Mind your language...

[oloriel]

Felix is currently in one of the many "difficult phases" kids go through; among other things, he now gets really angry and throws a tantrum when we don't obey his every whim, crying violently, throwing stuff around and hitting people. Difficult phase for mommy, too, because what happened to my sweet-tempered toddler? :P Yes, yes, I know, part of the normal development of volition and identity, absolutely indispensible, yadda yadda. Still difficult!

However, at the same time he is being adorable. He talks a lot (when he is NOT having one of his furios fits) now, often incomprehensible syllable combinations but he also likes to echo things he picks up from us. (Not so ideal when I was talking on the phone and Jörg was telling me about one of his colleagues who had been behaving like a real prick, so I said Was für'n Arsch! ("What an asshole!") - and Felix piped up "Aaach! Aaach!". Oops! Now we're officially in "Mind your language!" territory!

But just now, we had the most amazing conversation. (Well, amazing for proud parents. Bear with me.)
I was actually trying to coax him into trying to say his name - I didn't expect him to succeed because [f], [l] and [ks] are all sounds he can't yet reliably produce, but it would be nice to know what he comes up with! (I'm suspecting that sometimes when he says "Bebi", he actually means "Felix".)
Anyway, the following conversation ensued:
Me: Felix?
Felix: Ja! ["Yes!"]
Me: Bist du der Felix? ["Are you Felix?"]
Felix: Ja!
Me: Wie ist dein Name? ["What is your name?"]
Felix: Mei nahm! ["My name!"]

The amazing thing is not that he repeated the end of my sentence - as I said, he does that a lot at the moment. The amazing thing is, of course, the conversion of dein into mein: Presumably, not an accident (he can pronounce both [d] and [m] without difficulty, and they're articulated in different places too) but the actual understanding that "your" turns into "my" when the addressee turns into the speaker. Which is... quite an accomplishment, I think? I mean, those are complicated concepts for someone who is only just beginning to codify the world and only just discovering self-awareness.
So... YAY! Clever little fellow. (Never mind that he can't pronounce his name! ;)) I'll keep my ears open to find out if he does this consistently!

EDIT: I forgot to relate his great feat from a few days back! Backstory: Felix loves to take a bath with his daddy, and because otherwise I get to do most of the fun and not so fun stuff with Felix, bathing is strictly daddy-time. Anyway, on Monday, Jörg came back from work pretty late. So...
Jörg: Sollen wir jetzt noch in die Wanne? ["Should we go into the tub at this late time?"]
Felix: Baden! ["Bathe!"]
That settled it! So he not just repeats things, he can also 'translate' concepts into words that he can say. \o/

Comments

[tuxedo-elf.livejournal.com]

Marcus is in that stage too. It's... hard, to put it mildly. Incredibly clingy, tantrums whenever put down, cries at everything, throws things everywhere! (He's broken our toilet, no joke... there's a toy car jammed in it!) But I try (so hard!) to remember that he's developing constantly and that's hard on him too! As they say - this too shall pass!

[oloriel.livejournal.com]

Yes, it really is trying. And half an hour later, Felix will be the sweetest person ever, giving you a hug and a kiss... and you completely forget how much he misbehaved earlier! (Oh dear! I hope Felix won't try anything like that too soon! O.ó)
The best thing are the well-meaning relatives who will say encouraging things like "Small kids, small worries" or "You'll be wishing for these days when he's a teenager and tries out drugs..." Hurrah. >_>