Here's a page dedicated to the cutest and most noteworthy 'quotables', created, in particular, for those hard-core Kaya fans. It's a toss up as to whether to share them here or in the blog posts, as many of them exemplify progress and stages that she's experiencing with her language...but for now, here they are...enjoy them as you may!
Tuesday Afternoon, Jan. 17, 2012
Bedtime Improves!
Lately, Kaya's bedtime routine has looked a bit like this:
jammies
brush teeth
brush hair
read two stories
listen to an oral story
sing two songs in the rocker and snuggle
get in bed
Geoff often has more patience for the longer story-times than I do--I'm impressed he'll read two books AND tell her a story...but all in all, our processes have been about this for the past few months. The only part I didn't add was the part about the crying at the end. Every since the Schnulli-fairy came in December, Kaya has mostly struggled to fall asleep on her own, without crying, telling us that she's hungry, complaining of a stomach-ache, or all of the above. Tonight, however, was one of the few exceptions we've experienced and Geoff was excited to tell me all about it when I got home from tutoring.
After he'd read one long story, and then told her about the turtle who didn't think he could play basketball because he didn't have hands, he sang her favorite, Twinkle Twinkle.
G: I'm going to sing another song, ok?
K: No. Just one song. I want to go to the bed.
Once in bed, she quickly noticed that her new baby (the one that we just picked up at Swapnplay yesterday) was sharing the space:
K: I don't want the baby in my bed. I want her in her own bed. Don't forget to put the blanket on her.
And with that, she turned on her side, snuggled into her blankets, and went to sleep...without a peep.
Monday Afternoon, Jan. 16, 2012
Gaining Confidence with Strangers
At Swap:
Friday Morning, Dec. 30, 2011
Self-Correction
This morning, at the doctor's office, I noticed that Kaya corrected her own grammar structure in German--something I've heard her do recently on a few other occasions, but not as overtly as she did this morning as we were exiting the bathroom:
Kaya: Wenn ich Lulu muss gehen...(3 second pause)...wenn ich Lulu gehen muss, sage ich dir. [When I have to pee go...when I have to go pee...I'll tell you.]
Later that evening, I heard her in a conversation with Geoff, around a similar topic, exhibiting German grammar structures with English words (yes!!! Her German is triumphing over her English!):
Kaya: You say me when you need to go pee.
For those non-German speakers and/or grammar-freaks like myself: The verb 'sagen', in German, means to say or tell, but in German, there's never a preposition used, like we use in English with the verb 'say', which clearly Kaya hasn't picked up on yet.)
Wednesday Morning, Dec. 14, 2011
Language Awareness
On the way to the play park, while we were driving in the car, Kaya engaged in this conversation with me which I found very interesting:
Kaya: Wie heisst der Platz, wo wir gehn? [What's the name of the place we're going?]
Mama: Indoor Play Park.
Kaya: ...(pause, seemingly processing)...Das ist auf Englisch! [That's in English!] (said quite excitedly)
Mama: Ja, das stimmt. [Yeah, that's right!]
Kaya: Warum hast du das auf Englisch gesagt? [Why did you say that in English?]
Mama: Ich weiss eigentlich nicht, wie so 'was auf Deutsch heisst, ich benutze deswegen den englischen Namen. [I don't actually know what something like that is called in German, so I just used the english name.]
A few minutes later, she continued in her observations of language:
Kaya: Ich spreche English mit Dada und...wenn ich aufgeregt bin...wie heisst das? [I speak English with Dada and...when I'm excited...what's that called?]
Mama: Was? [What?]
Then, it hit her, and she suddenly remembered what she was wanting to say in English...
Kaya: I'm excited!
I was QUITE excited, and have been lately, that she's been searching for terms in English instead of in German!
Tuesday Morning, Dec. 13, 2011
Eager to Share, Curious as to How
As we were sitting at the table this morning, eating breakfast and getting ready to make our weekly trip to OMSI (Oregon Museum of Science and Industry), Kaya struggled to find a word in English that she was easily able to express in German. Oh, how I DO rejoice in moments like these!!
Kaya: Ich will Grams and Grampa sagen, dass wir gestern bei dem Zoo waren und mit dem Zug gefahren sind. [I want to tell Grams and Grampa that we were at the zoo yesterday and rode with the train!]
Mama: OK. Du kannst das ihnen morgen erzaehlen, wenn du da bist. [OK. You can tell them that tomorrow when you are there.]
Kaya: Aber...wie sagt man das auf Englisch? [But...how do you say that in English?]
Mama: Was, Zoo? [What, zoo? (pronounced like Tsoh)]
Kaya: Ja. [Yeah]
Mama: Zoo. [Zoo]
On an exciting grammatical note, Kaya used perfect word order twice with her dependent conjuntion, 'dass', which kicks the conjugated verb to the end of the clause (waren and sind).
December 7, 2011
Missin' Mama
Kaya was asking me what her day would look like after we went to swimming lessons this morning (Was machen wir danach? [What are we doing after that?]) When I told her that she'd be going to Gram's and Grampa's, and that I'd be going to the gym, she hesitated, and then so sweetly said, "Ich werde dir vermissen..." [I'll miss you...].
For the record, Kaya used the dative pronoun, 'dir', instead of the more accurate accusative one, 'dich'.
December 5, 2011
Her first official Santa-request
(in the middle of Geoff telling her a story about a beaver using his tail to kick the ball...)
Kaya: (laughing) Dat's funny. I use my legs to kick da boh. ...Daddy, I want you to take me somewhere to kick a soccer ball.
Geoff: OK...Maybe you'll get a soccer ball for Christmas. Maybe Santa will bring you one?
Kaya: Yeah!
(Geoff continues to tell the beaver story, at which point, she interrupts him, eagerly...)
Kaya: Daddy, Daddy, Daddy, Daddy...can you tell him for me that I want him to bring me a ball? Here's a page dedicated to those quotables for those hard-core Kaya fans:
