RianaBihari.com » speech

ABCs and 123s

Ashwin — Wed, 13 May 2009 15:45:06 +0000

Riana started at her new daycare just over two weeks ago and in that time we’ve seen great strides in her speech and vocabulary. Mostly this is due to the fact that she’s been placed with preschool kids as opposed to the much younger toddlers.

She truly began speaking only a few months ago, but since then she’s mastering the alphabet song and counting up to 11 or 12, depending on her mood, with the greatest of ease.

The funny and interesting thing is that she will count the numbers and recite the alphabets without provocation and while involved in some other activity. The moment we ask her to do it so that we can capture a video of it, she purposefully miscounts or screams the alphabets while repeating a few of them just for fun. Her favorite letter to repeat being “W”, just just likes saying “dubble-YOU” over and over again.

Cheers

Speaker of the House

Geeta — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 21:07:23 +0000

Riana not only understands a lot of what we say but she also tries to communicate using words. She knows a lot of words, some Hindi but mostly English, that compliment her wonderful gestures. She nods and says ‘Ya’ or points her finger and says ‘Over there’. Her enunciation is getting better too. Lately, she has been making attempts to form simple sentences such as ‘I want Cookie’ or ‘I want Duddu’. I am trying to get her to say ‘Love you mummy’. That’s a big expectation:)

Clearly, this communication is making things easier for us. She can ask for water when she is thirsty. She also tells us when she has ‘pooped’ and when she needs her diaper changed. Does this mean she is ready for potty training?! Now, THAT is something I am NOT looking forward to!!!

Up Above… Da Dy…

Geeta — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 15:37:01 +0000

It’s amazing how toddlers pick up language so fast. In the last few weeks, Riana’s ability to form words has increased dramatically. Her vocabulary is growing exponentially and according to her pediatrician, that is to be expected. She likes to point our body parts such as nose and eyes. She has fun counting 1,2 and 3! She likes to interact with people. I am amazed to see that she even tries to make up short sentences such as “My duddu”, “Bye Bye Dadda”, “No Touch”, “Hi Baby”, “Over There”. This morning, I was reciting nursery rhymes to her. I was surprised when she sang along…

Me: Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, How I wonder what you are…
Riana: Up Above da… Dy…

Me: Baba Black Sheep, Have you any wool…
Riana: Yes sa… Yes sa… tul…

How sweet. I believe she learnt this at her daycare.

Life is fun with Riana around… I am looking forward to having real conversations with her although I don’t think I am quite prepared for the “whys and hows”… Not just yet!

I Call Me ‘Nana’

Ashwin — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 13:37:44 +0000

It is a great milestone when a child recognizes that the name being called out is it’s own and responds to it. This began happening with Riana a short while back and it’s great that we can get her attention without having to use “yo” and “hey”.

In her growing vocabulary, both spoken and understood, she can now clearly look at me or her mother and say “dada” and “mama”. Looking at the numerous pictures in the bedrooms of her and us, she points to the picture and correctly identifies the person who’s carrying her.

We, however, noticed that sometimes she would say “nana” and then go on to say “dada” or “mama”. Naturally, we assumed she was mixing up the words or just outright clobbering some word. Then, we realized that Riana is actually repeating the words that we tell her, or at least she pronounces something that sounds like the word we said.

It is then we realized that she’s actually referring to herself as ‘nana’ since she can’t clearly enunciate Riana yet. Listening to her repeat the birds and animals she sees in her books are quite a thrill and very funny.

Cheers