First Words

TJ is making more of an effort to talk over this last month. You can tell that he is really trying to use his lips, tongue and mouth to shape the words. But they just don't come out all the way. Its adorable to watch.

At nine months we started using signs with TJ in hopes that he would be an early communicator. I have heard of great success stories with teaching babies how to talk with signs. And it has worked for our son too. He caught on to sign communication very well. "More" "Please" "Drink" "Diaper change" "eat" "draw" "down" and "airplane" are all popular ones. Then he started developing his own signs. For example he created, "Fish" for anything to do with water, swimming, fish, and the goldfish crackers. He also came up with a sign for his favorite TV show: Blues Clues.

Recently too, he has learned how to point to himself to indicate something that he has done, wants to do, or wants something. As a result he has started putting together multiple signs (point to TJ, then make a drink sign. . .for "I want something to drink". He also has shared with me his fascination with police officers by pointing to himself and then to a picture of a police officer in one of his books. What he is trying to say, I am not quite sure, but if he grows up to be a police officer, I will proudly tell him that he knew what he wanted to be when he grew up since he was 22 months old.

At 18 months TJ's first real word (other than mom and dad) was "juice" It was right when I stopped giving TJ a bottle of milk in the morning and replaced it with a sippy cup of juice. So in the mornings, one of the first things he says to me is "juice".

Since 18 months his vocabulary has increased-- but he still prefers communicating with signs. My guess is that he knows signs work. This new language thing mom is still having a hard time deciphering.

So as of today here are the words that he says off and on
juice
mamma
dadda
sis
truck. . . more like "ck"
car
grace (his cousin)
Coco (the dog next door)
Greg (Olga's neighbor)
no
uh-huh
ca-ca (jacket)
crayon

Then there is this whole other category of noises he makes instead of saying the actual word. Most of these are associated with animals.
Moo for cow (he says mmmmmmm)
For pig he actually snorts (and he loves it)
Sssss for snake
ba ba for sheep
roar for dinosaur
ahhhh ahhhh for monkey

The other sound he perfected over the last few days is the sound of a siren for any type of vehicle with lights on the top" police car, ambulance, fire truck, and even some tow trucks.

So TJ is well on his way to being a talker. He is taking his time, but he is certainly communicating all that is important to him.