura. La prossima impresa invece e' installare la lavastoviglie. Ieri sera abbiamo rimosso quella vecchia e domani da bravi idraulici tenteremo di installare quella nuova. Le risate...
  

A bit doubtful, but why not...

S. claims Rajiv said "mamma" in his sleep. Uhm... Anyway, at the very least it shows that he is able to pronounce the elusive "M" sound. Stay tuned!

S. sostiene di aver sentito Rajiv dire "mamma" nel dormiveglia (di Rajiv, non S.). Gli crediamo?

Latest accomplishments

Gli ultimi progressi del piccolino:

• Earlier he knew how to get up to stand holding on to something, but he didn't know how to get back down on the floor - except by falling, of course. Fortunately recently he has developed a technique to lower himself down on the floor safely: he bends his knees very slowly and moves a hand towards the floor as if to pick up something, looking down, and he only lets go of his support with the other hand when he is sitting or on his knees. It seems quite refined, we are very impressed.
  
  Dopo aver imparato a tirarsi su aggrappato ad un supporto, finalmente il piccolino ha anche imparato a scendere - senza cadere. Si china molto lentamente come se volesse raccogliere qualcosa, lasciandosi andare solo con una mano e guardando in basso, fino a che non si sente abbastanza sicuro da lasciar andare anche l'altra mano.
  
  
• He can stand holding on to something with only one hand. At the restaurant a few days ago he was standing holding on to the table cloth with one hand and waving the other hand around.
  
  Riesce a stare in piedi tenendosi a qualcosa con una mano sola. Qualche giorno fa per esempio, al ristorante, stava allegramente in piedi aggrappato alla tovaglia con una mano.
  
  
• He can "cruise", i.e. walk sideways while holding on to something.
  
  E' capace di muoversi lateralmente stando aggrappato ad un supporto, tipo un divano. Anche noto come "passo del granchio".
  
  
• He has a new consonant: he said "PAPAPA" a couple of times.
  
  Ha aggiunto una nuova consonante al suo repertorio: P! Ha detto un paio di volte "PAPAPA", chissa' quando imparera' che cosa vuol dire?
  
  
• He has a new form of communication: high pitched screams to express joy or irritation/impatience. No mistake is possible between the two kinds, just in case you were wondering...
  
  Una nuova forma di espressione: i gridolini di gioia o di impazienza. Se grida perche' e' nervoso spesso basta rispondere con un altro gridolino per far tornare il buon umore.
  

Daily wonder

NOTA: La versione italiana e' in preparazione. Un po' di pazienza: stiamo lavorando per voi...

Warning: in this post I rave shamelessly about my child.

Just because I haven't been diligent in reporting little one's progress it doesn't mean that he has been quiet, on the contrary! In the last month and a half we have witnessed truly amazing changes - you have to be there day after day with a baby to appreciate how incredible it all is.

I wanted to post this for the seven month birthday, but I am late as usual. Still, you can sort of consider this as a seven month update.

• Rajiv started crawling around his six month birthday and in a few days he was already moving quite fast, especially towards sharp corners, hard obstacles and such. After about two weeks he was able to get off the bed on his own (I remind you once more that we are taking about a height of the order of ten centimeters here, but also consider that he is not much taller than that when he crawls...). He attracted lots of comments at the office for his early skills - good moments of motherly and fatherly pride! ;)
  
  
• But of course his real dream is standing and walking, we have an ambitious kid! He pulled up to stand once in his early crawling days, but he only started doing it consistently after we came to India. Now when he is in the playpen he spends most of the time standing against the walls and looking mischievously at us - and biting the edges of the playpen, of course.
  
  When we put him on the floor he practices pulling himself up using every piece of furniture he can find or the walls. He used to be quite unstable at first, but now he doesn't fall down very much - although it is painful when he does, so we follow him closely.
  
  If you take his hands he immediately stands up and enjoys being walk around.
  
  
• The next step in baby development should be "cruising", i.e. walking sideways holding on to something like a bed or a table. He attempted a couple of steps this way only once with some success. Sometimes he looks like he is trying to do it, but when he releases one hand he falls backwards. Fortunately he attempts this only when he is in the playpen, so his falls are well cushioned...
  
  
• I mentioned in my six month report that he seemed to be taking his time with "speaking". Well, about a week after I wrote that he started babbling, saying "BABABA" and even "BLABLABLA"! (Kelly interpreted it as a bored reaction to her chatter...) His favourite sound is still "G" though and you can tell he is happy if he says "GHIIIIII!".
  
