Progress

Caroline is learning to speak.  Oh, not complete sentences yet, her pronunciation is not very good and she's not consistent, but she can say several words and obviously understands a great many more.  Some words that she can more or less say:

• Mama
• Laolao (my wife's mother, aka Caroline's Most Favorite Person in the World)
• Mamaw (my mother)
• Eye
• Spoon
• Plate
• Milk
• Snack
• Ice cream (sensing a pattern here...)
• Night-night

To my regret, "Baba" comes out as "Mama".  I think she does it on purpose!

My mother pointed out just how remarkable this all is.  Four months ago, Caroline had probably never heard any English at all in her young life.  She's only twenty-two months old.  Now, here she is, learning to speak it and certainly to understand it.  A brief story about understanding:

A week or so ago, she was in the kitchen with me while I was cooking breakfast.  To get her out from underfoot while I was frying bacon (her second most favorite food after chocolate), I gave her a sales flier and told her, "Take this to Mama." I had to repeat myself a couple of times, not really expecting her to do anything but perhaps crumple the flier or throw it in the floor.  Instead, she took off through the house, found my wife, and delivered the mail.  How about that!

We are all so proud of her!

Oh, and she ate with chopsticks a few days ago.  We were at our favorite Chinese restaurant (the owner spoils her) and she watched me eating with them.  She demanded that I hand them over and then proceeded to pick up a piece of jiān​jiǎo​ and put it in her mouth.  Incredible!  I don't claim that she can use them on a regular basis, but to do it even once at her age... Wow.

Now, the only drawback to Caroline being rather bright is that she not only understands what we are up to when we start using words like "nap", but she's also smart enough to put up quite a stout resistance.  She knows the difference between being taken to her room for a clean diaper or a change of clothes... and being taken to her room to be put in the crib (which I fear will very soon be unable to contain her).  The former she will accept without complaint.  The latter, on the other hand... The closer we get to the door to her room, the more her bottom lip starts to come out.  Little grunts of suspicion start to become whimpers of protest that rapidly escalate into shrieks of rage that would have Torquemada plugging his ears and telling us to, "Ease up on the kid, for pity's sake!  What sort of sickos are you, anyway???"

I shudder to think what life will be like when she can tell us quite everything that's on her mind!