I havne't spoken much at all about Isabella's language development. I guess that is something that I should add here as I am always asked about her language development (English vs Finnish). People want to know what she speaks more, what she understands more, etc. And most of the time i can't really give an answer. Because I have no idea how things are for her at daycare. And since the daycare staff really don't speak English, they can't really tell me anything very detailed. That in itself creates a problem because I can assume that all that she says in English (although somewhat clear to me) might not be understood by them so they may think that she is just blabbering to herself (and in fact, she is often entertaining herself with Dora dialogue all on her own).
So, I would have to say that she seems to initiate more English words and the sentences are beginning...like "Daddy help" or "There he is" or even "If you see a puddle, say puddle" (that one was really funny...and again, a line taken from Dora because I think that she put the word puddle in there herself as we were outside after it had rained.) In English she also knows possessive's now...so she says "Mama's hair" every time she finds my hair somewhere and then she brings it to me...lucky me! And she points to our plates at dinnertime and says "mama's dinner" "daddy's dinner". She also has a sense of herself since she can refer to herself. And she can also make things plural...although Taneli did point out that she said "monies" when he showed her a bunch of coins! hahaha! I think his expectations are a little too high.
As for Finnish, she understands it (I am not sure if it is equally or not) but she says more daycare related things in Finnish...so like I think I have mentioned before, she changed saying "more" into the Finnish "lisää"...since if she wants more breakfast or lunch (which she eats at daycare) she has to say it in Finnish. She started to refer to her outside clothing in Finnish also. She is also making small sentences in Finnish such as "Ta on mun" which is slang for "This is mine". When she wants something taken off she uses the Finnish word "pois" which means "away"- so a bib or jacket or socks, etc. If I can think of more examples, I will try to add them.
One thing that she does is say goodbye to everything. So when we leave the playground, as we walk away, she turns and waves and says "bye, bye slide". And on Monday when we went out to look for a new couch as the car drove away from the building, she waved and said "bye, bye home". It was soooo cute!
It also seems to be these days that she can say anything you want her to say. So if I say to her "say Canada" she will say it easily. I even tried a word that had about 4 or 5 syllables (unfortunately I can't remember the word right now) but she was able to say it. She amazes me everyday all the language she picks up. And now I have the ability to learn more Finnish just by hearing what she can say!
I came back from Istanbul and brought Isabella a couple of bracelets and a couple for me...but she liked the look of all of them! She was so funny because she kept her arms perched at a 90 degree angle for a long time. She really took to them!
