Category: Family

It’s been a long time since we’ve blogged, and I hope to do more soon, but for now I want to record words. New words from Eva and old words from Aidan that I want to cherish. This is more for my own records than anything else, but I hope you get a chuckle or two out of it as well. 🙂

Eva is 18 months old today. A week ago we attempted to write down the words she knew by now, and this is what we came up with. For the most part, they are in the order that she first spoke them, starting at about a year of age. And for the record, she signed “please” long before these words and still uses the sign today.

—“Uh-oh!” (which is usually “on purpose” after dropping her sippy off the high chair, etc)
—“Mama” (though is sadly now “Mom” after listening to older sibs say it that way)
—“Dada” (though until recently, forgotten for the last several months—Dad has been “MOM!”)
—“Ti-koo” (“Thank you”—LOVE that this was her fourth word and is still used often to give us something or with an outstretched hand if she wishes to have something)
—“der-ygo” (“There you go”—while giving us something)
—“dis” (“this”—pointing to something or asking for it)
—“doe” (“door”—usually followed by a huge push to shut the door, as she knows we are about to keep her out of the bathroom or back porch)
—“tash” (“trash”—loves to deposit her diaper in the trash, or other small things she finds on the floor….are we making her OCD??)
—“bouw” (“ball” or balloon)
—“shoosh” (“shoes”—this girl LOVES her shoes!)
—“sok-sok” (“socks”—this girl takes her socks off immediately if not tied down by the shoes)
—“daw-daw” (usually with a squeal meaning “dog”, or squirrel or anything else remotely resembling a small animal—she is SO excited by them! This is also not to be confused with “da da” though they sound an awful lot alike)
—“hi!” (mostly says “hi” with arms waving excitedly as she spots an animal or a small child)
—“hey-yo” (“hello” with hand to her cheek when she thinks someone’s phone is ringing)
—“go-way!” (sadly learned this from older sibs, though mostly only means it as a statement of her “bigness”)
—“di-po” (“diaper”)
—“eyez” (“eyes” as she pokes hers or someone else’s)
—“bye!”
—“bye-a-way!” (when she is sticking her hand through long sleeve or in a puppet, or a shoe 🙂 )
—“yes”
—“baby”
—“you” (when pointing to a picture of a family member)
—“bi-bo” (“Bible”—my personal fav! She loves her toddler room Bible but as of right now, any book might be called a “bi-bo”)

To me, the one word that is glaringly absent is “no!” which makes my heart happy, though I know I have probably just jinxed myself. She does nod her her head “no” while staring at the CD’s that she is not supposed to pull down on the floor….

Aidan’s list of words is just the opposite of Eva’s—words/phrases that he no longer says or is being phased out as he learns English. But I don’t want to forget them. Again, for the most part, they are in chronological order with the first ones being some of his first English phrases.

—“dis-a-way, no is cold”
—“hot? no, smallbite hot” (meaning it was “warm.” We were regularly telling him to take a “small bite” of his food, so to him, anything small was “smallbite”)
—“Elli boy?” ….crawls under our dog Elli…. “Oh! Elli girl!”
—“dis is no”
—“up-a-stairs”
—anything that started with a “p” he used an “f”: “fasta,” “fotty,” “fee-j’s,” “fatient,” “ficture,” “fockets”
—“no is hot”
—“Aidan no yum” (when he didn’t like something)
—“min?” (we think that is an Amharic word for “what?”)
—in a Christmas song that said “Go Santa,” he said “Hosanna”—not the Bible “hosanna” but his hero friend from the transition house in Ethiopia “Hosanna” who now lives with his new family in California
—“es-coo-bed-er” (combonation of “excuse me”/”scoot over”/”scooby do”)
—“es-cuse-a-me”
—“I no care” (didn’t mean that, he meant he didn’t “know”/”understand”)
—“all of us” (for “everything,” not just “us”)
—“salsage” (sausage)
—“may I scuse please?” (our kids say that before getting up from dinner table)
—“oh, same same” (to show two things are the same)
—“cer-e-o” (meaning “cereal” but combining it with “cheerios” that Eva always ate)
—“daddy, let’s go?” (asking if dad was leaving for work, not asking to go with)
—“zeeper” (zipper)
—“sleepery” (slippery)
—asked me on more than one occasion about God/heaven: “Jesus UP?” “EAT???” (wondering if we eat in heaven—that’s important to him!)
—letting us know he washed his hands for dinner: “my hands yes wash yer hands” or “I’m wash yer hands”
—when someone mentioned I was white, he said “Mommy no white—mommy red and green” (referring to my fair but blotchy red-headed skin and freckles)
—“ha-va-la” (when the kids played the “hot lava” game)
—“watch num-pany” (kids show Electric Company)
—“yes you can’t”
—“jumpoline”
—“I popped my chink!” (combination of chin/neck, meant neck)
—“I forgotmember” (still says this for “forgot/can’t remember”)

And here are a few Amharic words that we don’t want to forget and even the other kids still use occasionally: amaseganalo (thank you), sak/saki (“smile” for a the camera to a boy/girl), tarra-gaga (be gentle), furrus (horse), timert-bate (school), woosha (dog), ambesah (lion), malala (corn), abet? (what?/huh?)

If you’ve managed to read this far, I hope you’ve gotten a laugh or two!