Madeleine has accumulated many new words over the past few weeks; in fact, at her 15-month checkup, when the doctor asked me how many words Madeleine has, I was unable to give an accurate answer because there are too many for a quick head count. With the accumulation of new words, she seems to have dropped some old words from her vocabulary. "Shit" is long gone, thank goodness, but she has also ceased to use "Mama" as her all-purpose word/substitute for any other word she is not yet able to say. When she wants someone to read her favorite book, Peek-a-Who?, she no longer holds the book out crying, "Mama!," but instead hands it to the intended reader, saying, "Boo?" Additionally, she's increasingly capable of repeating words we say to her, so that many of our conversations go like this:
ME: Madeleine, are you ready to take a bath?
MADELEINE: (toddling towards the bathroom door) Ba! Ba!
ME: Let's take off your socks.
MADELEINE: Soss. Soss.
ME: No no touch the stove, Madeleine, it's hot!
MADELEINE: No. No. Ha! Ha!
Unfortunately, this principle does not seem to apply to the word Mama. Replacing "Mama" with other, more contextually correct words seems to have erased it from her vocabulary altogether, meaning she longer uses the word to refer to me, either. Attempts to revive the word results in something like this:
ME: Madeleine, can you say Daddy?
MADELEINE: Daddy!
ME: Can you say Julia?
MADELEINE: Jouwee!
ME: Can you say Mommy?
MADELEINE: Doo doo!
ME: Can you say Mommy?
MADELEINE: Daddy?
ME: Can you say Mommy?
MADELEINE: Do dee!
ME: Can you say Mommy?
MADELEINE: (pointing at some random thing) Whatzat?
I think she'll go back to using it as soon as she's done revamping her brain files with newly acquired words. Love Yiayia
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