Talking Up a Storm
It's absolutely amazing to me how much Ethan has changed during the weeks that I lost in the hospital (I only managed to see him for two, fairly short, visits while I was there).
Back in June, I had begun listing Ethan's first words. At the time, I didn't think too much about how many words he had learned because both my wife and I were early talkers. In fact, he's quite serious about learning new words. Whenever he hears any word that we emphasize (from a book, everyday use, etc.) he tries very hard to say it. Of course we encourage him in this by repeating the word a number of times and responding with "Yea Ethan!," or "Very Good," or whatever. In most cases, he'll say the word a few times, be very pleased with himself (and rightly so), and then be done with it.
But his vocabulary has continued to increase and, after consultation with the early childhood books that we feel compelled to check his progress against, it seems like he actually has quite a lot of words for his age. This was confirmed by our pediatrician who dismissed my wife's claims out of hand, telling her that Ethan was just "making sounds" and she heard what she wanted to. Except that he makes the exact same sound for the same object every time he sees it and he'll often point to it. That sounds like words to me.
I kid you not, but his current vocabulary includes (among others): cat, dog (technically he says "Teddy," the name of the one dog he knows but he calls all dogs from his DVDs, books etc. "Teddy" so I count it), horse, cow, bear, duck, Daddy, Grampy (one of his grandfathers), "Yea!," "Whee!," book, glasses (surprisingly clearly), eyes, nose, teeth, block, car, truck, "T'ank oo" (thank you), uh-oh, diaper, light, blanket (meaning his favorite one), egg, cookie (we call Gerber's carrot-flavored Wagon Wheels "cookies") broccoli, and goldfish (the snack, not the animal).
He's also begun using his words to ask for things. He'll say "blanket" when he can't find his blanket, and I get asked for "cookies" and goldfish all day long. He's also able to point to some things that he still can't say, such as hair or ears.
Frankly, it's impressive as hel...ummm, heck. (Got to watch the language around the little one).
You may have noticed that there's one glaring omission from the above list. Mommy. For some reason, Ethan steadfastly refuses to say the word "Mommy." He clearly knows the word because he'll do things like go to Mommy when I say "Ethan, go to Mommy," and if both of us are sitting with him and I say "Where's Mommy's nose?" he'll touch her nose, not mine.
My wife is convinced that he's doing it on purpose just to torment her. Frankly, I wouldn't put it past him. Permalink
Back in June, I had begun listing Ethan's first words. At the time, I didn't think too much about how many words he had learned because both my wife and I were early talkers. In fact, he's quite serious about learning new words. Whenever he hears any word that we emphasize (from a book, everyday use, etc.) he tries very hard to say it. Of course we encourage him in this by repeating the word a number of times and responding with "Yea Ethan!," or "Very Good," or whatever. In most cases, he'll say the word a few times, be very pleased with himself (and rightly so), and then be done with it.
But his vocabulary has continued to increase and, after consultation with the early childhood books that we feel compelled to check his progress against, it seems like he actually has quite a lot of words for his age. This was confirmed by our pediatrician who dismissed my wife's claims out of hand, telling her that Ethan was just "making sounds" and she heard what she wanted to. Except that he makes the exact same sound for the same object every time he sees it and he'll often point to it. That sounds like words to me.
I kid you not, but his current vocabulary includes (among others): cat, dog (technically he says "Teddy," the name of the one dog he knows but he calls all dogs from his DVDs, books etc. "Teddy" so I count it), horse, cow, bear, duck, Daddy, Grampy (one of his grandfathers), "Yea!," "Whee!," book, glasses (surprisingly clearly), eyes, nose, teeth, block, car, truck, "T'ank oo" (thank you), uh-oh, diaper, light, blanket (meaning his favorite one), egg, cookie (we call Gerber's carrot-flavored Wagon Wheels "cookies") broccoli, and goldfish (the snack, not the animal).
He's also begun using his words to ask for things. He'll say "blanket" when he can't find his blanket, and I get asked for "cookies" and goldfish all day long. He's also able to point to some things that he still can't say, such as hair or ears.
Frankly, it's impressive as hel...ummm, heck. (Got to watch the language around the little one).
You may have noticed that there's one glaring omission from the above list. Mommy. For some reason, Ethan steadfastly refuses to say the word "Mommy." He clearly knows the word because he'll do things like go to Mommy when I say "Ethan, go to Mommy," and if both of us are sitting with him and I say "Where's Mommy's nose?" he'll touch her nose, not mine.
My wife is convinced that he's doing it on purpose just to torment her. Frankly, I wouldn't put it past him. Permalink
posted by Rob | 8:09 PM
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