Stella-ese

Ga-coo. I think that's how you would spell it. Maybe Gaku. Ghaku? I don't know. This is the first time I've actually tried to phonetically transcribe the word. And Heath didn't nap today, so I am running a bit on empty.

Ga-coo. I've been thinking about this word a lot lately as Stella continues to branch out in her verbal endeavor. When Heath was learning to talk, he found it was easiest to just cut to the chase and immediately say the word. Ball meant ball. Bee-nana meant banana. Mulk meant milk. Choo-choo meant train. Bus meant bus. There was very little effort on our part needed when it came to figuring out what he was trying to say. Except one word. Ga-coo. Actually, I think it might be Ghaku.

He said it most frequently in the car, and often in the baby jogger. At this point I was growing larger by the day with Miss Stella, but still waddling/jogging around town . We still lived in Oakhurst, so our running route was different, but chock full of Heath-related points of interest. We crossed the train tracks on Richland. He would point, and use baby sign language for more, and say, Choo-choo, choo-choo. If we timed it just right, we would have to stop and watch the railroad crossing signal blink and ding and drop down before us.

I would then baby-belly woggle on down past the CMS bus maintenance facility. Row upon row of yellow school buses came and went to collect children, drop them off at school, then came back to rest until early afternoon, when the process would start all over again. Heath would excitedly point, "ask" for more, and squeal, Bus!

And then we would turn left on Craig Avenue, make a pregnant-bladder pit stop in some bushes, then head down to the retirement home. Shortly after that point we would head back, but just before we turned around, Heath would point and say, Ghaku!

For a while we just thought it was a cute baby babbling word, but it became clear that it meant something to him, and he needed it to mean something to us. Eventually we did learn that Ghaku meant motorcycle. And there was a man who lived somewhere close to Craig Avenue who frequently passed us on his ghaku. And when I thought about it, it made a lot of sense. Well, the ku part of it anyway. It seemed he was mimicking the -ycle part of the word. Before I could figure out the Gha- portion, he changed it to mo-cy-coo.

We are definitely having more Ghaku moments with Stella. She just recently started saying Heath. Of course, I didn't know for three days that when she is shrieking Eee, Eee, Eee, she is actually saying, Heath. What do you think she means when she says Apfee? If you guessed Apple Juice, you would be right and would've saved me from having a very tearful, frustrated little girl on my hands when I couldn't figure out what she wanted one day on the beach last week.

Our most recent decoding challenge came on Sunday when we were heading out for our morning baby jog. Everybody was all snuggled in with their Puppy and blanket and milk, when suddenly, Fa-Fa!

What's she saying? Mark and I asked each other. We even deferred to Heath, who frequently knows exactly what she is talking about. We were all stumped. So we went through a list of possible items.

Snack? Response: tearful no.
Piggy? Response: more of the above.
Falafel? Well, now we're just being silly, and she is in no mood for silliness.

Mark had a eureka! moment and asked, You want your monkey? He was referring to her new hot pink monkey wearing an equally hot pink, blue, green, yellow, and purple tie-dyed t-shirt with a peace sign she picked out at the Holden Beach Wings.

Her tears immediately turned to glee and she said, Yeah, yeah! Sweet relief. For everyone.

Mark quickly ran in to get the monkey for Stella. When he handed it to her in the stroller, she reached out and with much love, said, Fa-Fa...and gave him (or her...not really sure what Fa-Fa's gender is) the biggest smooch, right on the monkey mouth.

And it seems she is starting to string some words together to create full sentences, and often, long-winded paragraphs. At least we will be clear on what she means when she says, No Fa-Fa Eeee, Eeee apfee ghaku. (Translation: No, Pink monkey and Heath can't drink apple juice while riding a motorcycle.)