Konichiwa

Konichiwa--Japanese for "good afternoon"


Wonder how I'm so up on my Japanese?

I owe it all to my son.  Japanese seems to be his fluent language these days.  He's teaching me all kinds of words I've never heard before.

Don't believe me?  Have a listen.

And though Japanese is seemingly his primary language here lately, he's excelling quite well in his English, as well.

At the ripe little age of 19 months, these are the words my little bilingual boy can rattle off:
* blue
* Ma {Grandma}
* Cis {Uncle Curtis}
* Jude
* Mom {I'm no longer momma.  Just plain ol' mom. Sniffle.}
* Gigi
* hat
* hot
* Jett
* Jett's
* no {his favorite}
* down
* up
* snack
* more
* uh oh
* go
* that
* banana
* jayhawk {it's kaw kawk, but still...ROCK CHALK, baby!}
* sky
* tv
* lights
* on
* out
* green
* Mama down! {I was standing on a chair dusting our fans & he insisted I get down.}
* Row row boat {when he wants a boat ride in the laundry basket}
* Oh, Dada! {He thinks Daddyboy is so silly & he throws his head back while saying this.}

{No, I don't have all of these words in my memory.  That's what the NOTES app on my iphone is for.  Every time Meatball busts out a new word or tiny sentence, I jot it down in my handy dandy smartphone.  Technology...gotta love it.}


He is adding words & phrases to his vocabulary every single day & Jared & I both stand in awe at how much he hears & repeats.  He's a little sponge, just sopping up all that he can in these precious, tender, toddler years.  These little words he's repeating are slowly beginning to form tiny sentences, & before long I know they will be full blown paragraphs.

Our little guy is sure growing up quick.

And though I can't understand half of what he says & I find myself spending an awful lot of time {especially during tantrums} telling him to "use your words", the truth is, I love that tiny little voice of his.  I love that he's got so much to say & in his mind he knows exactly what all that jibberish means.  I love hearing his vocabulary leap & bound & watching the big grin stretch across his face when he realizes he's speaking our {actual} language.

But right now, I gotta say, I am really lovin' the Japanese.

So on that note...

Konbanwa--Japanese for good night.