40 + words

At the risk of raining on the parade of family members - who, when they see Emma, inevitably think that they've just taught her a new word in the bat of an eyelash, I wanted to run through her current vocab as she hits the 18 month mark.(!!!)

The mix of languages means that recently, the kindegarden teacher thought she was saying "Achtung!"("careful" in German) and not "Attend!" ("wait" in French)...

1. "Aïe" = "Ouch" in French (sometimes used to make us stop doing something even if I am pretty sure nothing is really hurting)
   
2. Emma - pronounced "Amma"
3. Attend - "wait" in French
   
4. Balle - pronounced "baaa" (ball in French)
   
5. Bain - "Bath" in French
6. Baby
   
7. Boire - pronounced "béa" (to drink in French)
8. "Njam njam" is for food, hungry, meal, lunch, dinner, etc.
9. Dodo - kiddie French for "sleep"
10. Bravo - pronounced proudly "bavo" or "bavow" (definitely a favorite!
11. Hello - pronounced "Allô" (for hello on the phone or hello in the street)
12. Salut - "Hello" in French which she pronounces as "ya-uuu"
13. Bye bye
    
14. Tschüss - an informal "Bye Bye" in German (she often says "Tchü-u" like "chew" in English)
    
15. "Datzi" - this she says as "thank-you" and is a mix of "danke" and "merci"
16. "Dako" - d'accord is "ok" in French
17. Thé - tea in French
    
18. Papà - Daddy in French, but also "bye bye" in German and Serbian kiddie talk
19. Maman - pronounced "môman" - also sometimes "Mama" or "Mum"
20. Deda - Grandpa in Serbian
21. Nonna - Grandma in Italian
22. Pata - for Patricia (her Grandpa's wife)
23. Gogo - for her other Grandma
24. Tatayéyé - for her aunt Annabel
    
25. "Yapu" or "yapeew" - Il n'y a plus = "there is no more" in French (--> finished)
    
26. "Ko" - for "encore" = "more" in French
27. "Bah" - when something is dirty or disgusting (nappies, garbage, mud...)
28. Pas bon - (literally means "not good" in French) when she does not like something
29. Lait - milk in French
30. Non! Non! Non! - also the German version "nein". Goodness she says this a lot!
    
31. Nez - "nose" in French pronounced "né
    
32. Opalah - Pronounced "Opaya" meaning something has fallen or that she has dropped it
33. "Vao vao" means dog - but she sometimes uses it for other animals like reindeer
    
34. Quack quack - for duck
35. Mao - for cat (she means "meow")
36. Muuu - for the cow
    
37. Schatzi - pronounced "tatzi" is what one of her favorite teachers at kindergarden calls her (kitten in German)
38. Tiens - "here" in French (literally "hold") both when she hands us something or wants us to hand her whatever she is pointing to
39. Woilà - from the French "Voilà" = (t)here you go
    
40. Chaussures (shoes in French) - pronounced "shushur"
41. Poo - for "Winnie the poo"
42. Poh-poh - for when she's done her business, only she "lies" about this sometimes
    
43. Beep beep - (from the refrain in the song "the horn on the bus goes 'beep beep beep' all day long")
44. "Wa-und wa-und" - (from the refrain in the song "the wheels of the bus go 'round and round" all day long...")

Gosh, I hope I've got them all now...

She recognizes way more words than she actually uses herself, although it seems that she is learning new ones very quickly at the moment - she actually watches our lips move as we say things and conscientiously tries to imitate the sounds we produce.

There are, however, some things she says we have not been able to identify (are they Emma words, German words or a mix of languages?) like "Ebaiiii" that she sings out so joyfully. Is it perhaps "bonne nuit" (good night in French)?