Hair In Two Syllables

Living near your grandchildren is interesting because you see all the changes going on with them as they grow. Recently, both girls have started to make two syllables out of one syllable words. However this trend only applies to words ending in ere or air. So words such as hair become hai-er, there becomes ther-er, and so it goes. Caitlin, the two year old, is most famous for this speech pattern but Sylvie, at four, does it as well. 

Then there's the, "I did it," after everything Caitlin accomplishes. You cannot help but cheer after every such utterance because she announces it with such excitement. She was fascinated with going up and down the stairs on the balcony recently and proudly proclaimed her success.

Sylvie's new thing is the sentence, "I have a question for you," and you cannot predict what is coming. It can be about something that she or you are currently doing or something entirely off topic. If the past predicts the future, Caitlin will soon have a question for us as well.

The funniest times occur when Caitlin says things that the rest of us do not understand. Sylvie translates on those occasions.

Meanwhile, Rick and I shake our heads in amazement as both girls learn and grow.

"I'm so tired I have to sit in the chai-er," I said after playing with the girls for a few hours. You are never too old to learn.