Day 248 - Baa

You ever wonder about the fashion in which a baby's mind works? Obviously, it's somewhat similar to ours in terms of it being the most important part of the nervous system. I'm pretty certain it's helping her to walk, crawl, jabber, eat, etc. I'm more talking about the way in which Ellie learns new things. Specifically her penchant for learning new words. While some things she picks up on as first words totally make sense, I find others to be slightly confusing. For examples, look no further than her new favorite word, "Baa". 

Now, there are plenty of definitions for BAA in the English language, most of them being acronyms. Stuff along the lines of Boston Athletic Association, Buy American Act, and Business Area Analysis. Then, on the other hand, there are some really good abbreviations out there that are too good to not share. In fact, just because I don't want you to miss out, I even put them in a fancy bulleted list.

• ·         Bugles Across America
• ·         Boomerang Association of Australia
• ·         Ban All Acronyms
• ·         Backing Australia's Ability

Always...

See, I told you there were some good ones; especially the one about boomerangs. However, the definition for "baa" I'm referring to would be the sound a sheep makes. I've made mention previously of Animal Sounds being one of Ellie's favorite books. If I remember correctly, I also said that book may have been partially responsible for the fall of the Berlin Wall or something like that.

Does this photo look familiar?

Back on topic, Animal Sounds is without a doubt one of Ellie's favorite books to read. She has even been known to go room-to-room searching the book out from whatever place Mommy and Daddy may have hidden it. And yes, there is truth to that statement. Hey, you try reading it to her six times in one sitting. However, whenever she does find it, we always oblige Ellie and read it to her again just as she asks. 

Page-by-page, we'll go through looking at the animals and making the sounds that correspond. At least that's the case until 2 pages from the end. At that point, we flip to a page with a picture of two lambs standing next to a goat rearing back on its hind legs. When we point to the lamb and say, "The Sheep says...", Ellie immediately responds with a loud "Baa." 

I know what you're thinking; it's just got to be a random happenstance. I thought the same thing at first when Bethany told me about it so I've made certain to test in other circumstances. Whenever I pause and point to another animal in the book, instead of responding with a "baa", Ellie just sits patiently and waits. If she herself is reading the book and stumbles across that page, she immediately responds with a booming "baa". 

If you needed more confirmation Ellie does indeed know what a sheep says, just straight up ask her. Without any prompting, she will respond to you with a hearty "baa" nine times out of ten. Now, I find it super cool that Ellie now has another word to add to her ever-growing repertoire. That's especially true when you recall it previously consisted of just "Bob" and "Uh oh". 

However, I do find myself stuck with one additional question. Namely, how did she learn the answer to what a sheep says before she learned Dad?! C'mon baby, you've got to give me something here! #DaddyWrite