Alyaspeak

Alya pretty much talks our ear off now. But, most times it’s in a whole other language that we’ve slowly picked up. She gets pretty frustrated when she says something and we stare back not comprehending what she’s talking about. She’s also started to introduce the whole family to strangers like salesgirls, cashiers & waiters who tegur her. On a recent trip to Mothercare, the saleslady said hello to her. Alya responded by pointing out every one of us and introducing our names. Point to K, “Abah”. Point to me, “Mummy”. Point to Aidan in K’s arms, “Dan-dan”. Held up her now-anorexic yellow bunny, “Nini”. Patted her pigeon chest, “Lya”. The lady was trying her damn hardest not to laugh out loud.

Lya / Ala - Alya (she refers to herself in the 3rd person)
Nini - Benny the now-anorexic yellow bunny
Akit - sakit
Acuk alam - masuk dalam (as in “Nanak! Nanak acuk alam!”)
Ak alu - 1. tak malu (as in “Ha, ha. Mummy ak alu. Ha, ha. Mummy ak alu”)
2. nak lalu (“Mummy, Lya nak alu” when my flabulous arse is in the way)
Atik - cantik
Cem & colet - Ice cream & chocolates. Her favourite treats, which she gets loads of at her Grandma & Atok’s place. L
Cucu - Susu. Usually demanded by telenovela style wailing complete with face buried in both hands. Hmph, drama queen.
Bena - Ribena
Kong kong - dukung (“Atok, nak kong kong” If she doesn’t get picked up immediately, it starts to sound louder and more whiny)
Popok - keropok
Bowwy - sorry ("Bowwy mummy")

How early does a child’s personality develop? We’ve noticed a few things about Alya that’s amazing but at the same time a bit worrying. She absolutely refuses to apologize or say ‘Sorry’. You can scold her until she cries but she will still not say it. It’s fascinating, really. When she’s being naughty and I tell her to apologize, I can actually see her expression change into a mixture of blankness and “Hell no!”. Her mouth will start jutting out (muncung la kira) and she actually crossed her arms a few times. I guess she’s the sort who refuses to be forced to do something she doesn’t want to. The more you push her, the more she refuses to comply. Keras hati as my mum says.

Oh, and she gets completely unhinged when things aren’t in order. Like the time she pestered me about a hole in the footies of her sleepsuit. Couldn’t stop merengek and pointing at it until I put another sleepsuit on her. Same thing happened when there was a hole in Dan-Dan’s sleepsuit. (Yes, I believe in getting my money’s worth hehehe. Which is why they will wear it until they are bursting out of it. Those Mothercare sleepsuits aren’t cheap you know..)

Or that time she got some ink from K’s pen on her finger. She immediately held her finger away from herself (geli, I guess) and showed it to me “Mummy, tor.. tor.” Since we were in the car and I had my hands full handling Dan-Dan, I told her that we can wash her hand when we reach home. But she kept on whining “Mummy, nak acuh ngan.. Tor, nak acuh ngan..” until finally she simply cried her heart out with that finger still an arm’s length away from her.. I found this all very amusing, K was puzzling why his baby girl was bawling and the wifey was giggling away.. I know it seems heartless but you find humour in the weirdest places sometimes..