Friday, September 5, 2008

Lydia, the Chinese puppy

Lydia likes to talk. She only has about 15 (maybe 20??) words, but she's not afraid to use them. [Her animal sounds repertoire is also growing, but the Lydia version of a cow says "booooooo" and her duck says "dak dak dak", so she's far from accurate - but gets lots of points for trying hard!]

In the past few days, she's developed a slightly alarming habit. If I point to a picture of Lydia, she'll look right at it and say, "狗狗".

"No, you silly girl", I respond, "that's Lydia".

But still, I point again and she delightedly exclaims, "狗狗"

Problem? 狗狗 means puppy, in Chinese. And she knows what a puppy is. I swear she does. When we see a puppy outside she says, "狗狗". When we see a picture of a puppy she says, "狗狗".

But when she looks at a picture of herself? Well, some wires must get crossed, because she grins and says, "狗狗".

Maybe she wishes she was a puppy?

I was curious as to how Lydia would choose to refer to herself. Julianna (who called herself "Nana" for months) referred to her baby sister as "idia" until this past winter. I was thinking Lydia's rendering of her own name would be similar. But now she's really got me stumped.... surely she's not going to call herself 狗狗!!!

2 comments:

Julie Redfern said...

That is so cute! Justin taught Will that a turtle says Whoa, dude! It came from Finding Nemo and it is so cute the way he says it. I am sure you smile every time Lydia calls her self a puppy.
Love Julie

Anonymous said...

I agree with Julie - what a sweet way to refer to oneself. She'll know the difference one day - OR better yet, she already knows and has a great sense of humor - a common trait among the Crissman clan. Love you guys!