I love you, Thank you, You're welcome, and Sorry...

My little girl @ 2! :)

I remember a year ago, my little girl can only say very few words, just bits and pieces of what seemed like actual phrases. Months passed and our exchange of words had transformed into an actual conversation! Yey!

I don't think she talked earlier than other kids, but what I admire most with her development in the linguistics area is how she can talk to us in both English and Tagalog. She can take instructions in both languages too, and understands the equivalent words of those that she uses most of the time like 'Get' and 'Kuha' or 'Put' and 'Lagay', or 'Halika' and 'Come here'. 

We really wanted to raise her knowing how to speak both languages. Since we don't live in an English-speaking community, we want her to be able to effectively converse with our neighbors and her playmates in Tagalog, and yet still have that edge of knowing the English language when she's ready for school. And contrary to the notion that kids can get confused when you use different languages at home, our little Keisha seems to be progressing well with the concept of being bilingual. :)

But for me, the most precious reward of hearing her talk was hearing her say these words: I love you, Thank You, You're Welcome, and Sorry.

When she's in the mood to be sweet and cuddly, and before Daddy leaves for work, my baby girl says I love you (with matching ingat! (take care)). When you give her something (especially if it's candy), she'd say thank you, and when you say thank you to her, she'll respond with the most adorable 'you're welcome'.

What I love most though, is when she say's 'I'm sorry' - she does so with the cutest puppy-eyed expression on her face! Who could resist that? Ahhh, she gets away with her naughty ways sometimes with just one 'I'm sorry mama' ! :)

Although sometimes, we don't understand everything she says, I can see that she's well on her way to being a super conversationalist. Good thing we never baby-talked her, and we encourage her to talk by praising her whenever she gets a word out. Although there's one challenge: since her yaya is not a native Tagalog speaker, there are words that my little girl 'mispronounces' (both English and Tagalog words). Her long e's and short e's as well as her o's are a bit 'affected' by her yaya's dialect. So as early as now I correct her each time she does that...I sure hope it works. :)


Summer schooling is definitely in the horizon for March or April 2012, and I'm super excited for all the new things she's bound to learn! :)