> I've been enjoying my three-year-old's attempts to grasp English. [...]
Ah, here's my cue to type in an excerpt from a paper about learning to count: K Durkin, B Shire, R Riem, R D Crowther & D R Rutter (1986) The social and linguistic context of early number word use. British Journal of Developmental Psychology, vol 4.
The paper's about the ambiguities care-givers give to young children which can then lead to conflicts in the children's early experiences. The first is a transcript from a video of a parent and child together, counting the video cameras.