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 …
30V633.01 Spontaneous identification of toy whirling-disk as a fan ? 10/17/79 Pointing to a part of her crib toy, a circular multi-colored piece that spins in either direction when you twirl the knob in the middle, Peggy identified it (without being asked) as a /faen/. Peggy sometimes sucks on her middle fingers until they are …
3V0632.01 [/teh/boin/?]: speculation about remote activity-telephone [sae/vi]=sorry after poking with a pen. 10/16/79 Upstairs with Peggy when the telephone rang. I went downstairs, answered it, and returned to Peggy upstairs after a short conversation. She looked at me and commented /teh/boin/, i.e. “telephone.” Peggy poked me with a pen. I said “Ouch!” and she replied …
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, …
3V0620.02 [memi]: calling Miriam by name. Peggy was inquiring for her father, “Dada ?” I told her he was in Boston. Peggy then said /meh/mi/ which I interpreted as “Miriam.” Gretchen.
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 …
3V0611.01 Counting cookie request [one…two…two ?] 9/25/79 This morning, Peggy asked for a cookie. As I gave it to her, she said “One,… two…. two ?” She waited until I gave her a second cookie. Gretchen.
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.
3V0597.01 [sharp]: diaper pins This morning as I was changing her diaper, Peggy handed me a diaper pin with the observation [sha] (sharp). She has often been told about pins, but not recently.
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 …
3V0579.02 Door shut on foot : 08/24/79; Yesterday Peggy, Miriam, and I drove downtown. We stopped at Gordy’s and I left the two of them in the car. When I returned, Peggy was crying lustily and Miriam explained that she (Miriam) had opened the door and closed it again on Peg’s foot. Today I said …
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 …
3V0574.02 “One” : 08/19/79; Peggy has begun using the sound “one” to indicate that she wants some particular thing. The use may have come from my giving her one cookie for one hand and one cookie for the other (cf. VT P82 for her counting 3 bean bags as one…one…SZBTFG[?]). Today, requesting a cookie, she …
3V0569.02 Putting On : 08/14/79; Peggy removed the plastic cover from a package of latchhook yarn. She has played with these before over the past two months. The cover is a cylindrical piece of plastic about 2 in. high and 2 in. in diameter as a circle, just right for Peggy to use as a …
3V0569.01 Gone : 08/14/79; Peggy has been using the word ‘gone’ since the VT of August 6. By it she means finished, empty, nothing left. Today I helped her get the last of a container of yogurt. Then I put the cap back on, preparatory to throwing it out. Peggy watched and remarked, “Gone?”
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 …
3V0562.01 Where dada : 08/07/79; Bob went up to Boston yesterday morning. This afternoon Peggy came into our bedroom and looked around, especially at his chair, and said, “Where Dada’.” Today (8/11) Bob has gone again, and Peggy has been wandering around off and on calling Dada, sometimes imperiously, sometimes inquiringly.
3V0558.02 Hi and waving : 08/03/79; Over the past several weeks, Peggy had delighted in waving good-bye to another who approaches our main door. She also waves (at me, I know) when I enter the house and say, “Hi, Peggy, I’m glad to see you.” She also waves good-bye when going up to bed or …
3V0556.01 Toothbrush: 08/01/79; Playing on my bed, looking at the older children’s pictures, Peggy saw my ‘traveling’ toothbrush on the adjacent dresser top. “Have that, have that” was her cry and I did not stop her from taking it. Peggy picked up the toothbrush by the handle, examined the bristles, then tentatively opened her mouth …
3V0555.01 [Car, car, go, go]: (07/31/79) I was taking Peggy and Scurry for a walk. I carried Peggy out to the garage and seated her in the stroller. Peggy waved her hand around and cried, “Ca’, ca’, go ca’,” indicating she wanted to go for a ride. She has often said “Ca’” under those circumstances, …
3V0550.02 /va/va’/ (7/26/79) out walking with Peggy, we heard (but did not see) a dog bark. Peggy pointed in the general direction of the sound and said /va/va’/. Gretchen.
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 …