3V0638.02 Everything’s a pen if it comes out of my pocket. 10/22/79 Recently I’ve done some electrical work. I usually keep small tools in my pockets — a screwdriver, for instance. when Peggy sat in my lap this afternoon, she found in my shirt pockets a pen knife (she had seen it before and knew …
3V0622.01 [mama got eye]: MAJOR NOTE on cognitive structures behind speech; topic and comment at “discourse” level, not a word level. 10/6/79 Gretchen long ago began instructing Peggy in the names of body parts, especially of the face. Recently, Peggy has surprised me by making comments about the commonality of the body parts. For example, …
3V0615.05 More word practice and an inference: “sleepy” is a signifier appropriate to an observed yawn. 9/26/79 I yawned. Peggy looked at me and immediately inquired /S’ipi ?/ The following morning a similar incident occurred with Miriam. For a day or so, every time any one yawned, Peggy would as /s’ipi?/ This is another word …
3V0605.01 [kiss]: kisses doll spontaneously; verbal self-direction 9/19/79 While I was working in the kitchen, Peggy walked by holding a doll. She held it up , said “kiss” and kissed the doll. A week later (9/26) Peggy repeated this with me, saying spontaneously [kiss] and leaning over to kiss me. (text repeated in 3V0611.1). Gretchen.
3V0594.02 ONE, TWO: [one, two]: note on standardization of Peggy’s counting 09/08/79; You can’t avoid counting, and it’s hard to avoid instructing those who don’t know what you know — but we’ve been trying to avoid instructing Peggy. The children are persistent, at odd moments that we can’t witness. So Peggy’s idiosyncratic counting [one, one, …
3V0593.01 [maemae take bath]: CENTRAL NOTE: first complex follow up to /cul’/du/vae/vae’/ 9/7/79 This morning, as Peggy and I played on the bed, Gretchen asked if I were going to take a bath, and we agreed she should do so first. Peggy played with her bear, picked up a book, called out “Mama !” and …
3V0591.01 [on]: draw a heart on my arm. 9/5/79 Another case of “on” meaning “put something on my arm” — Peggy and Miriam both sat on my lap. I drew a heart on the back of Miriam’s hand. Peggy held up her hand crying [on… on… on… ] so that I should also draw a …
3V0587.01 /cul’/du/vae/vae’/: CENTRAL INCIDENT;major insight ascribed on basis of incident. 9/1/79 Over the past several weeks, our house has suffered a greater than usual density and flux of Tintin cartoon books. As do the older kids, Peggy enjoys them. She brings a magazine, says /aen//aen/ and convinces one to hold her in his lap while …
3V0581.01 Increased Specificity: 8/26/79; By now it is clear that Peggy is trying to communicate (orally) on a wider scale. “Dat, dat, dat” lacked any specificity and soon outran its usefulness. She then developed a remarkable range by merely varying the pitch on a neutral syllable [***], repeated several times. Now she seems to be …
3V0575.01 “Duff”: 08/20/79; Peggy has been imitating words we speak (usually the last one of an utterance) for quite some time. If I note anything special about this imitation now, it is its becoming so pervasive as to be the norm in her response now. When offered some cake this evening, Peggy responded /***/ to …
3V0563.01 Scissors : 08/08/79; Prospecting for playthings one place or another, Peggy came up with a pair of children’s safety scissors. Even though they have rounded ends, I feared Peggy could hurt herself by pinching her fingers and bade her put them on my writing table. After putting them down, Peggy pointed at them decisively …
3V0550.01 [is a stairs] (7/26/79) Recently Peggy has been using the phrase “Is a X”. This use has been in a context we would interpret as declaring the identification of a thing. It may not mean that to Peggy. It may mean that and other things as well, as this observation suggests. I recently refinished …