Zoe met a little friend at the park today, and as they chased each other holding hands through a gazebo littered with old metro cards, I chatted with the dad. He gave me the best metaphor for parenting a toddler! His daughter is 21 months, and I was amazed at how vocal she was-- clear 3 word sentences flowed. Since Zoe pretty much grabs one word and sticks with it forever, this seems like a tall order to expect from her in the next few months. (Example: After our recent trip to Michigan, Zoe learned the word "Nana" for her grandma. She now calls every picture in a book-- photos of family, animals, monsters-- "Nana" with gusto!) This dad told me how much her language skills have progressed over the past couple of months. He said he always said having her was like living with a drunk Icelandic person. Now, he says, it is more like living with a drunk Frenchman. He doesn't speak any Icelandic, but he speaks a little bit of French.
Currently, we enjoy Zoe's Icelandic nonsense babble, but it will be fun to see the French emerge! And I think we can all agree when watching her walk, grabbing items out of her hand, and feeding her that the drunken roommate metaphor works perfectly!
