Caleb has been teaching me quite a few Mandarin words as he points to things we are eating or using and tells me the word and says "Putonghua" which means that he is telling me the word in Mandarin. We play a CD in the computer together where it is Chinese immersion and teaches fun words such as food vocabulary, parts of the body, numbers, colors, etc. through games. The game will tell me four words such as four colors and then repeat one, asking me to choose which one is the correct color. To brag about myself, I don't do too badly...as long as I have just heard the word a few seconds earlier. I am frequently rewarded with a "Good job, Mama!" and a high five. Ask me to repeat it with the proper tones an hour later, however, and I am dead in the water.

Last night we were at the grocery store and he asked for green beans since he loves them stir-fried. He pointed to them and said "Ya-mee-ah".

I asked him in my very halting Chinglish if that was the word for green beans in Putonghua (Mandarin) as I don't remember that even being close to the word for green beans. He roared with laughter and said it again. I gave him a puzzled look and he rubbed his belly and said "Mama...Yuh-mee-ah". Ah....his accented word for yummy! I guess he liked the joke at my expense because I overheard him quite a few times throughout the store repeating to himself, "Mama,ya-mee-ah" and then chuckling.