Words

Virginia is going through a mental growth spurt and says just about a new word a day. Of course sometimes her "new" words are words she has been saying for a while but were hard to distinguish from baby babbel without context, like "wubu" (I love you) and "Sah tee" (Socrates - our cat).

One of the reasons Virginia is learning so many new words is that she has started pointing to things and saying "wassis?" (what's this?). I try to always answer with one simple, clear, word so she can keep naming all the things in her universe.

A few days ago I was wearing a shirt I had purchased at the Athens human rights festival. It has "om" written in the middle of the design.



I told her "om." She said "om!" Then I chanted it. "Ooooommmmm," she said. Then she touched my shirt and said it. Not only did she learn a new word, but she can read it. Yeah, it's not English, but I think it's pretty cool the first word she read was in Sanskrit. Maybe I'll teach her "haum" next.