Syntax

Several weeks ago, we heard Ruth Anne say “Hi, Daddy” and we counted it as her first syntactical structure. Last week, “What's this?” became clear. This is apparently the predecessor to the ever popular “Why?”
Then, yesterday, I was helping Ruth Anne put Christmas window stickies up in her room. Soca was, of course, curious about these sparkling snowmen who were obstructing his view of the birds. He came and put a paw on one of them. Ruth Anne reached out to put her paws on him.
“No, no,” she said.
“It's okay, Ruth Anne,” I told her. (We've been trying to curtail Ruth Anne's disciplining of the cat).
“No, no,” she said.
“Why can't Soca look at the decorations?” She ignored me and turned to Soca who had retreated a few feet.
“This is a no,” she told him.
This sentence, like “What's this?” is one I know she has heard verbatim. I had to wait until the afternoon for a genuine example of generative grammar. She'd just woken from her nap and I reached out to lift her down from her bed: “No get down.”
It was just as well. She stayed in her bed and a few minutes later we got to see (peering through the window stickies) Joe march past piping Santa in to the holiday party at the Ambassador's residence.
I can hardly wait for Christmas morning after Santa has made his quieter entry into our house. We'll no doubt hear: “What's this? Soca, this is a no.” I can't wait to see what else she says.