3V0594.04 [mommy, get door]: vocative action sentence. 9/8/79 Running the dishwasher. The last thing to go in was Peggy’s cup. she called after it [cup, cup, cup…]. Then she scrabbled at the closed door of the machine, finally turning to me and saying “Mommy” (not momma) “get door.”
3V0594.03 /cul’/dae/gen’/: elaboration of verbal portion of script for exploration beyond simple pragmatic requirements. 9/8/79 Peggy enjoys playing with Scurry in different ways, but most of them share the element of her getting Scurry to move where she wants her. The usual form involves tugging the dog’s tail or ear. Tonight, Peggy found Scurry with …
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, …
3V0594.01 /wae/thaet/: issues: discussion of what a word is. 9/8/79 Peggy has enjoyed playing with my belt as a baby but has not done so for quite a while. Today, she sat in my lap and, pointing at my belt buckle, said, “/wae/thaet/?” I told her it was a belt buckle, which answer seemed to …
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 …
3V0588.03 /wae/thaet/: interpretation question “what’s that? ” or “wash that” (cf. note # 3V593.1) 9/2/79 While Peggy was playing in the kitchen, Gretchen washed out a large old diaper pail we use for trash. It was not on the floor and vertical, in which place and position Peggy knew it well, so I interpreted her …
3V0588.02 [some…/bae/bae/]: appearance of modified noun, but no clear evidence that “some” is used adjectively. As Peggy has recently pleaded [one… one… one…] when asking for a cookie or a piece of cheese, an apple, or whatever. Our frequent response has been “Do you want some cheese ?” etc. Thus the word “some” has begun …
3V0588.01 [mine…box]: “sentences” with pauses; precursors to standard structures. 9/2/79 Playing in the living room, Peggy recognized a large card board box in which I kept blocks et alia for our experiments. Robby has just picked up all the junk left scattered about by Peggy the day before. She struggled to pull the box off …
3V0587.02 [I threw it]: Before the incident described above (in Vignette V0586A), Peggy, Gretchen and I sat in the living room, Peggy playing with Gretchen’s wallet. She picked it up and threw it across the room, under a chair. I censured her “No, Peggy, no. Don’t do that.” She responded, talking to herself it seems …
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 …
3V0586.03 [doos, doos] = juice 8/31/79 Miriam was in the kitchen, fooling around with the refrigerator. As she began closing it, Peggy ran in from the living room crying [doos…doos]. It took me a moment to realize what she meant; then I called after her, “Juice ? Do you want some juice, Peggy ?” She …
3V0586.02 /bae/bae/: general purpose word (noun) where /thaet/ was the general word of imperious force. 8/31/79 Over the past week or two, this sound pattern has taken over Peggy’s speech. It seems to have replaced /thaet/ in the latter’s application as the general pronoun, i.e. “baba” may refer to Peggy’s Teddy Bear, my pillow, a …
3V0586.01 [me]: clear and specific example of use. 8/31/79 “Me” Coming to me at bedtime to be picked up, after a hug and my turning her back to Gretchen, Peggy pointed perpendicularly at the porch and made an exclamation of surprise. I could see nothing but furniture on the porch and asked “What do you …
3V0585.01 TWO : [two]: counting puddles; spontaneous use: 08/30/79; The kids and I went down to Bishops “Pick your own” raspberries. While the older two picked, Peggy and I walked up and down the dirt road to one side of the bushes. It had rained recently, and there were puddles. Peggy and I pointed them …
3V0583.02 [fan]: indistinct initial consonant; her accepting correction. 8/28/79 Terrible, muggy weather with the atmosphere filled with pollen and mold spores. I set up the fan to pull cold air from the air conditioned bedroom down to the dining room. Peggy came over to play with the new object and was warned away because of …
3V0583.01 [me]: contrast with relation words. This word is significant in contrast with the preceding relation words because it can only mean one thing. As we five sat at table over lunch that Peggy at one point turned her finger to her chest, pointing, and said “me”. I don’t recall the details of context but …
3V0582.01 [up] = “on top of” in play with toy car; issues ascription of insight about “up”. 8/27/79 Playing with a “matchbox racer”, Peggy pushed the little car along the floor, up the vertical walls of the glass door, over the dresser and on its side, making all the while a /ziz/ziz/ziz/ sound (this imitates …
3V0581.01 On: [on]: three different applications of “on” similar to concurrent discriminating uses of [up].: 8/26/79; This morning Peggy clambered into my bed where I waked from a nap. She sat beside me, pointing with her right hand at her left upper arm. She said /”on”/ at least four times in succession. I was much …
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 …
3V0579.01 “On, on on” : 08/24/79; Later the next day, while Gretchen rubbed some lotion on herself after a bath, Peggy, sitting on the bed, pointed repeatedly at her own thighs and said repeatedly “on, on, on.” (The tone and gesture made this imperious rather than declarative.)
