Los Ninos Habla Espanol

Kelsie often tells us that she can speak Spanish. I've even heard her say that to people whose primary language is Spanish, which turns out to be a little embarrassing when she then tells them, "Gracias! That means hello."

But she does know (and usually understands the meaning of) a handful of Spanish words and phrases -- hola, gracias, rojo, azul, buenas dias, etc. But she is far from fluent. The other day I was trying to tell her that the Spanish word for Spanish is Espanol. She kept saying, "yes, but what does it MEAN in Spanish?"

So, as she continues to brag and we continue to encourage her to learn more Spanish words, Dylan sneaks up from behind with what is apparently a pretty good understanding of the Spanish language.

His teacher, Julia, told Brian this story this morning. Yesterday at daycare Julia told another teacher in Spanish that it was time to wake up Giovanni. Dylan said, "'Banni?" and pointed at Giovanni's crib. So Julia responded, in Spanish, "yes, let's go wake up Giovanni" and watched as Dylan walked to Giovanni's crib and banged on the side of it saying, "'Banni, 'banni!"

How cool is that? So, maybe all his gibberish actually means something in Spanish. Now we need to hire a translator to help us communicate with him, and a handy man to follow him around and repair the messes he leaves in his wake. This kid is expensive.