Until this week, I didn’t think Laurel was using any words yet. I thought she was one of those wordless babies who hasn’t brilliantly pointed to something and pronounced its name yet. Then I realized — as I feared might happen — that she’s half-using a couple of words already, and working on more of them, and we just hadn’t really picked up on it yet.
Part of the confusion draws from the fact that the two words she’s saying most are “shoes” and “cheese,” but without the vowels, so they’re more like “shhhhs” and “chhssss.” They’re definitely distinct from each other, and she says them when presented with the correct item. I know she can say “oooo” and “eeee” sounds, so I’m not sure why they don’t play into her pronunciation of these words. In any case, shoes are one of her favorite things to play with, and cheese is one of her favorite things to eat. Other than that, it’s odd that she started with such difficult words.
Also, she’s been trying to say “mooo.” One of her favorite books right now is “Peek-A-Who?”, and one of the first pages says, “Peek-a … mooooo!” In addition, one of her stuffed animals is a cow that moos when you squeeze it. So, I wind up saying “moooo” to her a lot. Sometimes she says, “oooooo,” and other times it’s more like “boooooo,” but she’s only managed a proper “mooooo” once.
As I’ve mentioned, recently we’ve been walking a lot, and she likes to point out the trees. Today, on our way to the park, she pointed at one of the street trees and clearly said “tree,” but in a whisper. She wouldn’t repeat it when I asked her. :(
And, lastly, she said “Dada” the other day while pointing at Devin. It was totally spontaneous, unlike when I try to prompt her to say “Mama.” When I ask her, “Where’s mama?” she points at my chest and then makes the sign for milk, which tells you something about my usefulness to her. While we’re on the topic of signs, she’s gotten good at letting us know when she wants something by using the sign for “more,” and she has made up a couple of signs, including this one, which either means “I want a hug” or “I’m done,” we’re not sure:
It’s exciting around here with all this communication. On top of that, it’s clear she understands many more words: kitty, milk, boobs, ears, nose, toes (she can also point to these parts on herself and on us), water, doggie, baby, Mouse, bottle, formula, and many others I can’t think of now.
As a writer, it’s exciting watching her begin to make sense of language. For example, when I say, “Where’s your ear?” not only does she understand I’m asking her to show me her ear, but she also understands it when I say, “Yes! That’s right!” I imagine her hearing this soup of babble from us, until one day, sense begins to emerge. It must be exciting for her, too.
— Beth
The Carraway Seed 
Tara said,
February 16, 2010 at 10:38 am
I want her to show me her ear!