  
• He definitely distinguishes between different songs now. If I sing something he hasn't heard before usually he will look puzzled, but if I sing one of his favorites almost invariably he smiles. We also have different songs for different purposes: "La gatta" to relax at feeding time, a counting elephants song for sleep, "Volare" for playtime and, for some reason, an over the top version of "La paloma" seems to have become the toilet song...
  
  
• I kept for last what is to me the most amazing fact.
  
  In the playpen there is a music box that has a plastic fish hanging from each side. If you pull one of the fish, two similar fish start swimming in a circle inside the box (you can see them through the transparent plastic screen) with a funny music accompanied by laughing sounds (the fish are having fun and so they laugh).
  
  Anyway, the point is that I thought this toy was way too advanced for a child his age, but instead about a month ago I saw that he was trying to pull the fish himself. At the beginning it was frustrating for him, because he knew what he wanted to do but it was hard for him to reach the fish and he wasn't very precise with his movements yet. Soon enough though he got it and even in the middle of the night if I put it in the playpen to take a break he would "jump" towards the fish and pull them to start the "fish dance" inside the box.
  
  In short, this is called understanding cause and effect. Now isn't it amazing?
  

The six month report

Weight/Peso: 7.9 kg
Height/Altezza: 68.5 cm

(For those interested in graphs, growth charts and percentiles, go ahead and click on the picture below to make it bigger so you can actually read it.)



Just to have something to compare with, here below is the baby development table from Babycenter. For every age it give a list of things that most, some or a few babies are able to do. I thought it would be fun to compare the list with our own, based on our observations of little one's progresses. (Again, if you want to see the table just click to enlarge it.)



Let's start from the things he can clearly do. Yes, little one mouths objects and makes bubbles. His dad in fact will be very pleased to know that these are considered "milestones". He rolls, sits without support (but still keeping a hand on the floor to lean on), does every sort of push-ups and is beginning to crawl. He reaches for objects and drags them toward himself. He is also attracted by sounds and stops whatever he is doing if there is a sudden noise or a new interesting sound. He responds ("G!") if we talk to him. He seems to distinguish colors.

Then we come to the things that maybe he can do. I am not sure if he can pass objects from one hand to the other,I haven't really paid attention. We think he can recognize his name (we call him "piccolo", "little one" or "aaaaaapuuuu" in private), but only he knows if we are delusional.

Things he does not do. He doesn't really imitate sounds. For example, if mom says "G!" he says "G!", if mom says "ba ba ba" he says "G!" and so on. For the moment he is only using the consonant "g" and maybe occasionally "b", but mostly that happens if he tries to speak while keeping his mouth in contact with some object. He is also not really babbling yet, he doesn't put together syllables, but he still manages to make the cutest sound, especially when he wakes up in a good mood.

That's all for the moment. Have I forgotten anything?

Musical preferences

When we went to Calicut last time we bought a CD of Malayalam songs and poetry for children. In fact I am quite proud to say that I picked it myself, with my amazing shopping instinct that breaks through the barriers of language... Anyway, it seemed like a good thing to try, since we are always looking for tools to help in the task of raising our child trilingual.


The CD is very well made: it has both religious and non-religious songs, sung by a variety of different voices and you can choose if you prefer to display predominantly on the screen the lyrics or some simple animations that illustrate each song.

Once as we were playing the songs for Rajiv we noticed that he was looking at the drawings on the screen, so we put him on his tummy facing the screen - both baby and laptop on the bed - and he stayed there silently for a long time staring carefully (now maybe I am reading to much into his little focused expression...) at the figures that appeared as different songs were played.

He was quiet until we played what S. tells me is a lullaby. This is accompanied by pictures of a mother with a child and our own little one started trying to reach for the figures on the screen, pushing with his legs behind him and making cute enthusiastic noises. I think that maybe it's because he likes looking at faces, or maybe he can tell it is the picture of a baby? Or maybe he just likes the song?

Canzoncine e filastrocche

Ho trovato un sito che sembra molto carino, con un sacco di testi di canzoni per bambini e altre cose che non ho ancora esplorato per bene. Oggi per esempio io e Rajiv abbiamo cantato "Papaveri e Papere":

"Lo sai che i papapaveri son alti alti alti..."

Fa tutto parte del piano per far ascoltare un po' di italiano a Rajiv, nella speranza che lo impari.

Nota per Emiliano: ho anche trovato il testo di "Un milione, due milioni, tre milioni di anni fa...", cosi' finalmente so come fanno le altre due strofe!