At Little Man's 12 month check up, I proudly rattled off all the words he could say: mama, dada, ball, flower, uh-oh. The nurse stared at me a little blankly.
"We don't ask about language until 18 months," she said.
Well, we're at 16 months, and the list has grown longer. Little Man has added words like dog, up, apple, nana, bottle, woof, boobies (yes, you read that correctly) and scissors to his list.
But what really gets me is the non-verbal way Little Man communicates with us--and how much he's capable of understanding even if he can't say it.
When he wants something he doesn't have a word for, he'll lead one of us straight to what he wants and puts our hands on it. Sometimes this works out in his favor, like when he puts my hand on the doorknob of the pantry, looking for a snack. Then there are other times, like when he tries to cram a disc into the PS3 and waves at Husband to get his attention, that we acknowledge his effort but try to distract him with something more his speed.
He understands many directives. He'll bring things to people on request, knows where to go to wash his hands, where to put his dirty socks (he puts them in the dryer, but hey--he's got the right idea), he'll bring us books when we ask and go switch them out when we're done reading. He anticipates a good countdown of "one...two...three...", sending his matchbox cars shooting down their ramp or attacking us with hugs on three.
He's super at identifying things in books: apples, bananas, dogs, ducks, pumpkins. He can find all his favorite trucks in his truck books on request: dump truck, excavator, big rig, dune buggy (comeplete with a "rumble rumble" tushie wiggle).
He's got body parts covered: hair, eyes, ears, nose, mouth, fingers, toes and bellybutton. He'll happily identify them on himself or you, honking your nose and yanking up a shirt to gleefully poke a finger in your bellybutton. He likes to compare bellybuttons of any two people standing close by, so beware.
He gives high fives and plays patty cake with me, anticipating the hand gestures. He gives me his toes when he wants to hear "This Little Piggy Went to Market", and moves my fingers up and down his leg in a request for "The Itsy Bitsy Spider".
And--the most recent and possibly my favorite verbal skill--when you ask him to sing a song, he rocks back and forth and sings "row row row boat", then waits for you to sing the rest.
I worried a few months back that I didn't teach Little Man baby signs, and that he would have a hard time letting me know what he wanted. My worrying was obviously pointless, because he has communication down pat.
No comments:
Post a Comment