My precocious Shawna!

Shawna has always been quite precocious for her age, since she was born. Then again, perhaps this only appears to be so because she has a twin brother, Asher, that she inevitably always gets 'compared' with. We do not intentionally "compare" them all the time, we simply like to observe the similarities and differences in them. You know, the old nature versus nurture study - yes, we like to 'study' them! haha!

Shawna @ 2 years 8 months | September 2012

So, just last night, I was at our friendly local mall that's just right beside the train station I drop off at, picking up a few stuff for our last minute attempt to make Isaac his Halloween costume (he requested Ironman!), and I called home, to ask hubbs if there was anything else he wanted me to get...

Me:"Hello?"

Shawna:"Mummy!"

Me:"Hi Shawna!"

Shawna:"Mummy, kor kor wants kaya!"

Me:"Oh okay! Is Papa there?"

Shawna:"Papa!!!"

So I spoke to hubbs and apparently Isaac wants to eat his favourite kaya waffle from Prima Deli, which we allow him to - provided he finishes his main meal first. I walked to the Prima Deli and realise it's closed for renovations. So I called home again - to let hubbs know to tell Isaac that it's not available. Isaac is the sort that you have to pre-empt and warn, failing which he will throw a huge tantrum. But if we "warn" him about it, he will be okay.

Me:"Hello?"

Shawna:"Mummy! Kor kor wants to eat kaya!"

Me:"Yes, I know! But can you tell Papa that the shop that sells kaya is closed for renovations?"

Shawna:"Oh! Papa! No more kaya!"

I burst out laughing. I was amazed that she could decode my lengthy sentence and summarised it to the bare essence - very succinct too, I might add! You might be wondering why I would speak like that to a 2 and half year old child. Well, I've always believed that one shouldn't talk down to children. Also, I wanted to see if she could repeat the word "renovations" - I know if Asher was the one who picked up the phone, he would have attempted to repeat my entire statement to hubbs, and probably do it perfectly.

That's the difference, in this aspect, between Asher and Shawna. Asher's diction and ability to repeat and parrot is top notch. He can speak very well in that sense. But he doesn't necessarily understand what he is saying. Now, Shawna is different, her diction and pronunciation is not as clear as Asher's - but her level of understanding, is much higher.

Interesting huh. Stay tuned on more on my 'study' on twins! :)