New words

Laurel is 16 and a half months old, and she has just added a few new words to her spoken vocabulary. Using a generous definition of what a word is, she can now say 14 or 15 words.

New words are:

• ball
• eye
• hat
• up

These join her previous words:

• arf (sound of the dog)
  
• Da-da
• hi
  
• hoo-hoo (sound of the owl)
• Isaac
• moon
• out
  
• owl
• uh-oh

She's working on "baby" to refer to herself, always said very rapidly as "be-be-be-be" while reaching wildly for something she wants given to herself -- usually a sippy cup. Strangely, she does not say "cup."

And a few times recently she has patted me on the chest and said, very earnestly, "Mom." Even though I've been through this before, it still gives me a shiver of delight.

- - - - -

Without comparing my kids too closely, I think I can say it's a different experience living with a child who just isn't eager to communicate verbally. Laurel jabbers a lot these days, greeting people she meets and imitating the cadences of conversation, but she doesn't try to say individual "real" words. She understands what many words mean, but she doesn't try to say them herself, not even words for the things she absolutely adores, like dolls, cups, and dogs. I know this will change very soon, but in the meantime sometimes I'm left guessing what she is thinking.

But sometimes she doesn't need to say anything to make herself understood. Today our playgroup met at our house, and at one point Laurel let out a loud wail of complaint. All the mothers looked over at her.

"What happened?" we asked her. And wordlessly she pointed an accusatory finger at the little girl standing near her.

We laughed. And then she laughed too.