Daughter 2 came home last night for the weekend. It's lovely to see her but tomorrow, alas... . Today Mr Life, Daughters 1 and 2, Grandson and I went to the Hopetoun House Christmas Fair. That's Hopetoun House above, a very stately home near Edinburgh. The fair is an upmarket sort of event, with lots of well-spoken ladies selling hand-knitting and jewellery and paintings and toys and chutneys and chocolate and so on. We usually take my mother, though last year we didn't go because she was recovering from her operation. It felt strange to be there without her.
Grandson particularly enjoyed seeing the teddies and the Christmas decorations. He was also enthusiastic about Hopetoun's huge crystal chandeliers. As I've said before, he has for some reason invented the word "gaaaah" for "light". Whenever he enters a room he points at the light and says "Gaaaah!" with great satisfaction. We switch on the gaaaah and then switch it off again and he smiles approvingly.
"Yes, that's the light," we say, hoping to discourage him from gaaaahing, and in a tolerant tone of voice he says "Dight" and then, slowly and clearly, as if trying to make a foreigner understand, "Gaaaaah."
The Hopetoun chandeliers - sorry, gaaaahs - were very sparkly but we weren't able to switch them on and off for him. He took this disappointment stoically.
Bless him! It is fascinating watching / hearing grand kids learning to speak. I don't remember being so aware when my own were at that stage, but the granddaughter has amazed me ..she is 2 and a half nearly and we have perfect conversations now.
ReplyDeleteI think I would really enjoy going to a stately home and having a peek at the craftiness of well-spoken ladies. Unfortunately, stately homes are in short supply around here. Shame you couldn't have played with the switches for the gahh lover, though it might have unsettled the well spoken ladies....
ReplyDeleteHe is a happy little soul isn't he....and who doesn't love a chandelier?
ReplyDeleteYour mention of well-spoken ladies reminded me of a story I meant to tell you. One of our neighbours is a teacher in a certain south Edinburgh primary school. She was doing the "ei" words with her class - vein, rein etc - and asked them to make up a sentence using a few of such words. One girl in her class came up with "Neither Emma nor Josephine got a freight when blue blood began to run in their veins." Name that school!
ReplyDeleteToo funny. What a darling grandson you have.
ReplyDeleteMight the school be M******side Primary, Lynda?
ReplyDeletei think "gaaaah" makes a lot of sense - it's what i say when the light isn't on and i run into things (i usually add some other more colorful language, too) ... the Pink Brown Baby REFUSES to connect "s" sounds with the end of a word ... she says "Sssss. Eeeeee." for see, and "Sssss. Weep." for sleep, and "Ssss. Dock." for sock ... and then looks at me with her beady eyes as if i am the one who is dense.
ReplyDeleteGot it in one, Isabelle!
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