18 months
*UPDATE: New words added just a few hours after the original post. This boy's language is exploding!*
Riley is now a full year and a half old. He's still on the big side (height = 33.5 inches; weight = 29.5 pounds), but at least he's proportional, coming in around the 83rd percentile for both. He understands everything we say, which is awesome! He puts away his toys and follows instructions like "please put mommy's beer back on the table." He also listens to reason. If he wakes up at night, and I tell him it's still night time, our rational boy will now go right back to sleep. If he's crabby, we can work together to find a solution:
Him: [In tears]
Me: Do you want lunch?
Him: [Shakes his head "No"]
Me: Do you want to read a book?
Him: [Shakes his head "No"]
Me: Do you want to go to the playground?
Him: Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! [He bounces up and down, grabs his jacket and runs to the door, happy as a clam]
He's a little behind on expressive language, but he seems to have a new word every other day or so. Here's his current vocabulary of 30 or so words:
Da-da (his favorite)
Ma-ma (rarely employed)
Uh-oh
Yeah! (often quite enthusiastic)
Where-is-it?
There-it-is!
There
Ball
Bird
Bubble
Purple
Pumpkin
Diaper
Bottle (the last five words sound almost identical -- it's like a Chinese word he just changes with inflection)
Milk
More
Dog ("woof")
Cat ("mmmm" -- his version of "meow," I think)
Owl ("hoo hoo")
Elmo
Outside
Water
Whoa
Car/train ("vroom vroom")
Roar!
Apple
Hot (a very breathy "ha ha ha" while waving a hand in front of his mouth)
And, thanks to his nanny, there are the Spanish words. Riley says "agua" (water), and "zappo" (AKA zapato, meaning shoe). And if you ask him what la vaca says, he moos, he woofs for el perro and meows for el gato. Que fantastico!
He has also made up some words. They are sounds he uses to convey specific words or ideas. He clicks his tongue for "pacifier." He loudly exhales through his nose to say "smell" or "flower" and he blows raspberries, often dancing his finger across his lips (imagine hearing "blubba, blubba, blubba") to convey that life is grand and all is happy in Riley-land.
Communicating with him in this manner has been a huge breakthrough. It has pushed me past the stage when parenting often felt more burdensome than fun, to now where it is deeply satisfying, and the rewards outweigh the challenges. Yay for 18 months!
Riley is now a full year and a half old. He's still on the big side (height = 33.5 inches; weight = 29.5 pounds), but at least he's proportional, coming in around the 83rd percentile for both. He understands everything we say, which is awesome! He puts away his toys and follows instructions like "please put mommy's beer back on the table." He also listens to reason. If he wakes up at night, and I tell him it's still night time, our rational boy will now go right back to sleep. If he's crabby, we can work together to find a solution:
Him: [In tears]
Me: Do you want lunch?
Him: [Shakes his head "No"]
Me: Do you want to read a book?
Him: [Shakes his head "No"]
Me: Do you want to go to the playground?
Him: Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! [He bounces up and down, grabs his jacket and runs to the door, happy as a clam]
He's a little behind on expressive language, but he seems to have a new word every other day or so. Here's his current vocabulary of 30 or so words:
Da-da (his favorite)
Ma-ma (rarely employed)
Uh-oh
Yeah! (often quite enthusiastic)
Where-is-it?
There-it-is!
There
Ball
Bird
Bubble
Purple
Pumpkin
Diaper
Bottle (the last five words sound almost identical -- it's like a Chinese word he just changes with inflection)
Milk
More
Dog ("woof")
Cat ("mmmm" -- his version of "meow," I think)
Owl ("hoo hoo")
Elmo
Outside
Water
Whoa
Car/train ("vroom vroom")
Roar!
Apple
Hot (a very breathy "ha ha ha" while waving a hand in front of his mouth)
And, thanks to his nanny, there are the Spanish words. Riley says "agua" (water), and "zappo" (AKA zapato, meaning shoe). And if you ask him what la vaca says, he moos, he woofs for el perro and meows for el gato. Que fantastico!
He has also made up some words. They are sounds he uses to convey specific words or ideas. He clicks his tongue for "pacifier." He loudly exhales through his nose to say "smell" or "flower" and he blows raspberries, often dancing his finger across his lips (imagine hearing "blubba, blubba, blubba") to convey that life is grand and all is happy in Riley-land.
Communicating with him in this manner has been a huge breakthrough. It has pushed me past the stage when parenting often felt more burdensome than fun, to now where it is deeply satisfying, and the rewards outweigh the challenges. Yay for 18 months!
I'm so with ya. I think for the first time lately I'm a little sad when I put Fiona to bed at the end of the day instead of just totally relieved and reaching for the wine! :) And I keep meaning to tell you Fiona totally learned "Yeah!" from Riley. She would just be silent instead of saying yes but now we finally have movement into the land of the positives. Yeah!
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