Great, says Tara. I'll fit Baby in, and this little book, too!But ah, unfortunately things are a bit more complex. Lots of people everywhere that need to be understood and named. Take grandma. Tara called her Mama for a few days, and then learned to call her Amma (Oma). Grandpa (Opa) is so much more confusing - of course he isn't Papa, but he's the only man around, so is he Appa, or Papa now?
Tante Claudia, Mama's sister. Amma? Caudilja (!)? Or Amma Aia?
Babay Lia? BeBe! But is that the same as BeBe for baby, or is it more like BeBe for Püppi (dolly)? Now Nirit, Lia's mum. Mama or Amma or what?
Tara is clearly pleased to find that so many people are her friends&family. She cries for them all when they leave her company. Wrinkles her forhead, and calls for amma, regardless of which amma-or-other has just left her, in woeful tones before she adds a pitiful bye-ya!
I stand by and marvel at the great social intelligence of my baby girl, and wonder what goes on in her little head when she sorts, shifts, classes and names people.
Three days to go, and the whole exercise gains another dimension when there's a new set of ammas and other folk that are called abuela/o and tia/o!
3 comments:
Hey Tari,
I will gladly travel with you to Spain if you agree to carry me all the way. I will help you sort, shift, and class your Spanish family. I heard we don't need a coat over there, so Honey, I'm with ya! To say 'hi-ya!' and 'olà!' and 'o-ya', 'que tal-ya?'! We could stay for a couple of weeks, and then you can carry me to North Carolina, where I will help you to sort the Amrican 'r' (not to be confused with the British 'aaah'). Sorry to tell you that there are no 'caaaahs' in North Carolina. But that won't matter, cause we travel by basket.
Your Püppi Lia
Wait, did Lia shrink? She looks quite tiny in that basket...Or it is that Ms. Tara is really a GIANT baby?
Can I see a photo with the girls standing next to something of size that I would be familiar with? An apple perhaps? Or banana?
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