Tuesday, August 5, 2008

One very useful word

Joy doesn't speak just a whole lot of words. We occasionally try to make lists... the count has been as high as 80 a couple of times, only to plummet down into the 15 range after regressions.

We're on an upswing right now, it seems. In fact, two words re-emerged this weekend (whether or not it's an Elvis-sighting kind of thing remains to be seen). You can deduce quite a bit about our weekend from which words they were: Uh-oh, and no-no-no!

There's one very useful word, though, that Joy has retained pretty consistently. In fact, it seems a shame to count it as just ONE word, because it has so many shades.

The word is "bye-bye".

Here's what it means:

  • "I can see that you're going now. Farewell!"

  • "I can tell that I'm going now. Farewell!"

  • "You. Go away. Now."

  • "I want to go away!"

  • "Goodnight / nigh-nigh / I'm ready to go to bed now."


That last "nigh-nigh" item used to be its own word with an "n", but it morphed (as many of Joy's words do.) Maybe now that "no-no-no" is back, we'll get the "n" on "nigh-nigh" again?

Usually it's not too hard to deduce which one Joy means -- for example, if we're rocking her to sleep. Sometimes it's not quite as clear -- for example, one of the few times she was laid-back enough to hang with me during a worship service, and the fellow who brought the message had finished his sermon, and she busted out with a big loud "bye-bye!" as he was stepping down from the microphone. Was she acknowledging his departure, or was she telling him good-riddance, or both??

Well, that's about it from me this morning. I'm going now. Bye-bye!

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

I have witnessed Joy's varied use of bye-bye. When she was at my house, tired and not feeling well and wanting to go home, she kept saying "bye-bye" to all of us. And when I have come to visit, Joy has also said "bye-bye" to me as I was leaving.

AuntieS.

mama edge said...

Brava, Joy!

Casdok said...

For me these small things that we would otherwise take for granted, we realise are huge. Autism has so much to teach us. :)

Anonymous said...

One of the words Joy had but lost was "Daddy." I guess I shouldn't complain, though, since I don't know that she ever got "Momma..."

JoyMama said...

JoyDad - They were both on her September '07 word list: da-da, and ma-ma / ma-moh.

I want them both back...

Perhaps for a future post I can compare/contrast that year-ago list with the current one.

The Broken Man said...

Leave it up to the preacher to decide how his "bye-bye" was intended - I'm sure he must know whether or not he deserved a nice one or not! :)

The Broken man

http://theblogofabrokenman.blogspot.com/

JoyMama said...

Broken man -- the sermon itself didn't make enough impression on me that I remember the text, but I'm sure it deserved a "good"-bye -- his sermons always do, though he doesn't preach often (he's a lay speaker). We'll see if I deserve a good bye-bye this Sunday, since it's my turn behind the microphone, preaching on "the woman who anointed Jesus."