Language

Two thoughts on language for today. I have never spoken Russian nor have I understood it; however, I did take Russian literature and history throughout university. All of these classes were taught by professors who regularly broke into Russian and, thus, I gained a feel for the Slavic languages. It is with this knowledge in mind that I have decided that Joseph is far better suited to Russian than to English. He has a deep guttural baby voice and I keep expecting baby phrases from Dostoevesky rather than Beatrix Potter. Perhaps the Slavic blood runs strong in this boy.
My second language thought for the day is concerning Benjamin. Little Benjo is at the 'rapidly advancing' stage in his language development. I find this stage absolutely fascinating as he makes gains in his language daily, if not hourly. I can see firsthand as he absorbs what he hears and then tries to use it with those around him. Of course, this phase is not without humour as many of his attempts are missteps at best. Lots of his words are amalgamations of two words or contain a mistake in one of the vowels or consonants. I often wish that I could replace many of my own words with Benjo's versions. The latest Benjoism was yesterday when he picked up his food to smell it. He happily pronounced, "I'm snoofing, Mommy. I'm snoofing!" I think that life would be far more enjoyable if we could stop and snoof the flowers; if I had the snoofles instead of a cold; and if Sammy was better at snoofing than he is at chewing children's toys.
And regarding the above picture: that is a real baby behind that book ... "Let no one despise your youth..."; "I have studied your word from my youth..." :))