Tuesday, January 15, 2013

Talking

Just as every mother of toddlers has ever said, "Suddenly, it's like there's been an explosion of talking and they are saying and understanding so much more!"
And so it is at our house.
The other day, after having a total conversation with Grey about what he wanted for lunch, I started a list of words they know.
Every. Single. Day. I add another word or two that I did not know they could say. Today? The new word was stairs and yesterday it was keys. 
So here is the list of all the words that my kids can suddenly say and use:

  1. Yes, yeah, yep
  2. No
  3. Excuse me (Ski-ski)
  4. Please (Eease)
  5. Thank you (Grey: Crunk-oou; Micah: Tink-oou), Thanks
  6. Help (Hup)
  7. No Thanks (No-tinks)
  8. Welcome {Like "You're welcome"} (Ec-come)
  9. Up
  10. Down
  11. Stand-up (Tind-up!)
  12. Sit (Dit)
  13. Hot
  14. Cold
  15. Brrr! (Boa!)
  16. Hop
  17. Jump
  18. Stuck
  19. Love you (La-lou!)
  20. Uh-Oh! Oh No!
  21. Tickle (Cuckle)
  22. Owie
  23. Hello, Hi
  24. Bye-Bye
  25. Ni-night
  26. Out
  27. Go!
  28. Stop! 
  29. Don't!
  30. More (Mo)
  31. MINE!
  32. This
  33. Off
  34. Dressed 
  35. Pants (Dance)
  36. Coat (Cooa)
  37. Shoes (Shoosh)
  38. Boots
  39. Mittens (Tit-tins)
  40. Socks (Docks)
  41. Hat
  42. Diaper (Diapo)
  43. Zip (Zzz-Pip!)
  44. Button (Dut-ton)
  45. Apple (Puple)
  46. Applesauce (Pupsah)
  47. Banana (Nana)
  48. Milk (Ek)
  49. Juice
  50. Tea 
  51. Water (Wa-wer)
  52. Cracker (Caker)
  53. Eggs
  54. Drink
  55. Cheese {The food is "Keys" but when I take their picture they say "Tease!")
  56. Cookies
  57. Hotdog (Hot-hot)
  58. Candy
  59. Bread
  60. Grape (Grade)
  61. Pillow (Pow-low)
  62. Blankie (Kie-kie)
  63. Bed (Ded)
  64. Chair (Tair)
  65. Bottle (Dottle)
  66. Poop
  67. Tigger
  68. Pooh {Like, "Winnie the Pooh"}
  69. Snake
  70. Duck
  71. Dog, Puppy
  72. Kitty, Cat
  73. Penguin (Ning-ning)
  74. Fish (Shh-sh)
  75. Butterfly (butt-fy)
  76. Dinosaur (Di-door)
  77. Boat (Boa)
  78. Choo-choo {Like a "Train"} 
  79. Car
  80. Truck (Uck)
  81. Plane (Ane)
  82. Flower (Lowla)
  83. Head
  84. Foot
  85. Toes
  86. Belly
  87. Teeth
  88. Hair
  89. Glasses (Lasses)
  90. Phone
  91. Stairs
  92. Keys
  93. Bath
  94. Bubbles
  95. Park
  96. Light
  97. Blue {Mostly, like "Blue's Clues," but sometimes they can correctly identify the color)
  98. Star (Sta-RAWR!)
  99. Circle (Sur-sul)
  100. Oval (whoa-whoal)
  101. Santa (Tan-ta)
  102. Tree (Tee)
  103. Baby (Grey: Babby; Micah: Babe}
  104. Snow
  105. Ice
  106. Ball (Bo)
  107. Basketball (Ket-ket-Bo)
  108. Aladdin (E-Laddy) {They refer to almost all TV as "E-Laddy"}
  109. George (Goge) {Like "Curious George"}
  110. Kiss
  111. Sticker
  112. Blech! {If something is "Yucky"... Does this count as a word?}
  113.  Shapes {What they call their "Shape Sorter" toy}
Anyway. I'm super, super proud. And since this blog's main purpose is to brag about my kids, you get to hear some serious bragging. 
They are so smart. I know this is average for a two year old, and I know A LOT of two year olds that talk more than this, but 1. Twins usually talk late, because it's really common for them to have a made-up language and 2. Boys usually talk late and 3. Grey and Micah were premature. Not very premature. Hardly premature enough to count as such, but still. 
And I know that speaking early isn't a sign of intelligence, and lots of really, really smart people don't talk until they're older - but it makes me really happy to see that the boys understand the point and use of words. As a writer, a reader, a self-proclaimed semi-Theologian, and someone completely head over heels in love with WORDS and their power, I love to see my kids putting words together and using them. 
