I made a small effort to use some of the language in this post. Sure, the line about the cat may seem lazy since the exact phrase is used as an example on the website (looool) but I thought it would be super cute if they got a cat when the pet expansion comes out so I’m looking forward to November!

There’s a bit of a time jump here so bear with! 😉

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Case Study Log of Infant 87 [I87]
Caregiver: Liliana Ikeda

Xilla and I have been together for quite some time now (my notebook tells me it’s been about six months!) and we’re really getting on well. It’s become a lot easier to understand each other.

 

Some disappointing news to report, though: I’ve entirely given up how to understand her language.

I really did try to make an effort at the start but I admit I’ve never been good at languages… I’ve only learned a little of what she’s saying but she’s doing much better with English, I’ll tell you that. Here are some of the words I’ve learned from her:

Bizaabgotojo = I didn’t know what this meant at first but I checked on the forums I found a while ago and found that it means “caregiver.”  Xilla called me this for a long time before she started calling me Lili.

Kari = Originally I thought this was just what she called her night light but then I thought maybe it meant “star” (I was wrong on both parts). The other night we were sitting out in the backyard she pointed up at the sky and said the word. I responded,

“Yeah, those stars are pretty! So sparkly!” I flexed my fingers to imitate twinkles. She shook her head and made a circle with her arms above her head,

“Kari big! Bakari!” Sooo it actually means “moon”. I was close!

Kedi = She has this one cat plushie that she snuggles with. Often when she’s playing with it she’ll repeat the words “kedi” and “pakedi” over and over again. Sometimes I even hear her singing:

Kedi, kedi,
E in’i pakedi

She’ll pet the toy and say “good kedi” so I think “kedi” must mean cat but I don’t know about the rest. It sort of sounds like “kitty”, too.

 

Thankfully Xilla has begun repeating more of the words I say. I think our book time has really paid off!

 

I’ve tried so hard not to swear in front of her and so far I’ve been successful. Lots of, “ohhhh snickerdoodles!” when I mess something up in the kitchen.

In between normal toddler maintenance I am happy that I still have the change to talk to my siblings. Usually it’s my sister, Emily, and she’s got some new gossip to tell me about my mom. Other times it’s my brothers talking about their studies or just checking in on Xilla and I. Adam finally got himself moved into his new place at school and it sounds like a really nice place! Just like me he was happy to get out of that house.

 

Despite what you may have heard about raising a child I’ve had a decent amount of free time. Xilla entertains herself most of the day and can feed herself. She enjoys inspecting her food, too.

 

Sometimes we eat together, other times I paint at the easel or use the computer. I’ve been trying to find the odd job here or there online and found some work in editing. It pays pennies but those pennies pay the bills!

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