Tuesday, June 15, 2010

me and you, you and me

(The following story may be hard to follow, but it's mostly for my memory, and laughs.)

Like most children, Kiddo mastered the third person first. She can talk about herself all day that way. A few months ago I decided it was time for her to learn about first and second person, so I started talking normally with her. What this has taught her is that she is "you" and I am "I" or "me." Which has led to her classic phrases such as "mama will getchu a glass of milk" when in reality Kiddo is getting the milk not me. Or "Do you want some bread, and peanut butter, and jam?" where she is represented by you, and she'd like a sandwich.

She is really clear on who is who though, because the other day she announced "We are all in the room. Baby [pointing to baby], you [pointing to herself], and me [pointing to me, mama]."

Except she's starting to switch, at unpredictable times. The other night I teased her by saying what she says when she brings me a book: "mama, can you read it?" [another common phrase where, this time, she gets the persons correct]. She amended "to me" at the end of my teasing. Impressed by her correct usage of me, I sought to bring attention to it, so I confirmed "to you?" "No," she replied, "to me."