Category: Words

You can say (1) “aba” (agua/water), (2) “abi” (abre/open), (3) “gati” (gato/cat), (4) “avre” (arvore/tree), (5) “dadi” (papai/daddy), (6) “mami” (mamae/mommy), (7) “oto” (outro/other), (8) “esse” (esse/this one), (9) “au au” (dog barking when you see/hear a dog), (10) “piu piu” (bird chirping when you see/hear a bird), (11) “nham nham” (when you see food and want to eat it), (12) “dindon” (violao/guitar, when your vovo is playing the guitar) and also to the swing in the playground. You are working on saying “biscoito” (cracker).

Every time we go to the yard (and you want to go there ALL THE TIME), I point out the trees, the grass, the sky, the plants, the flowers, and of course, the eventual birds flying around. When that happens, I say “passarinho” (bird) and then make the sound a bird makes: “piu piu piu”. Now every time you see a bird, you immediately say “piu piu piu”.

You keep repeating this “word”: eogati, eogati, eogati. We were trying to understand what you were saying – then it finally clicked: I always point at Gato and say “é o Gato” (it’s Gato) and you were repeating the whole thing together “éogáti”. The confusing part is that you say that to many other things besides Gato, but when you pointed at him and said “éogáti” after me, we got it.

I took you to the backyard at the end of the day like we have been doing for a while. We walked out and you kept saying “Avre, avre, avre” and I didn’t realize at first that you were pointing to the tree while saying that. Sure enough, you were trying to say “arvore” (tree) while pointing at the tree. You love going near the trees and touching the leaves, you always point at them so we can take you close enough to do that.

You love to talk – you talk in your own language all the time. We have noticed that you are incorporating syllabes of things we just said in your babbling. For example, if we say “chocolate” you start saying “choc-ba-ba-pause-da-da-pause-ba-ba”, or “gato” and you say “ga-ba-ba-pause-da-da-pause-ba-ba” and so on. You give your “words” different entonations so they sound like a phrase, although they are all made up words in a phrase.

When we ask you if you want water (agua) you usually say “aba” back to us, so we think you are trying to say “agua”. You haven’t used the word to actually ask for it, but you repeat it when we say it a few times.