Jun 20 2008
Baby talk
So babies are too young to understand what we are saying so we shorten words or make it sound ‘cute’ so they can identify with it easily but really, is that something that should be carried out seeing that I personally think that it will not be something good in the long term?
Many parents I know, both family and friends, have made up words to help their kids go potty and stuff like that. I’m not bringing this up in for the sake of pinpointing but to understand why it is done and why I think it should be stopped. One of the challenges that as a parent I know I will face is potty training and it is one major hurdle crossed when Arianna does succeed - in fact, it will be a cause for celebration, I think! 
But in the process of getting to that stage, we’ve starting identifying what to call #1 and #2.
Picture taken from here.
We decided that we’d just use the correct word for it instead of using some of the more common words that I’ve heard back home like ‘put kaka’, ‘uuh-uuh’ [I'm pretty sure I got the spelling wrong but if in Malaysia, this is the sound you make if you are trying to get bubba to poo] or ‘koo-kook’. We’re labeling it as ‘poo’ - ‘Arianna, did you poo? O, you busuk-busuk baby, you!’, followed by many giggles and tickles and me struggling to keep her hands out of the soiled nappy as she had just found out that there is something more beyong her thighs. Many a time, I wish my nose wasn’t working that good….
And as for pee, well…we’re calling it ‘pee’. No such thing as ’shee-shee’ or ‘cee-cee’ in the house. Although I haven’t really found a time to say it since it happens all the time. Later on, once she is bigger and more independant, I’ll be referring to it as the ‘little girl’s room’ as I think asking, ‘Arianna, you wanna go piss?’ in a restaurant is bound to turn more than just a few heads! *lol* In fact, I think asking, ‘Arianna, you wanna go potty?’ sounds more ‘adult’ than ‘You want to uuh-uuh?’, right? All kids wanna be treated like adults and when you do, they love it.
The simple matter of the fact is I just want to teach her the right words from the beginning so that I do not have to ‘un-teach’ her and start on the correct words later on as we all know very well that unlearning something is a lot tougher [and near impossible] than picking it up. I wish I could unlearn swimming and pick up the right way of doing but nup, it ain’t happening.
This also means that dog is doggie, not woof-woof. Cat is cat, not meow-meow and train is train, not choo-choo unless you call is a choo-choo train. 
And mind you, this is just the tip of the iceberg. Kids are picking up things so fast that just 2 days ago, Arianna didn’t know how to wave and then overnight, she started waving her hand whenever I said ‘bye-bye’! I don’t know where she picked it up from, most likely MIL taught her but heck - in a blink, she’s waving her hand. Sheesh, we’ve got to get our swear jar set up soon!! 
It has been agreed that if either one of us swears in front of Arianna, we’ve got to ‘donate’ a gold coin. That is either $1 dollar or $2 over here. I think Ted will bankcrupt faster than me and he already owes a lot to the swear jar!! *lol*
Arianna’s taking a nap now [and it's not 'orrh-orrh', ok?] so I better get to stripping the sheets - the weather has been crap lately and every bit of sunshine is like striking the Lotto!!! That’s winter for you in Sydney…..
*Next time : If you child falls down, is it the floor’s fault?
