Ahyabyoo!

Ahyabyoo!

That's how Laila says 'I love you.' Aww isn't that cute!

She started learning to say Ahyabyoo about a month or so ago. Melted into putty when she first said it. Now, she's modified her Ahyabyoo to Ahyabyoo Mummy or Ahyabyoo Daddy or Ahyabyoo tu.

She's quite loquacious, to tell the truth. And I'm beginning to be convinced that she's truly processing the meaning of words and not just memorizing lines and repeating them.

Case in point. The other day, Daddy Alvin cut his finger, of course accidentally, while trying to open some package. He showed the still bleeding cut to Laila, I suppose to get some display of sympathy. What he got, instead, was a matter-of-factly 'Dahan dahan kse.'

I wanted to roar with laughter but held it in because I didn't want Laila to think I was laughing at what she said. Not because what she said was funny, which it was to me, but because it was like an adult talking.

Last night, she was playing with her microphone, twirling it about like a cowgirl preparing to lasso in a prized game. Wanting our attention, she said : 'Look o, ang galing ku!'

When I'm in front of the computer, she'd tell me: 'Kyus me Mummy, Laila's working.'

She's beginning to count beyond 20, knows her colors, most of her ABCs. But I have to admit I'm less impressed with those abilities that require memorization than her ability to link words with ideas and process those ideas by herself.

When I enrolled Laila in preschool last year, I got a lot of arguments why it's not good for babies to be sent to school too early. They say the kid could grow tired of school, or get scared of school. But looking at how Laila blossomed, I know I made the right decision.

I suppose it's normal that we as parents are facinated by our own kid's brilliance. And I'm proud to say I am no exception.