Play-Learn-Grow-Repeat

From Friday Mom – Erin:
Before I was a parent, I used to listen to my friends and family with children and wonder how in the world they understood what their kids were saying. To me, the babble that came out of their mouths was hardly coherent and a far cry from actual English. Now that I am a parent, my ear has become accustomed to deciphering the cobbled-together syllables and translating them into true verbal communication.

Rory has shown a marked improvement in his vocabulary development over the past couple of months. He now speaks his first words much more clearly (ball, up, momma, dadda, dog, etc), and has really started parroting a lot of new words back to us as we read them. Reading his books is a joy for all of us– we never know what kind of surprises it will bring. Some days, we will point to pictures in his books and he’ll shout out words we didn’t even know he could say. Turtle is a particular favorite (as are butterfly, helicopter, and airplane). We can tell how much he enjoys showing off his knowledge, too. He lights up when we acknowledge his proper word selection (and then usually repeats himself at least 3-4 times for good measure).

In addition to simply reaching an age when language starts to “click” for toddlers, Rory has definitely benefited from being around older children in his new classroom at daycare. There is more structured learning in his new room, including thematic weekly activities, daily circle time, story time, and other activities that provide far more opportunity for verbal stimulation than his prior classroom. That’s not to say he didn’t receive that stimulation previously, it is simply a more regular and consistent focus in his new room. And the results are evident.

The only think more impressive than listening to him talk to us at home is seeing him chat with his fellow classmates when we arrive at school. The enthusiasm tugs at my heartstrings, for sure. Although I am sure there will quickly come a time when he’s telling me things I don’t want to hear or articulating his dissatisfaction, for now, I am enjoying listening to the little boy he is becoming and love helping him find his voice.

From Friday Mom – Erin:
Rory calls me Daddy. And it kind of hurts my feelings.

Da-da and Daddy were some of Rory’s first baby babbles. According to our pediatrician, it’s actually easier for toddlers to move their mouths to say daddy than it is to say mommy. So for a long time, I reassured myself that Rory’s grasp of the word “daddy” was simply reflex, and not some choice or deliberate favoritism on his part.

Now, however, I am starting to question that assessment. Rory has started to respond to questions. When we ask him to show us his belly button, nose, ears, or head, etc., he happily obliges. So, when we asked him the other day who each of us were, we expected the same dutiful response.

You see where this is going, right?

When I asked Rory who I was, he gleefully responded, “Dadeee.” We both chuckled and explained that, no Rory, I am mommy. Ma-ma. Ma-ma. Ma-ma. Eventually I elicited a brief “ma-ma” in response. I responded with the appropriate degree of excitement and enthusiasm. And he responded with a giggling rant of “daddy, daddy, daddy.” Hoping it was a one-time deal, I asked him the same question again the following morning. His response: “dadeee.”

Sigh.

I’m happy to keep politely correcting him and am hopeful that he learns in fairly short order that mommy smiles a whole lot more when he calls her mommy (instead of daddy). But, I can’t help but take it a little personally (even though I know I shouldn’t). And I also wonder if I failed to talk in third person enough around him, or if I just didn’t talk enough around him, or what, if anything, I did that led him to not know who I am, or at least not be able to say it. I guess I can take solace in the fact that he doesn’t call me “ball” or “duck” or one of his other favorite words. . . at least not yet.

From Friday Mom – Erin:
Rory is in the early stages of learning to communicate. He is a typical toddler in that he has begun to express pretty strong preferences. In some ways, this is a very good thing. For example, he has started to shake his head no to tell us that he is done with his dinner. This is much better than his previous technique of saying “all done”… throwing everything remaining on his tray onto the floor. But it isn’t perfect.

So far, the majority of his communication has been pretty basic. On the downside, he has started to gesture pretty forcefully. As a result, we have to keep the counters fairly clear during dinner time—otherwise he’ll spend the majority of the meal asking to sample what ever is sitting on the counter, even if it isn’t edible. On more than one occasion, an unanswered gesture has given way to a complete meltdown.

Luckily, he has also started actually speaking a few words, as well. “Ball” was his first, but now he says “up,” “bye-bye,” “hi,” and “uh-oh,” and is working on some others like “all done” and “no.” His daddy swears he says mama when I leave the room, but I’ve only heard it on a few occasions (he says daddy all the time). His grandmother swears she heard him say “thank you” last weekend while they were visiting, but I am somewhat skeptical.

I find it fascinating to hear Rory develop his own little voice. More often than not his babbles carry the intonation of a full conversation but are completely incoherent. This babble is doubly entertaining when we drop him off at school and he begins chattering with his classmates. We’re continuing to read to him, working on teaching him bit by bit. But mostly we’re enjoying hearing the next thing to come out of his tiny little mouth. I know it won’t be long before he’s vocalizing his demands loudly, so I guess I should try to enjoy the silence as well.

From Monday Mom – Neetika:
Not too long ago, I was reading about the baby milestones I should expect to see Haley achieve in the next few months. This is exactly the kind of thing you tell yourself you’re not going to do. We all know that children develop at different rates and, aside from rare severe delays, it really doesn’t matter when they reach these markers. They will do so at their own paces. However, being a mom isn’t always about being rational. You worry about how you’re kid is doing and wonder if she is “normal”.

One of the milestones that struck me was about talking. Around this age, children say a couple of words and soon, they adopt “no” as their favorite. Haley will say “mama” and “dada”, babble, and make her needs known. But I never thought of her as very chatty. Since Haley seemed to be somewhat ahead of the curve in terms of physical ability, I expected that she’d be a little behind it verbally. It was hard for me to imagine her saying the word “no” a lot, like it was no big deal. All of that changed last week. In the last few days, I have heard her say “dow”(for down), “yeah”, “nah” for no, “myow” (when she sees a cat), and “Eh-mo” (meaning Elmo), in addition to her old standby— “du” for duck.

This is not to say that Haley has mastered the art of conversation—far from it. A few days ago, we attended a party at my friend’s house. Haley was so different from the crazy girl she usually is—she was mute and stared silently at everyone. She would not utter a word and would physically push away anyone who tried to touch her. It takes a while for her to warm up to people, and I didn’t do her any favors by taking her out to socialize right smack in the middle of naptime. I’m sure soon enough she will feel comfortable enough to speak to outsiders, too—faster than I might expect.

Have a wonderful Memorial Day!