They've started trying to string words together, and if I ask them questions, you can see their little cogs turning before they answer. And I'm pleased to say that with only a few exceptions, the words that they know were taught to them BY ME. By books in our house, by conversations with me during the day, with their Daddy. They didn't learn them from other kids (I am blaming "Mine" on Nursery at church), they didn't learn them from TV, except the names of a few TV show characters and they didn't learn them from another adult (except their family). 
And speaking of family, I didn't know if it counted, since these aren't real "Words" but here are the names of some family members they know. They can repeat back to me almost anything, but these are the people they recognize and call by name, point out in pictures, and bring me the phone and ask to call:
  1. Grey (Drey)
  2. Micah (Dih-Dah)
  3. Mama, Mom
  4. Daddy
  5. Grandpa (Brumpa)
  6. Grandma (Ann-Ma)
  7. Riley (Liley)
  8. Katie (Kitty)
  9. Jack (Jat)
  10. Tate (Tat)
  11. Mary (May-ee)
  12. Becky {Yeah, they think it's funny to call me Becky.}
  13. Elanor (Ne-nor) {Our downstairs neighbor}
And another list. These are the animals that they recognize pictures of, and make sounds for when asked. Again, they don't really count as "words," but they are identifying specific things with specific sounds:
  1. Dog (Woof Woof) or (*Panting*)
  2. Cat (Mooooow-roooah) {Mostly pathetic moaning. It's hilarious}
  3. Pig (*Snorting*)
  4. Frog (Erow-Erow)
  5. Duck (Cack-cack)
  6. Snake (Ssss)
  7. Bee (Zzzzz) {They Bzzz for all bugs, especially Spiders and worms? And often get confused and Bzz for Bears, too.}
  8. Cow (Mooo)
  9. Horse (Neigh)
  10. Sheep / Goat (Baa)
  11. Wolf (Woooo) {If they're ever confused about an animal, this is the sound they make}
  12. Mouse (Skeek-skeek!)
  13. Owl (Who-Who)
  14. Birds / Chicks (Cheep, Cheep, Cheep!)
  15. Rooster (Cock-ooo)
  16. Chicken (Luck, luck, luck)
  17. Lion / Tiger / Dinosaur, (Raaawwr!)
  18. Elephant (Brrrooooo!) {Complete with arm motion}
  19. Fish (*Smacking their lips*)
  20. Rabbit (*Sniffing*)
  21. Monkey (Ooh-Ee)
Once, after our list of "What does a Dog say? What does a Cat say? What does etc?" Travis said, "What does Mom say?"
Both boys immediately starting making monkey sounds! 
"What does Dad say?" I asked, pointing at Travis. After a few seconds, Micah quacked. Grey nodded, and started quacking, too. 
What did I tell you? Geniuses. 



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6 comments:

Strong Clan said...

Don't worry that I have been commenting EVER. SINGLE DAY. on your blog lately! But...I am hopeful that my non-talker, but babbler, Maxwell McLean Strong, will soon join your boys and realize that talking is a much better way to communicate.

MARCIE said...

Grampa and I still say " gocks and googs" for socks and shoes from when our kids were little. Those little phrases ate very endearing!

Aimee said...

Who cares if you are bragging about them? Its your blog and you do what you want. Plus, this is adorable! And what a great memory for you to keep of their progression.

What smart boys you have!

Unknown said...

I agree, brag away! They sound brilliant to me. Clementine was a big talker (like short sentences at 16 months. She had shoes with sheep on them and she would say "My shoes say baa!") and as she got older I used to worry about the memoir she would obviously grow up to write. Like "One time my mom didn't wash the dishes for so long she ended up dumping them all in the bathtub to wash them." because she was so wordy and smart. And she's six now and she still is.

Carol said...

Tessa always called any amount of money "60 dollar cents" and Tate always said that he was "clean and shiny" after a bath. Fun to remember!

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the word list. My son just turned 1 and this will be a good way for me to track his progress.