Vocabulary

We are back from Mexico!  I am afraid to say that most of our pictures were taken with my mom's camera, and I forgot to download the pictures to my USB drive before returning to the States.  All that to say, whatever pictures I have from our trip (which are not many) were taken with my iPad and were uploaded onto facebook.

But anyway, that's not the purpose of this post.  The purpose of this post is to record a pretty significant gift my daughter apparently owns.

I think it's normal for every parent to believe his/her child is very smart and above average.  I of course think Emma is the smartest, most beautiful girl to have ever walked on Earth.  But I am biased.  Aren't we all?

So of course, when grandma would compliment her on her abilities, I would just brush it off thinking:  "biased."  When nursery workers and volunteers at church would say:  "Emma is the smartest child in that nursery" I would think to myself:  "well, they are just being nice.  They probably say this to every parent."

But being in Mexico these past two weeks made me realize that Emma was indeed above average.  The three most common compliments she received were:  1.  How well behaved she was (not perfect, but certainly much better than expected), 2.  How well she ate (I think she could be a better eater, but non the less this was said), and 3.  How verbal she is, and how well she responds and understands people.

I decided to make a list of all of her words and do a little investigating on the vocabulary of a 16.5 month old.  Given the informal research I made, it seems like an average 20 month old should be saying about 20 words.  Emma is 16.5 months old and says 48!!!  And uses them correctly.

For memory sake, the words are (S: Spanish, M: Maya):
1.  Hey
2.  Bye
3.  Nite nite
4.  Ca Ca (S) (Cacahuate = Peanut Butter)
5.  More
6.  Ya (S) (All done)
7.  Tic toc (clock)
8.  Moon (sounds more like mooo)
9.  Ho Ho (in reference to Santa)
10.  Flor (S) (flour)
11.  Pan (S) (bread)
12.  Pa (S) (pajaro = bird)
13.  Mama
14.  Dada
15.  Baby
16.  Memmee (for Memma)
17.  Poppa
18.  Jo Jo (for uncle Joseph)
19.  Ames
20.  La-la-la (S) (leche = milk)
21.  Za (S) (manzana = apple)
22.  Apple (she also says this in English)
23.  Dawg (for dog -- very southern :p)
24.  Cookee (for cookie)
25.  A-side (for outside)
26.  Shoes
27.  Shirt
28.  Socks
29.  Pants
30.  Boo (for boots)
31.  Yes
32.  No
33.  Popo (S) (poop)
34.  Eye
35.  Mouth
36.  Cheese
37.  Chi (for Cheerios)
38.  Ball
39.  Pom (S) (chupon = pacifier)
40.  Phone
41.  Nose
42.  Ta ta (for "rock rock" when pretending to rock on a rocking chair)
43.  Bath time
44.  Tuch (M) (bellybutton)
45.  Xux (M) (bee's nest)
46.  Oh oh
47.  Box
48.  Duck

She also has many gestures, sounds and signs she uses in reference to things such as fish, bunny, bear, sheep, monkey, cow, horse, cat, etc.  She can also identify many things on a book or puzzle that she cannot say or reference to, but recognizes and points out when asked about.

Though most of her words are in English, she understands Spanish perfectly.

It will be interesting to see how this plays out in the future.  Many people have warned me that raising Emma to be bilingual will delay her speaking.  It's been amazing for me to witness quite the contrary.