SpeakingUpdate, April Edition
It’s been a difficult journey complete with plenty of crying from all parties involved, but I consider Abbie to be talking now. While some kids were stringing together sentences like “I want milk” and “I hate you,” Abbie was still signing. She preferred to just grab the milk herself, but she’d sign when forced.
Now she can say “I want milk.” She’ll only say it after I deny her access to the refrigerator, and then she runs to her room to throw a tantrum after I tell her she can’t have any more milk until supper, but at least she’s talking. After hearing rudimentary sounds at best for the first two-plus years of her life, I consider this a success. I can barely understand her clearest speech, but I’m confident the articulation will come with practice as she babbles endlessly, requesting every food item in the house until she finds an approved snack.
Now I get to worry about the boys’ speech. While some kids are stringing together words into simple sentences worthy of sending into one of those magazine sections about kids saying the darndest things, my 17-month-old boys are still doing what could generously be called “babbling.” They have no words, and their vocabulary is limited to a few sounds. They “ba.” They “da.” They “sha.” They also make noises with no value in the English language, such as a guttural “kkkkkk” sounds, along with a “bababa” sound where they use their fingers to manipulate their lips like Bugs Bunny does to indicate crazy.
I’m not concerned about their slow expressive language development. They’re doing exactly what Abbie did at this stage, and she turned out fine, where “fine” is defined as “capable of attending preschool at the proper age.” If anything, they might be ahead of Abbie at this age because they have such a fine role model to emulate.
Their receptive language skills are developing nicely. They understand simple commands such as “give it to me” and “get down from there.” Their memories are in good shape too, since when I yell “Ian” or “Tory” five seconds later, he remembers that he’s still not supposed to be climbing on that.
They’re picking up signs, which is impressive since I don’t have the time to show them any. They can sign “more,” which may be the first sign most children learn. No parent can resist giving more food to a child signing “more.” They’ve applied it to mean more of anything. More time outside. More books. Yet another clean diaper. They also use it when they see the milk emerge from the fridge, suggesting that I need to show them the sign for “some” since they need “some” before they can get “more.”
They can wave “bye bye.” They’ll wave when someone leaves, but they’ll also say bye to inanimate objects when they’re put away. Books get a fitting sendoff as they’re thrown in the book bin. Shirts also get a farewell when I throw them back in the dresser after they lovingly spread them across the floor.
They can do a few other signs. They clap on command, though Ian needs more encouragement than Tory. We’re working on “milk,” but so far it looks like “more.” Abbie never mastered the sign for “milk” either, so maybe the boys will develop just like her. Goodie.
Now she can say “I want milk.” She’ll only say it after I deny her access to the refrigerator, and then she runs to her room to throw a tantrum after I tell her she can’t have any more milk until supper, but at least she’s talking. After hearing rudimentary sounds at best for the first two-plus years of her life, I consider this a success. I can barely understand her clearest speech, but I’m confident the articulation will come with practice as she babbles endlessly, requesting every food item in the house until she finds an approved snack.
Now I get to worry about the boys’ speech. While some kids are stringing together words into simple sentences worthy of sending into one of those magazine sections about kids saying the darndest things, my 17-month-old boys are still doing what could generously be called “babbling.” They have no words, and their vocabulary is limited to a few sounds. They “ba.” They “da.” They “sha.” They also make noises with no value in the English language, such as a guttural “kkkkkk” sounds, along with a “bababa” sound where they use their fingers to manipulate their lips like Bugs Bunny does to indicate crazy.
I’m not concerned about their slow expressive language development. They’re doing exactly what Abbie did at this stage, and she turned out fine, where “fine” is defined as “capable of attending preschool at the proper age.” If anything, they might be ahead of Abbie at this age because they have such a fine role model to emulate.
Their receptive language skills are developing nicely. They understand simple commands such as “give it to me” and “get down from there.” Their memories are in good shape too, since when I yell “Ian” or “Tory” five seconds later, he remembers that he’s still not supposed to be climbing on that.
They’re picking up signs, which is impressive since I don’t have the time to show them any. They can sign “more,” which may be the first sign most children learn. No parent can resist giving more food to a child signing “more.” They’ve applied it to mean more of anything. More time outside. More books. Yet another clean diaper. They also use it when they see the milk emerge from the fridge, suggesting that I need to show them the sign for “some” since they need “some” before they can get “more.”
They can wave “bye bye.” They’ll wave when someone leaves, but they’ll also say bye to inanimate objects when they’re put away. Books get a fitting sendoff as they’re thrown in the book bin. Shirts also get a farewell when I throw them back in the dresser after they lovingly spread them across the floor.
They can do a few other signs. They clap on command, though Ian needs more encouragement than Tory. We’re working on “milk,” but so far it looks like “more.” Abbie never mastered the sign for “milk” either, so maybe the boys will develop just like her. Goodie.
posted by Matt at
11:18 PM
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