Wordsmiths

Alice is "talking."

I recall that with Edith, determining what counted as first words wasn't easy: was it the first time she clearly repeated sounds that corresponded to English words? that she produced such sounds voluntarily? that she used some sound that didn't necessarily correspond to an English word in a nevertheless consistent way to communicate a definite concept?

Well, it's the same kind of fuzzy with Alice, but within the last few weeks various people have come independently to the conclusion that she is trying to communicate verbally and that in certain circumstances, it seems clear what she's trying to communicate. We'll call it talking.

As we'd predicted long ago, one of her first words appears to be Edie. She has started crawling around the house trying to keep pace with her big sister, calling out loudly when she falls behind--Eh-dee! It's half-amusing, half-wrenching to see her set out after Edith into another room, only to have Edith come back into the first room, upon which Alice does an about-face, only to watch Edith dash back to the other room again, at which point Alice corrects course once more. Were she distraught by it, it would tug on the heartstrings more. As it is, she continues to smile and to call out her sister's name, determined to catch up.

She enjoys pointing to photographs in books and asking, "Dis?" She rarely seems to ask about objects outside books. So the other day we moved back and forth between the photograph of a ball in a book and an actual ball, which she loved trying to throw. Then this morning she crawled over to the shelf of photo albums, pulled one out, got it open to the first page, pointed quite deliberately to a photo of me at my Boston bridal shower, and said, Eh-dee. No, we told her, that's Mommy. Eh-dee, she repeated. No, Mommy. She may have been wrong, but it was a fascinating window into her brain. (And should I take this to mean that 26-year-old me looks more like a four year old than like haggard old 33-year-old me?)

Given her accomplishments, not to mention her adoration of big sis, you would think Alice merited respect from her sibling. But although Edith hugs Alice, laughs with her, and declares her love for her baby, she also composed the following poem a few days ago (transcribed by Mor-mor, on a weekend visit):

"Why Alice Can't Drink Cow's Milk"

If Alice drank cow's milk she would throw up on the floor,
And the door,
And what's more,
She would have big poops and pees,
And then little bees,
Would sting her small bum,
And she would be glum,
And feel dumb,
And her stomach would ache,
So for goodness sake,
Alice,
DON'T DRINK COW'S MILK!

Photos of Mor-mor's visit to come.