whuhdt—Wort/word
Woat—road (GPS: “turn left on Statesville Road.” Lucy [from car seat]: “Woat.”)
Ah-OO!—Uh-oh (two months ago; accompanied by flat-palmed circular hand movements, as though she is wiping an invisible windshield)
Ah-OH!—Uh-oh (now; hand movement same)
Ow-dowt—Oskar (the Ladd grandparents’ one-year-old beagle-ridgeback-boxer-pitt mix, who is subjects to fits of overzealous rough play with everyone, including the nine-year-old twins, but will let Lucy poke him in the eyes or try to pull out his tongue without so much as nipping her (I mean, hypothetically he would, if we ever got far enough away from the pair of them to give Lucy the chance))
ah-daht—outside
eh-deht—exercise
Nana—Nana (Grandma Kensinger)
Nanana—“sing me the na na na song”
Dati—“sing me the dati-da song”
Anooooooo—the nine-year-old twins, Charlie and Andrew; said with massive enthusiasm and a big grin
Dadti—Charlie, if specifically quizzed
Gigi—Gigi (Grandma Ladd)
Bob-pop—Pop-pop (Grandpa Ladd)
Nuna—Nudel (noodle)
neen—jeans
[upturned face, mouth slightly open]—kiss me
A’vwee—Aunt Havely (said in a slow, deep voice, always with a smile, and frequently when Havely is not even in the room)
Nit—Uncle Nick
Vafa—Wasser (water)
wawa–water
vafish—red fish
Vefish—Weste (vest; if not understood this word may be accompanied by strokings of my vest-covered back)
daw—draw (accompanied with sweeping circular hand motions across a large sheet of imaginary paper)
tai-taich—zeichnen (draw)
Beetah—Bitte (please)
Foor—Feuer (fire)
Puhpuh—Uncle Peter, who gave her
ah-woool—stuffed Hedwig, Harry Potter’s white owl
Eh-meee!—Amy (our duplex neighbor in Durham, whom Lucy recently saw again in Durham, and remembered by name. Me: We are going to have coffee with Amy. Lucy: “Eh-mee! Eh-mee!” Me: “You remember her? After six months?” Lucy: “Eh-mee!” [enter Amy] Lucy [big grin, no stranger danger]: “Eh-mee!”
Eness—Essen (eat/food)
och!—hoch! (up)
Nin—Kinn (chin)
batta—button
Hets—Herz (heart)
auch—auch (also)
fow-fow—flower
Oot/at—Hut/hat
Dattah/Ta-too—Danke/thank you (accompanied by chinpalm, her approximation of ASL)
bite—bite
Enu—Entschuldigung (sorry)
nowm—sorry
dow—scarf
ani—anziehen (put on)
rainee—rainy
heissss—heiss (hot; accompanied by cautious motions in the direction of the object)
weichhhh—weich (soft, accompanied by stroking)
nassss—nass (wet; used frequently as she pulls the front of her shirt away from her after playing at the sink)
Ah-bod—ipod
abn—haben (have)
Dudu—Lulu
Tsitsu—Lucy
Au—Auge (eye)
hadee—radio
Tifu—Stiefel (boot)
Meme—Creme (cream)
Dette—Decke (blanket)
Bapish—Spielplatz (playground; important word; used frequently on walks, especially whenever we pass a colored structure in someone’s yard)
mit!—with! (as in, “I am taking this with me,” accompanied by tucking the object in question under her arm, regardless of size, and looking up as though daring us to take it away.)
Toof!—Tschüs! (bye)