The Girl has been talking more and more, though the developments are slow. She is, after all, learning two languages. She mainly favors English, but she does use a few Polish words, and as any child her age, she has some of her own inventions:

Polish Words

• dać
• uwaga
• tam

English Words

• hug
• socks
• shoe
• milk
• baby
• juice
• hot
• wet
• help
• more
• dog
• pizza
• down

L-isms

• “Ba-ba” is banana.
• “Moo-Moo” is her favorite cheese, aptly named as there’s a drawing of a cow on the package.
• “Meow!” is cat.
• “Shhhh” is sleep.
• “Sha-sha” is outside.

The budding bilingualism can lead to amusement.

When K went to pick L up from daycare, L’s now-good friend, J, helped L gather her things. It’s a daily occurrence, usually looking for “Baby.” L, however, has become particularly fond of a little teddy bear (“miÅ›” in Polish) and that’s her daily companion.

K entered the room and immediately J, helpful as always, began running around the room, looking for the teddy bear, saying, “Misio! Misio!” And so our daughter is only 19 months old and already a language teacher.

On the way out, K told L she should say goodbye to the frog on the door mat.

“Powiedz ‘bye’ żabie,” K suggested.

“Bye, frog!” L responded.