The Chipmunk Vernacular

When Chipmunk hit eighteen months, something clicked in his head and he decided it was time to talk. These days he chats up a storm...in his own little Chipmunk language.

Beh beh = Bear bear

Noo nah = What he calls his sister

Mom-may = Mommy

Dah-day = Daddy (I don't know why, but he suddenly developed an accent on us)

Bao Bao = Hug (Strange - Neither Matt or myself speak mandarin - perhaps too much Kai Lan?)

Chu-ruck! Haaaah! Chu-rayyyy! = Truck! Car! Train! (Must yell loudly and wave arms when spotting one of these)

Ta-ta, Pee pee, Noh-noh, Jaaays, Hun-ee, Emee, Ha-oh, Eh-Hwa = Thomas, Percy, Gordon, James, Henry, Emily, Harold, Edward

After a while, it gets a bit one-sided. Yup, he likes to talk about trains...most specifically, Thomas the Tank Engine trains. He's obsessed. I can't tell the trains apart, but he knows them all on sight. He even takes his two little die-cast trains to sleep with him and asks me to kiss them goodnight. I've even caught him giving his trains some food and drink.

Oh well, at least he's talking. We were a little worried there for a while.