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When I Was Two

photographs by J Cook; chronology by C George
collated September 1978

Stupor Mundi

-- an album --
with a provisional lexicon based on extent material
minimal book 11

With all due respect to Keith Smith, "When I Was Two" is an album of photographs of Cornelius Cook, age 1:0 to 2:6 -- Jno Cook 1978, 1983, 1998

Permanent Additions to our Vocabulary

Zats - Pacifier; from, "wharz ats?" (Where is it at?)
Nurren - Blanket; from, "a nurren?" (And the other one?) At first Nurren and Zats were interchangeable.
Ha'ka'ka'dough - Helicopter
Sharps - Claws; from a warning concerning knives, needles, and cat paws.
E'ams - Letters, words; from C's explanation of the directions printed inside the washing machine cover, "Ahum, ahum, ahum."
Habby - Birthday party, cake; from "Habby Birthday to ..." a song.
Catchrow - (or cathrow) Cockroach
Rauw - (row) Tiger, lion; from the sound made by..

Proper Names of his own Invention

Foo - Phil Fantl, JoJo - George, Cub - Jacob, Lon - Milan, Mimi - Mary.

A tentative Lexicon at 1:1

âjew', â'djew', â-djaa' - gimmi, at times, look there, falsetto on both syllables. First form possibly from "juice," last from "John" See aah'-daah'.
hey'-dâ', waa-dew' - what is happening? (with surprise)
waa-dew', waa-djew' - what is happening? (casual)
waaj-dew', waaj-dhoo', -too' - what are you doing? what is it? (probably derived from, "what [are you] doing?")
â-wee-doo' - this (is what is happening), there.
dhâ - that
â-dhâ - that there
â-gigi, jo'-wâ - take this (second form emphatic)
djaa-djaa-djaa - (aggravation sound)
ah'-hâ (equivalent to, ho-hum, ho-hum)
aah'-daah' - John, and where is somebody? (second meaning dropped)
aah'-daah-daah, aaah'-djaa'-djaa' - John (emphasis and falsetto on all syllables)
hâ - hello (to strangers only)
âh, âh, âh - (simulated bark) (used for dogs, animals, animal pictures, never for humans)

a Chronology

0:10

• says AHCHOO, took three steps

0:11

• BYE-BYE, walks

1:0

• barks at dogs

1:1

• HOT, OUT, PUT-IT-BACK, "hot" is his first word

1:2

• HI, DAH (John), DAH-DAH (mama)

1:3

• TEETH, SHARP, JUICE, CHEE (cheese),
• J: we sit on the backporch for him to fall asleep, look at the moon, stars, and lights. He points at all airplanes and asks, "Huh?" Then I say, "Airplane."

1:4

• COCK (clock, first generalized noun), SHI(R)T (soft 'r'), MOOM (moon).
• FAF (fan, second generalized noun. Later learns to distinguish air-conditioners from fans, but never uses a word for them), CA (car)

1:5

• SHOES, WAS HOT, JOM (John), NANA (banana, later uses the same word for his grandmother)

1:6

• BABY (himself; uses this for himself for almost a year), COCK GO? ALL GOM, OUT (again), DOWM (down), HANDS

1:7

• TONGUE, BALL, COLDH MORHE (?), COBBY (coffee), CACKER, HUG

1:8

• CUCKOO COME, swears Mary: IWANNASITINMYCHAIR (no-one believes her).
• on looking through a catalogue: FIND COCK
• about a doll on the space heater: BABY HOT (Dolls have been called babies)
• OPEN, POT, WALL
  [additional words not recorded]

1:11

• TANK OO

2:0

• HABBY KIKI (spends next month singing HABBY-HABBY, to himself for any occasions)
• TRAIN; on seeing a CNW train after having a CTA train pointed out: HEBBY TRAIN

