Chatterbox

Baby # 2 on Canada Day

Just a few months ago, I had posted a blog about our toddler's language skills, or rather, lack thereof. I need not have worried, as she is now a veritable chatterbox.

Her first full sentence came approximately six weeks ago. My husband had just left for work. Our toddler picked up her play phone and placed a call. "Who are you calling", I asked. To which she replied "Papa". When I asked her what she will say to him when he answers, she replied very clearly "come home Papa".

She has been saying some very interesting things for several months now, and has even used language to manipulate! On one occasion a few weeks ago, she purposely tapped her head against the floor. She followed this up with a "poor baby", then ran to me (where I happened to be holding the baby) and said "kiss" pointing to her head. I could not deny her, and showered her head with kisses. She had no doubt picked up "poor baby" from her grandmother, as I am certain neither my husband, nor I have ever referred to our toddler as such.

Much to my amusement, she has also used language to mimic me. Occasionally, and very much out of the blue, she will (softly) hit her little sister, then say "no," as if to reproach herself, all the while pointing her finger in accusation.

On another occasion, I realized just how much her language skills had progressed when she sounded like a broken record. About 8 weeks ago, we met my cousin and her two daughters at a park. We brought along some snacks for our older girls. Part way through playtime, we snacked at a picnic table. The toddlers did not eat for very long before excitedly returning to the slides, leaving some of their unfinished food on the picnic table. A seagull quickly swooped down and grabbed a fully wrapped cheese stick, flew a short distance away, and devoured it. I explained to the girls what had occurred, and quickly covered the remaining food. Our toddler looked stunned, and quickly said "bird, Stella*, cheese." She repeated this over and over again. Perhaps a hundred times. I was hoping she would forget the following day, but that wasn't the case. Now almost two months removed from the incident, she still mentions it, usually triggered by a bird sighting.

One would think that with increased speech would come decreased whining. However, we still find ourselves saying  "use your words" several times a day...

Enjoying a sweet snack at Grandma's

*Name changed to protect identity of child

Speech Therapy

Getting ready for bedtime with Papa and Teddy

At her 18 month appointment with the paediatrician, I voiced my concerns vis-a-vis our daughter's lack of speech. Although she was babbling quite a bit, her only consistent word was "Mama". The paediatrician, however, was unconcerned. She did ask that we make her two-year appointment a little early as to avoid bringing two babies at once (given that Baby # 2 is expected around Baby #1's 2nd birthday).

Her 2-year appointment with the paediatrician is approaching in a little over a month, and I found myself worried about Baby # 1's speech (or lack thereof). I had been replaying imaginary conversations in my head. "She still only says "Mama"?  Why didn't you tell me earlier? You will have to meet with the speech therapist as soon as possible!" would say the paediatrician. She would go on to delineate what was normal and average for a 2-year old: Speaks about 50 words but understands even more; links two words together; uses simple adjectives such as "big" and "happy"; speaks clearly enough for parents to understand some of the words. My responses would vary from defensiveness, explaining that the Brat's father also spoke late, but speaks perfectly well now...to fear of a pervasive developmental disorder.

Until last week, that is. At long last, our baby has added to her vocabulary. These are a few of the words that we believe she now speaks:

Baby
Maybe (half-way between Mama and Baby?)
Car
Girl
Truck
Circle or Purple (we are not to sure)
No (sometimes pronounced as Na)

Oddly enough she calls her papa "Ma" (half of Mama?).

But at least there has been progress. This happened rather suddenly about two Sundays ago, and she has been adding to her list almost daily. She still has quite a bit of catching up to do compared to the average 2-year old, but perhaps speech therapy can be avoided after all!