Kek-chup & Tee

These last weeks, Tara's turned into a sponge that not only absorbs new stuff, but also spits is back out. Literally, more or less. "Quiche" - eat some, stick a hand in, rub some in your face, decide it's a favourite, and call quiche and juice quiche for the next days (juice?!). Touch it up, and it's more likely to stick. No, now I don't mean stick in the quiche-in-your-hair or the raisins-on-your-rug sense. I mean learning by involving all the senses. Baby sponge absorption. Take tea. Spotted a box a baby tea with a teddy bear on it in my cupboard. Points and ugh-ughs. "Das?" sagt Mama, "Das ist TEE". "Teeej? Tee?" sagt Tara und wird mit der Box für so schöne Aussprache belohnt. And before you know it, you've got tea all over the house, right next to the pile of raisins on the carpet, and she remembers the word. Unlike raisins, which she's messed up and about so much she should be able to write extensive literature about it by now.

Another new one, "pitsch" ('splash'). Playing with water in the sink, and Tara throwing everything within reach in. Pitsch, mummy says, and pitsch, and pitsch. Tara lurves pitsch! Two days later in the kitchen she points at the sink (FULL of dirty plates and horrible water), and insists, "PIK-CH!"

Or a new favourite food that I'm sorry was ever introduced, ketchup ('food' being flattery, of course). Tara loves the stuff. With ketchup, anything goes. So over tea, she caught sight of the bottle and started pointing and shouting, aah-aah, meaning 'feed me THAT, NOW!'
So daddy says: "Come on Tara, say it, KETCHUP!"
Mummy: "Sag Ketchup!"
Papi: "Ketchup, ketchup!"
Mama: "Tara, versuch mal: KET-SCHUP"
Papi: Tara, KET-CHUP"
Tara: "Kek-chup!"
Mummy: "Dammit, Papi, you promised! Now you've got to give her more..."

And on it goes, a couple of words every day, since she started nursery again. We're absolutely awed by it, and charmed too.

Come on, let's get more stuff to stick!*

* The honey in mummy laptop? Nothing to do with Tara, honest. A mummy accident with a hunny crumpet, I think I remember.