Toddler talk
Feb. 21st, 2021 02:01 pm I haven't done an "E's milestones" post lately because their development has happened too quickly to track. I don't think I can do a complete readout of all developments, and I'm daunted even by the idea of trying. So I'm gonna take bites out of it. This post is about language.
Language went from "learning lots of new words a day" to two word sentences, then three word sentences, then EIGHT word sentences, in a matter of weeks during the autumn. In September the only words they could say were "duck" and "there"; and just before Christmas I heard them say, "Roomba base dirty, needs wash, Zaza sort it".
First came nouns, then came verbs, then came multi word sentences made of nouns and verbs, and then adjectives, adverbs, pronouns, prepositions and articles.
They're now (aged nineteen months) producing complete sentences with words in the right order, and they're just working on growing their vocabulary and figuring out those final tricksy bits, like which way round "my" and "your" go (it's difficult because they have to do the opposite of what we do, rather than copying it.) They mirror everything they hear us say and have learned "Oh my god" from our housemate. It's definitely time to stop swearing.
Some things I heard them say today:
This is an astonishing speed of language acquisition, and very exciting! It means that the communication between us is getting better and better by the day, which makes negotiating everything else so much easier.
There are also some recurring Eisms which are absolutely delightful. My favourites are "big hug" ("Big hug with Boo!" said as request, and then again on completion of request) and "carry carry up" with arms raised, always with two carries, never one.
They can count to three, and know all the numbers 1-10, but need a bit of help getting them in the right order from 4 onwards.
They love reciting nursery rhymes and song lyrics, but I haven't heard them sing a melody yet, although I sing to them constantly. They have an astounding memory and can "read" several of their books all the way through, having memorised the words. This has led to lots of E-generated memes, in-jokes and references which I enjoy hugely. Julia Donaldson's Monkey Puzzle, Open Very Carefully, and their Chuggington storybook (an animated kids show about trains) currently get gleefully recited on a daily basis.
So in the whirl of the last few months I totally failed to document all the interim language cuteness, such as the period where anything too hard/heavy/difficult was "too BIG!"
Given how quickly they're picking things up, I reckon we might as well give the alphabet a try soon because they might be ready for reading before too much longer. I've bought some letter magnets for the fridge and am starting to introduce phonemes through "what sound does that word start with?" type questions. I'm in no rush for my own sake - more like scrambling to keep up!
Language went from "learning lots of new words a day" to two word sentences, then three word sentences, then EIGHT word sentences, in a matter of weeks during the autumn. In September the only words they could say were "duck" and "there"; and just before Christmas I heard them say, "Roomba base dirty, needs wash, Zaza sort it".
First came nouns, then came verbs, then came multi word sentences made of nouns and verbs, and then adjectives, adverbs, pronouns, prepositions and articles.
They're now (aged nineteen months) producing complete sentences with words in the right order, and they're just working on growing their vocabulary and figuring out those final tricksy bits, like which way round "my" and "your" go (it's difficult because they have to do the opposite of what we do, rather than copying it.) They mirror everything they hear us say and have learned "Oh my god" from our housemate. It's definitely time to stop swearing.
Some things I heard them say today:
"Hello roomba, nice to meet you roomba, said E. Hello E, said roomba!" (The roomba is a favourite topic of conversation)
"Boo's got a purple mouth! E doesn't have a purple mouth." (I was wearing lipstick. I was particularly impressed by "doesn't have", which was new)
Narrating their independent play: "E riding in a box of clothes, with a hand! Out of the clothes box, so we can... take a clothes out of the box! Put away E's trousers, put away a cardigan, empty the clothes box. Put the brown trousers on the unicorn. One sleeve on the feet..." And so on in a a pretty much constant verbal stream of chatter.
This is an astonishing speed of language acquisition, and very exciting! It means that the communication between us is getting better and better by the day, which makes negotiating everything else so much easier.
There are also some recurring Eisms which are absolutely delightful. My favourites are "big hug" ("Big hug with Boo!" said as request, and then again on completion of request) and "carry carry up" with arms raised, always with two carries, never one.
They can count to three, and know all the numbers 1-10, but need a bit of help getting them in the right order from 4 onwards.
They love reciting nursery rhymes and song lyrics, but I haven't heard them sing a melody yet, although I sing to them constantly. They have an astounding memory and can "read" several of their books all the way through, having memorised the words. This has led to lots of E-generated memes, in-jokes and references which I enjoy hugely. Julia Donaldson's Monkey Puzzle, Open Very Carefully, and their Chuggington storybook (an animated kids show about trains) currently get gleefully recited on a daily basis.
So in the whirl of the last few months I totally failed to document all the interim language cuteness, such as the period where anything too hard/heavy/difficult was "too BIG!"
Given how quickly they're picking things up, I reckon we might as well give the alphabet a try soon because they might be ready for reading before too much longer. I've bought some letter magnets for the fridge and am starting to introduce phonemes through "what sound does that word start with?" type questions. I'm in no rush for my own sake - more like scrambling to keep up!