Petra’s been a counting fool these past few months. She can count to thirteen or fourteen in both English and Swedish — she doesn’t really understand the concept of numbers, of course, but she knows in which order the words go, and she never mixes the languages. She’ll use any opportunity to show off her counting prowess, even if it requires a bit of deliberate misunderstanding on her part.

Two recent examples:

Me: Are you hungry?
Petra: Nääe-n
Me: What, you’re German? Nein!
Petra: Ten, eleven, twelve, thirteen

* * * * *

Petra clomps in wearing Tage’s rainboots.

Me: What kind of shoes are those?
Petra: Shoe?
Me: Yep, shoe.*
Petra: Åtta, nio, tio, elva, tolv, tretton, fjorton

*In the part of Sweden where we live, sju, or seven, is pronounced very nearly like the English “shoe.” Not so in the rest of Sweden, but the wordplay works up here.