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starting about a month ago, aina started to wanting to talk. before that she could only say mamamam, which means “food” or “i want to eat” for months, and didn’t even try to talk to us in our language. she talked to us, but it was all gibberish.

lately, though, she’s trying to say things our way. this means, she starts to pick up words. she can’t really pronounce it well, but our ears have started to get used to it, so the understanding is mutual.

so far, these are the words that we know (and we remember) in alphabetical order:

abii - means two things so far: 1). rabbit. we tried to teach her “bunny” but it didn’t work. she keeps calling it abii. 2). habis (an indonesian word that, in this context, means “finished”). she’d say this whenever she’s done eating, drinking her milk or finished with a task, like sweeping, cleaning or putting her toys back in to her bin.

ada / ‘ga ada - it’s indonesian… if we ask her where is her stuffed animal (“snowy mana?”), and it’s not around, she’d say “ga adaaa”… but if she knows where it is, she’d say, “adaaa” and immediately go and get it.

appoo - this can mean many things: 1). apple or apel in Indonesian… they sound quite similar anyway. 2). lampu or lamp, in english. 3). rambut or hair in english.

awoo - 1). flower, or flowers 2). owl… she points to the drawing of owls everywhere.

aiiii - this usually means water (air in indonesian). she usually points to any body of water, like fountains, lake, sea, or rain… not drink, though. that has its own vocabulary :)

aiiii-na! - that’s her name! she’ll be saying that while patting her own chest.

baaah - ball! her current favorite word. everything in the shape of a circle is “baaah”.

bebi - baby or any small kids. she used to call her reflection ‘baby’, but now she calls it ‘aina’. i guess she knows that it’s her.

bimbii - binggi, which is what she calls me. she would say this and poke me at the same time.

buku - book. she loves to read books. sometimes, she manage to read them herself. but most of the time, she would carry the book to us (while saying the word “buku buku buku” repeatedly) and ask to sit on our lap while we read the book for her.

buubuu - bubu, which is what she calls ari. she loves and can’t get enough of her bubu.

bobo - it means sleep in indonesian kiddy language. most of the time, she doesn’t like this word and run away upon hearing it. occasionally, though, she asks for it and goes, “bobo? bobo?”, and lay herself down on the floor.

daa~ - jam, or clock in indonesian.

duckee - ducks, both the rubber ones and the real ones. and it’s always followed by, “quack quack quack”…

ilo ilo ilo - okay, this is one of the two words that she makes up. it basically means that she wants to draw. she would say “ilo ilo ilo” over and over again and pretend that she holds a pen and wave it left and right imitating drawing motion. then, either mommy or daddy has to lift her up to her chair, get paper and her markers, then she’ll be happy scribbling around.

juu - juice. mostly orange juice.

kaki - it means feet in indonesian. if we ask her various body parts in indonesian, she can point them out, but leg is the only one that she would actually say while pointing it out.

kiikaa~ - ikan, which means fish in indonesian.

kungkung - her grandpa, ari’s dad

mamamamam - eat! that was her first word.

mandi - bath/shower in indonesian. every time she hears that word, she’ll climb up the stairs, hurriedly going into our bathroom while chanting, “mandi mandi mandi…”. that’s how much she loves to take shower.

mau - it’s indonesian and sorta means “yes, i do want that”. she actually use this word correctly, too.

‘mmaa - it means oma, her grandma, my mom.

minum - it’s drink in indonesian. she pronounce it perfectly.

moo - her moose, although we started to notice that she calls horses “moo”, too… oh no!

peepee - going to the bathroom.

popo - her grandma, ari’s mom

taa - it means two things: 1). stars, or star, or anything shaped like a star. this is actually her second word. 2). “tas” or bag in indonesian. she loves bags and everything in it. she’ll take your bag, open it, take everything out and wear it around the house.

tatuu - sepatu (shoes in indonesian). she calls her sandals “tatuu” as well, though.

tatiii - sakit (hurt!)… if she bump her head or hit something, she’d come to us and say “tatiiii” and show us the body part that got hit. then, we’re supposed to hug her and kiss the hurting spot to make her feel better.

tiitaa - this is another word that she made up (along with ilo ilo ilo), and i just found out the meaning of it today. tiitaa means refrigerator magnets. she loves playing with those… she’d stack them up and stick them on, again and again.

topi - it means hat. she likes wearing “topi” and occasionally insist to put the “topi” on us.

susu - milk in indonesian. she used to say it “tutu”, but lately, it’s getting really close to “susu”.

utu - duduk (sit). lately, she’s been wanting to sit like adults. not on her high chair, but on our regular dining table. and whenever she sees people sitting on TV, she demands us to lift her up (by repeatedly saying “utu utu utu”) and put her on the dining chair.

other than those, she has started to call her stuffed animals their names, like Snowy (know-eee), Floppy (op-pee), Pooh Bear (poo), etc. she used be able to say Koda (odaa… or daa daa), but she has refused to call the poor dog for months now.