Accent

I suppose it had to happen. But the speed at which G has gone from a fairly generic toddler-type voice to a broad Manchester accent has taken me a bit by surprise.

At her old nursery, she picked up a few words with a bit of an Oldham sound, which she occasionally dropped in ("mun-keh" was a particular favourite of mine). But those seemed to have faded away since we moved to our new place and she started at a new nursery in town.

That was until last week. One day, I noticed G had started talking like a Manc. It seemed to come on almost overnight, but it was definitely there. A sort of verbal tic in which she goes up-then-down during a sentence, then up again at the very end. Not just as a one-off though, this is now how she says every single sentence. As you can imagine, it gets slightly wearing after about the 5,000th time. It's going to take a bit of getting used to.

Until that day, G is better seen rather than heard. So toys like this Thomas the Tank Engine jigsaw which she spent ages quietly doing, then taking apart, then doing again on the kitchen table, are my current preferred entertainment for her.

Deep Dark Wood

While Mrs J did a 10k run through the Forest of Dean in Saturday's sweltering heat, the two of us did something rather more pleasant and visited the area's newest attraction. It's a trail based on The Gruffalo book, one of G's favourite reads. This was a good idea partly because it was an opportunity to further encourage G's interest in books, and mostly because it was in the woods and therefore completely in the shade.

The trail itself features scenes from the book recreated by huge wood carvings. G toddled along to each one, identified the characters, recited a bit of the relevant dialogue to herself, then toddled on along the trail. She enjoyed it enough to be worth a return visit, not least because she's not really old enough to enjoy the adventure playground at the end.

Although G's language is improving all the time, she still has trouble with the word Gruffalo. "Gwoh-woh!" she says every time, just as she has done ever since I first read it to her ages ago. Back then a few sounds was all she could really manage, but now she could probably say it properly if she really put her mind to it. Or I could always try to persuade Julia Donaldson to change it for the next sequel. I'm so used to "Gwoh-woh" now, I think it's got a certain ring to it.

Cheese Sandwich

G has always had a healthy appetite. But if there's something she likes more than anything else, it's bread-related products. Breadsticks and crumpets were an early favourite when she was still just a few months old, and sandwiches and (whisper it) cake rarely last long in her presence these days.

Unfortunately, as her talking improves, G has developed the ability to ask for what she wants at mealtimes. And what she wants is a cheese sandwich. Always.

After I spent the afternoon making roast pork for tea on Sunday, she took a look at the plate in front of her and picked around the food doubtfully. The conversation went something like this:

G: "Cheese sandwich?"

Me: "No, eat the food you've got."

G: "Cheese sandwich?"

Me: "No darling, look at all that yummy food daddy's made for you. Mmm, yummy."

G: "Cheese sandwich?"

And so on. Eventually, after she realised she really wasn't going to get a cheese sandwich, G started eating. She did eat most of her roast pork in the end, which just proves how devious even two-year-olds can be. Me and Mrs J had finished ours by this point, and went to hide in the kitchen to eat pudding, so G wouldn't want that instead. Which perhaps proves how devious parents can be.

As the picture shows, I gave G a cheese sandwich for lunch today though. As G herself has learned to say: "Mmm... nice!"

Bye Bye

G seems to pick up something new every week, if not every day. Her latest trick is saying "bye bye" whenever anyone leaves the room, or whenever she does. And if there aren't any other people, she's happy to say it to any teddies that might be in sight.

This is extremely cute, but it brings its own problems. At a family get-together at the weekend, G insisted on waving goodbye and giving kisses to everyone before leaving. I'm going to have to start allowing extra time whenever I take her anywhere. At least until she learns something else.

Dadadadadadadadada

G can talk, a bit. She can say dog and duck and mama and dada. Much to Mrs J's irritation, it's the last one she usually says when she opens her mouth. The daily scene when Mrs J comes in from work every evening now goes something like this.:

Mrs J: "Hello my little girl!"

G: "Dada!"

Mrs J: "No, that's dada over there, I'm mama. Can you say mama?"

G: "Dada!"

Mrs J (getting slightly exasperated): "No darling, I know you've been having fun with dada all day but mama's been working hard and she wants you to say mama."

G: "Dadadadadadadadada!"

I don't think G is doing it to annoy her mum. In fact I'm sure she doesn't really know what she's saying. I think the delighted reaction she gets from me whenever she says dada means she now produces it whenever she gets excited and wants some attention. Which, as anyone who has ever spent time with a one-year-old baby will know, happens quite a lot.

I'm sure she'll extend her vocabulary soon. I certainly hope she does, if only to persuade Mrs J I'm not spending my days secretly training G to say dada and nothing else.