"aiye aynt aim"



Yes! Allie SAID it and signed it!!!

What?!?! You don't "speak" Allie yet?  Okay... let me help.

Scene: Allie and I in the car heading to school.

Allie: "ahhhawgggg" (frustrated sound as if to say "Mommy - I want something!")

Mommy: looks at Allie and sees she has her fists together with both thumbs up and tapping them together and making the sound "ahhhawggggg".  [note: this is the sign for "game" and the sound for frustration]

Mommy: "oh, what do you want, Allie?"

Allie: "ahhhawgggg"

Mommy: "Allie - say, I     Want     Game    Please"
Allie: "aaaaaaiiiiiim, eeeeese"
Mommy: "Allie, say, "I""
Allie: pointing to her chest and saying "Aiye"
Mommy: "Say, "Want"

Allie: taking both hands somewhat opened palm in front of her and pulling them back (in Allie style) to sign "Want" and saying "aynt"

Mommy: "Say "game"

Allie: bumbing both fists together with her thumbs up and saying "aim"

Mommy: "Say "please, Mommy"

Allie: rubbing her chest and then tapping her thumb on her chin with her fingers extended to sign both "please" and "Mommy" says "eese bobbeee"

Mommy: "Good girl, Allie!"

This is a normal routine for us. I try to get her to "say it all together", I get her to throw in "i love you, Mommy" and also always "thank you". But, the other day, we were in the car heading to school and it starts very similar to the above, but traffic got my attention and before we got through the whole script I hear after a couple minutes of silence...

Allie: "aiye aynt aim"

Three words! All together!  Not used together before and somewhat unprompted since we had several minutes of lapse time.  I think all the people in the cars around us heard my cheers and our laughter. And yes, Allie was given her game.

Note: Our favorite game (iPhone App) and one I suggest for young learners is the First Words Deluxe App... It has words ranging in 3-8 letters and tiles with each letter on them and a picture of the word being spelled.  The idea is to touch the letter and slide it on top of the matching letter to spell the word. The letters can be "flung" by sliding a finger on the screen so it doesn't have to be an exact placement everytime. Allie has mastered it and now says the letters and often the name of the word. She also signs many of them.

Have a wonderful day,
Signed the very proud Mommy (or "bobbee" if you heard Allie say it)