Benben se deguise

Benjamin doesn't watch TV on a TV set, but we do let him watch short videos originally from French television that we can download from the Internet. His favorite by far is L'Ane Trotro and right now his favorite episode is "Trotro se déguise" where Trotro dresses up as a tiger and announces "Je suis un tigre!"





Benben has been announcing the same to us for the past few days, in French and English.



When he was pretending to vacuum last night, I said, "I thought you said you were a tiger. Tiger's don't vacuum!"

He replied, "I'm a tiger vacuum!"

bithe?

I don't quite know what to do about a new made-up word of Benjamin's. I guess I'll have to start a new made-up words list.

Benjamin's new made-up word is "bithe," which would rhyme with "ice" if you had a lisp.

He was saying it while pointing to the tiki torches during dinners on the deck. So does "bithe" mean torch? fire? flame? We kept saying those words to gently correct him.

Then he started using it in the bath, pointing to bubbles, pointing to the bath gate that keeps him away from the faucet and drain. Then I realized he was saying the word with a questioning intonation: bithe?

So I said "bubble bath" and "bath gate" and he seemed satisfied.

So now it seems that "bithe?" means "Tell me what this is called."

My best guess is that it comes from how he hears it when I point to something he knows and ask, "What's this?"

- papa