Hi stands for Hawaii

It was only expected that the trip to Grannie and Gramps would help Sasha acquire more English words. While still in the air, Sasha had already somehow picked up the word "Hi!", and he was using that consistently for 15 minutes on the lady in the seat behind us. Once we arrived to Hawaii, that Hi! grew stronger and stronger each day. Coming down the stairs for breakfast, he would start saying Hi! before we turn around the corner into the living room.

Among other things that Sasha has mastered in Hawaii (such as pulling himself up to standing in the crib or showing with his finger how the blades of a fan rotate) was also the ability to throw objects on the floor and say: "Uh-oh!", as well as communicating with fingers and expression "Gak!" to get whatever he desired at that very moment. He also was heard to say: "Ducks!", when the viewing of such was suggested.

Interestingly enough, his American Gramps is known to Sasha under Russian word дедушка (he doesn't say it, but he turns to Gramps when he hears it). Why - nobody knows. There were plenty of opportunities for Sasha to learn the English word, but it just didn't happen, so far.

Another oddity: Upon arrival back to Denver, Sasha doesn't say Hi! as enthusiastically and as often as he did in Hawaii, but he did start waiving Goodbye!, except that he squeezes his hand instead of waiving.

As I have previously read in "Raising a bilingual child" by Barbara Zurer-Pearson, the progress in one language can potentially drive the progress in the second language. And I think, it is really the case for Sasha: his comprehension of Russian has improved drastically since the trip to Hawaii. He understands more words and more sentence types. I can ask him a question, and he responds with yes or no. Here is a a couple of our typical conversations, as translated from Russian:

- Do you want more?
- No-no!
- Do you want water?
- No-no!
- Do you want to nurse?
- Yes-yes-yes!

- Do you want to go for a walk?
- No-no!
- Do you want to play with your trucks?
- No-no!
- Do you want to read some books?
- Yes-yes-yes!
(after reading books for 30 minutes and playing with trucks for 15 minutes)
- Do you want to go for a walk?
- Yes-yes-yes!

So, the next step would be to introduce him to questions that require the answer other than yes or no. Something like multiple choice questions. So far, I was unsuccessful communicating with him that way. I think he focuses more on the end of the sentence and says yes or no to whatever is the last choice. That's something to work on.