…bring May flowers

Abigail is swiftly becoming obsessed with the computer. I often leave my laptop sitting on the couch when I’m not using it, and she will go stand right in front of it and
a) start dancing, indicating that she wants me to put on iTunes so she can jam;
b) say “Cin” or sometimes just “ssssss,” which is her way of asking me to show her a picture of Auntie Cindy on Flickr; or
c) say “AbbyAbbyAbby” and thump her chest, which means she wants to watch videos of herself.

I’m really glad we named her Abby, because if her name were almost anything else it would be much harder for her to say. And it’s so adorable when she says (or sings, or yells) her own name.

There’s a book by Sandra Boynton called Moo, Baa, La La La, and at the moment it is one of Abigail’s favorites. The other night Dan came home and started reading it to her, and I overheard this little call and response:

Dan: A cow says…
Abby: Mmmmm.
Dan: A sheep says…
Abby: Baa.
Dan: Three singing pigs say…
Abby: La, la, la.

(Not surprisingly, Abigail has dubbed this book “la la la.” Except sometimes she says “la,” and sometimes she says “ya.”)

Abigail loves all animals, but her all-time favorite is the cat. One of Abby’s books is called The Great Dog Wash (it came free in a box of Cheerios), and despite the fact that the story is filled with dogs of every size and description, Abby is convinced that the plot truly hinges upon the one cat who makes a brief appearance.

Abby sees the cat painted on her bowl, and makes the kitty sign

I’ve been impressed with how well she understands the object represented by a word. For instance, she knows what a flower is, and can recognize it in the real world (in our garden) and in artistic representation (cartoon-like drawings in books; daisy shapes embroidered on her clothes; the flowery pattern on our sofa throw pillows; an orchid painted on my coffee mug). I could understand if she just thought that real flowers were flowers, or pictures of flowers in books were flowers, but it’s fascinating that she can recognize them in any setting, no matter how they vary.

A couple of my friends with sons around Abby’s age insist that little boys don’t communicate as well as little girls – “boys are walkers, girls are talkers.” I guess enough people say it that there’s probably some truth to it, but still, sweeping gender-based generalizations like that tend to make my eyebrows raise a little. Some of our friends have very communicative little boys, and others have little girls who were not so quick to sign or talk, so I don’t think it can possibly be a universal thing.

Parents, what do you think? Is the old adage about walkers vs. talkers true in most cases? Or is it (yet another) imagined distinction we inflict upon our children and let cloud our expectations of them?