Not as Smart as a Two Year Old in Hokkaido

Our neighbor is a little over two years old.  I’ve never been around little children much, so I can’t claim to be an expert.  Well, I probably should say I’ve not been around them at all.  So, not knowing what two year olds normally do, I still think our little neighbor must be a very smart two year old.

If you’ve been reading my blog awhile, you know that he can shovel snow in the parking lot and dirt in the garden.  You know that his hobbies are stitching and photography. He can imitate animal movements and tell you the sounds they make. He knows to look both ways before crossing the street with his mother.

When I first met him, his vocabulary was repeating one syllable sounds. Ji ji ji was a favorite. Late this spring, I noticed he had started saying the first syllables of words, like he really knew what the words were – like o for oishii. Now he is saying full words – oishii not just o.  His vocabulary at two years old has surpassed mine!