3V0578.02 “On” : 08/23/79; Peggy [sat] on the bed today, playing with her feet. Examining the soles at one point, she caught my eye and pointing to the considerable patina of dirt (she goes barefoot), said very precisely “on” as she touched the sole.
3V0578.01 Up: [up] different use; spontaneous on sitting up: 08/23/79; Playing with me on my bed, Peggy, after lying on her back at one point, rose with her normal difficulty to sitting and said to herself, “Up.” 08/27 — Playing with a matchbox racer, Peggy pushed the little car along the floor, up the vertical …
3V0576.01 Up: [up] two examples of spontaneous use.: 08/21/79; Today Peggy came to me, held up her arms, and said, “Up.” I picked her up. 08/28 — As I wrote the above, Peggy came over to the bed, sketched a climbing motion, and said, “Up.” Gretchen.
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 …
3V0573.02 Enriched Phrases : 08/18/79; Peggy has long said [have that] meaning either [(you) have that] or [(I want to) have that] as the pragmatic context makes sufficiently clear. In a typical scenario today, Peggy was unnecessarily specific in her utterance, thus. Peggy frequently plunks some object (a book or toy) in one’s lap, says …
3V0573.01 See and That: 08/18/79; Scurry looms large in Peggy’s life, and it should be no surprise that she was much delighted to find among our other books one on “Caring for Your Scotch Terrier.” After bringing the book to me, Peggy turned pages and pointed. [That…that…see]. In this usage, I see prefigured a functional …
3V0569.03 Cup: [cup, cup…thaets (=thanks)] : 08/14/79; As I carried Peggy, protesting, up to bed, we passed the dining table and Peggy cried, “Cup, cup.” (Well articulated, with both ‘c’ and ‘p’ distinct.) Her weighted cup was on the table, with some milk in it. I gave it her and she said, “Dats [thanks]” and …
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?”
3V0568.01 A Verbal Confusion: 08/13/79; During the videotape session P81, Robby read THE POKY LITTLE PUPPY to Peggy. At that time, or later in the evening, Peggy pointed to a picture of a lizard (on the page with no other animals). “Lizard,” I said. Peggy imitated my naming by saying /***/, possibly /***/. (This heard …
3V0567.01 A Complex Sentence; Comprehension of complex sentences (?) : 08/12/79; After release from her high chair, Peggy will come begging food at the table. This is especially true where Gretchen and I stay long after the meal is past. This evening Peggy came asking for a wheat thin ([that! that!]). I gave her a …
3V0566.01 Twirling : 08/11/79; Peggy enjoys “dancing” whenever I play a recording of fast music. To her basic step — a bobbing at the knees (with feet firmly planted) conjoined with a waving of arms — Peggy has now added a second, turning in place. I can’t document the source of this twirling, but I …
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.
3V0559.01 “Daddy Hug Peggy” : 08/04/79; Comforting the baby, it was our custom to hold her close and pat her gently on the back. Amusingly, when she was so comforted, even though crying, Peggy would return this gentle patting on the back. Recently, she has begun responding to my statement or question “Daddy hug Peggy” …
3V0558.03 Mama! : 08/03/79; As Gretchen noted earlier [6/26], Peggy would call “Mama,” using that word when she wanted Gretchen. What is noteworthy now is more the frequency of Peggy’s use than its early appearances. NOW, any time she wants anything of Gretchen, Peggy calls “Mama!”
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 …
3V0558.01 Cookie: 08/03/79; Peggy’s way of expressing her want of a cookie has been for months to come to the base of a cabinet where they are usually found or known to be then to point (often rising on tip toe) and repeat /aenh/aenh/aenh/ with a tone of desperation in her voice. She has, of …
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, …
3V0552.01 [up stairs] : (07/28/79) Downstairs: “Peggy, where are you going ?” [up – stairs] Gretchen.
3V0550.03 Lily Pads (7/26/79) Peggy and I went down to the lake with the older children. They swim and Peggy potters and patters about. At one point Peggy pointed in the direction of the lily pads just to the left of the beach area and said, [what is that]. I repeated the question and told …
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 …