2:1

• on seeing a broken stick: BROKE STICK, JOM HAMMAH
• jumping off the couch: DIDI FLYING (birdy)
• gets into backhoes, front loaders, dumptrucks, etc - eventually learns more construction equipment terms from a book checked out every two weeks from the library until we bought it
• while pausing in the kitchen with his firetruck: WAIT, LITE

2:2

• UPPING, GOTTING, I LIKE TOWWE (tower is any block construction)
• I SEE BACKHOE, GOT JUICE (have already)
• to a puppet kitty: KITTY GOTS SHARPS?
• upon a request to wash his hands: MAMA DID, I DID (meaning we both did already)
• on seeing a band-aid on John when he also wears one: OH GOSH, TWO AINEE, JOM
• plays LOM on motorcycle frequently, with helmet and goggles
• seeing the house from the alley while approaching: I SEE HOME; COWYA (Claudia)

2:3

• Talks to passing neighbors from the backporch
• after seeing a parade, anyone making music: MACHING BAND
• seeing a book with a mouse at a fireplace: MOUSE LOOK FIRE
• his name: CASEY; uses MINE for I
• asks Ed on the phone: IS MIMI HOME, and announces, MIMI COMING MOM (good, considering that most phone talk was totally unintelligible)
• at tracks: TRAIN MAYBE COMING; GUNNING for shooting
• steps in cement; gets a sandbox; seeing a cuckoo on TV: LIKE MIMI (like Mary's cuckoo clock)

2:4

• GARB (garbage); plays garbage man and truck: whirring sounds interrupted by HEY!
• We saw "Star Wars." On seeing a kid with a Dart Vader T-shirt: OH GOD, MOVEY, PLAY LITE (light sabers, the kids call them light savers)
• CATHROW, GHEE
• after seeing a book on whole vs broken, and seeing an egg: WHOLE EGG, then, transposing: WHOLE ME
• on random building with blocks: ME DON'T KNOW MAKING; starts MINE KNOW ABOUT ...
• comment on a butterfly seen outside: BUTTERFLY, LOOKING PLACE TO SIT
• saw a MASSED MAN (who went to New York, we said). Two weeks later Liz mentiones NY, he says, NEW YORK?
• During washing machine wash cycle, looking at the WC, where it dumps: MEMBER SOAP? MAYBE COME LATER.
• On playing with water, which C shuts off when he left the sink: GO BATHROOM, PEE, YOU TURN OFF WATER
• on seeing a squirrel going up the side of a building: CAREFUL SQUIRREL, and on asked why: CAUSE MITE FALL DOWM, GET HUT
• on pretending to be Chew Baca (with sharp toes), changes to R2D2: NOT SHARP TOES, WHEELS
• on request for special privileges, typically: MAMA SAYS YES, and when this is rebutted: MAMA SAYS NO, JOM SAYS YES (ITS ALRITE), and once, to get more support, pointing to hobby horse: HORSEY SAYS YES.

2:6

• Having been told he has a humidifier in his room due to a cold, and being in the kitchen needing to cough, HAVE TO COUGH, GO TO MIDDIFYER
• playing with a cardboard birthday cake with Claudia, rejecting a slice and taking another: MINE DONT LIKE HOLES (a condition of his original piece)
• becomes adept at role switching, often working out situations with Claudia being him, he Claudia. Example: Claudia is Kees, he is mama; mama (k) shows Kees (C) the vitamin pills: WANNA SEE PILLS? Even opens the bottle to show one, then quickly changes (always announcing his roles): YOU KEES, ME JOHN, TAKE PILL (it almost worked).

2:7

• Trouble with leading "s" 'NO (snow); on first snow, disappointed: 'NO COME, DON'T MAKE 'NO-MAN
• asks John to make a MOKE DAG, which is finally deciphered as "smoke stack" (for a dump truck). Oh, says John, A sss-moke sss-tack. Repeats Kees, SCH - CH - MOKE DAG.
• On being corrected, for example, Don't lie on Ghenges: I JUST LIEING ON GHENGES.

2:9

• Creates, with blocks taped together, the first letter of the alphabet, calls them DEL and WEE.

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