Third word Adidas?

My daughter, Matilda, is brought up bilingually in Finnish and German. At the age of 17 months she seems to be on the right track: Her vocabulary consists of about twenty Finnish and twenty German words, mainly things she sees in her immediate surroundings like „Katze“ or „Buch“ or expressions which are useful in a daily routines like “Kaka” or “jein” – the latter meaning by the way: „Yes, I do want to have a piece of chocolate cake but no, I don’t co-operate with you at any other level…“

A considerable part of the early language learning process of children is based on endorsement: The child says “mommy” and the mother repeats “Yes, mommy is here.” Matilda, due to the fact that she is processing two languages at the same time, gets the most endorsement for intercultural words that are common or similar in both of her languages.

Matilda has one very feminine passion: shoes. She has a pair of summer shoes, winter shoes, rubber boots, two pairs of house shoes and – the biggest of all of her treasures – ADIDAS. Thus, she learned to demand her precious sneakers by saying “Adi, Adi, Adi” before she learned to say shoe.

Even though this case is an implication of Adidas’ status as an iconic brand, the explanation is rather simple: The word “Adidas”, referring to Matilda’s favourite pair of shoes, was used and endorsed by both of her parents whereas German and Finnish versions of the word “shoe” were each used by only one parent.

Still, I’m already anxious to know how many brand names Matilda will recognize by the age of two… and what comes after Adidas and Lego?