Conversing with Anya

I am getting more and more fun derived from conversing with Anya these days. At coming to 17 months old, her vocabulary is still limited to a handful. Most of the times, communication from her is still non-verbal or one-word answer. Interestingly, it is sufficed (at least for now) for me to have an insight at what goes on in her little head.

Here is two snippets that are replaying (fortunately or unfortunately, depending how you look at it) almost every day in our lives:

She refuses to call me! - And sometimes her daddy too!
Background: She has been able to call her grandparents, her Daddy and Muffin for sometime now. While she knows "Mommy" means me, she simply refuses to address me.

Me: "Anya, can you say "Mommy"?
Her: "Ahh-ma!" (meaning paternal grandma)
Me: "Anya, who is Mommy?
Her: *points at me*
Me: "Okay, then can you call Mommy?"
Her: "Ahh-ma!"
Me: (Decides to change tact) "Anya, how about Daddy? Can you say Daddy?"
Her: "Deh-ddi!"
(The Husband comes along and join in the conversation)
Me: "Anya, can you call Daddy?"
Her: "Ah-Gong!" (meaning paternal grandfather)
Me: "No, no, no.. You know how to say 'Daddy' right? Can you please call Daddy?"
Her: *a short pause* "Dee.."
The Husband: "Yes, Anya!" (The Husband believes that tonality will help based on our experience on how she could mimick us in callingThe Furkid in high-pitch voice) *In similar dog-calling voice* "Anya, can you call 'MAHHH-MEE'?
Her: "Ar-Fin!" (meaning "Muffin"-Furkid's name)
Me: ( -____-``)
The Husband: "No, Anya. You know Mommy right? *nods in my direction* "Can you say Mahmee?"
Her: "Arrrr-Finn!! Ah-Ma! Ah-gong! Ah-ma!"


She recognises a deal when she sees one
Me: "Honey, it's bath-time. Shall we go take your bath?"
Her: *shakes head vehemently*
Me: "Okay... Or how about we have some orange juice then we go and take your bath?"
Her: *nods her head happily and skippity-hop to her sofa to sit down and await her OJ*
(And yes, most of the time, she will willingly wait outside the bathroom for me to undress her after she finishes her OJ)


This third one, is a one-time off that happened yesterday.
 She is a budding fashionista
Me: *reaching for The Straits' Time's Urban and in exclaimation* "Woohoo! H&M is here!"
Her: "Woohoo~!" *does a little dance*


My baby, this is why I love my job so much. :)