At 11 months of age my little girl makes the most amazing sounds, from the conventional “mamama”, “bababa”, “dadada” to gurgles, shrieks and high pitched squeals. She also roars like a lion, giggles uncontrollably and chuckles at random intervals.
One noise that has ingrained itself in Amelia’s vocabulary is an Orcish grunt reminiscent of the humanoids of Middle Earth. As my baby has grown older, her Orc grunt has lost its fervour but it still makes an appearance every now and then. And I am noticing a trend. The Orc grunt is voiced when I ruin Amelia’s fun by asking her not to do something – usually not to touch the computer, not to play with wires or not to put into her mouth whatever random object she may have dug out of the carpet. She listens very well but her compliance is always accompanied with an Orc grunt.
I have, on many occasions, told Amelia that she was born in London, not Mordor and Londoners speak English (or a form thereof) not Orcish. She has ignored me thus far. But I am not concerned. If my daughter takes up grunting as a manner of communication I will merely explain that she has just finished working as an extra in The Hobbit – old habits die hard. If that does not appease horrified glares, I will blame her father. And leave it at that.
