What They Say at Three and a Half

Our language here is ever-expanding, and I try to list out some of the funnier or more precious sayings and mispronounciations. Of course, I can never remember them all.

I can say that at 3.5, the girls still have a bit of trouble anchoring their words and will stick a "d" or a "t" sound in the middle to create two syllables in a two-syllable word. Most interestingly, they have a different language development, so that while one has trouble pronouncing words with "fs" in them, the other pronounces them well. That one, instead, has trouble with "rs" whereas the other never stumbles over the sound. So that while one says "fruit" like "sloot" the other says "fruit" like "fuwoot."

One of them mixes up sound syllables so that "medicine" becomes "mecidine," "animal" becomes "aminal," and, my personal favorite: "beautiful" becomes "beufidal." The other usually corrects her.

Both pronounce "th" as "d." But one cannot pronounce words that begin with "c" while the other has no trouble. So that "cry" becomes "pry" and "Christmas" sounds like "Primmus." The other's pronunciation of those words is different but still not correct. "Cwy" and "Cwistmus."

They've started using high-pitched voices for their toys and stuff animals when they pretend to be them. They've picked up (minimally, thank goodness,) the girly shriek known with fear around playgrounds.

They'll often drop the first syllable of a word, or mispronounce it. "I apposed to do that!" "We have a mergency!"

Here's a short list of habitual sayings and words around here.

"Don't tell me that word!" -- I didn't like what you just said. Stop talking to me. You're wrong.
"Cruntsuls" -- pretzels
"I already!" -- "I just did that."
"Like yesterday." -- Like we did in the recent past.
"Like a long time." -- Like we did in the distant past.
"When it gets light and dark out, what kind go outside?" -- What are we doing tomorrow?
"I a fast girl." -- "I need this done right now."
"I a new girl." -- I want the new toys.
"I a old girl." -- I get to do this first because I asked first (making my request older.)
"Can you make it louder?" -- This applies to volume, but also to speed (how fast the fan moves), and light (how bright the lights are.) Everything that increases is volume, apparently. (I did this too as a kid.)

Pretty soon they'll be talking like little adults and I won't be able to do these posts anymore. But I'm guessing we still have a few left.

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