Peenees!

I first said this years ago, and now two kids deep my opinion hasn’t budged an inch: Language is my favorite part of child development.

Zary didn’t speak until she was two. Mina can string together words and she’s not even 18 months yet. Both are brilliant (IMHO, obviously). And both are phenomenal communicators, even though they get the job done differently.

Ever since she started talking (verbal or signing), Zary was very intentional about making sure she was communicating accurately. She’s a perfectionist. Nick blames that on me.  Nothing frustrates Zary more than not being understood. Really unfortunate for her, her “S’s” are shambly, so we have a lot of meltdowns.  I’ve got three chances to ask Z to repeat herself before she loses it. In the last year, we’ve taken up a strategy to help her get her point across, and it kind of feels like I’m part of a spelling bee:

“OK, Zar, I’m not understanding that word. Can you use it in a sentence?” or, “Is there a different word that means the same thing?” or, my favorite, “Can you describe the word to me? Like, tell me it’s colors or shape or something?”

Once, after she screamed because I didn’t understand when she was repeatedly asking for a “SFFIRT!”, I tried that tactic. She thought for a second and responded, “It’s like pants but there’s only one leg hole. And I want to wear my blue one today. The one that’s kind of frilly”. Skirt! SKIRT! So easy. And now after we figure out what word she’s trying to say, we break it down and practice it a bit. At first, she was really offended that we didn’t understand her 100%. Now she’s thrilled to have another solution to get her point across. She’ll even start explaining the word to us well before she gets upset.

Then, there’s Mina. Mina honestly couldn’t give two shits if you understand what she’s saying. She’s just so happy to be holding your attention.  If I pick up even every fourth word, she’s content. If Zary understands her, she’s totally overjoyed.

And this is good. Because Mina’s pronunciation (and volume control) leaves something to be desired. She can’t pronounce her “Z’s” so she has decided to call Zary “SIS SIS” or the occasional “BABOO!” Her favorite food is okra. She inexplicably calls it “EYEBALLS”. We don’t know where half of her words come from. Mina’s favorite animal right now is foxes. You know where this is going. I buy her ALL the fox stuff. Mostly for my own enjoyment.  This morning when I picked Mina up from her crib, she excitedly pointed to her pajamas and told me there was a “F**K!” on her sleeve. And when we got dressed to play in the snow and I put on her fox socks? “TOES! F**K! TOES!” Ahhhh I could laugh about it all day.

Today I told her to go in the pantry and pick out a snack.  She grabs a jar of peanuts and proudly screams “PEENEES!” It’s been 4 hours. I’m still laughing.

Do all parents find these mispronunciations hilarious, or do I just need to get out of the house more?