Talking Babies
Posted by Arwen Mosher in Family on Tuesday, May 18, 2010 9:21 PM
I am ridiculously excited about the word “ball.” I’ve heard it several times today, and on each occasion I’ve wanted to clap my hands with glee.
Why? Because Blaise is the one saying it.
He’ll be sixteen months old tomorrow, and he does not say much. He’s had the words “Mama” and “Daddy” for a while, and he hisses “pzz” while he swipes his hand down his chest, the sign that we’ve taught him for “please.” Until last week, that was it.
Last week he added “ball” and “dog,” and this week he’s starting saying “bye.” But even with the new additions, he only says six words.
I’m not necessarily worried about Blaise, but I did ask the pediatrician about the language issue at his fifteen-month checkup, just to see what he would say. He’s a fatherly, laid-back type of doctor and the first thing he said was, “Now you’re seeing the difference between girls and boys.”
(Which made us laugh, because Bryan and I are a textbook example of the classic women-talk-men-don’t stereotype.)
Then he said that although technically our little guy is behind, it was too early to be concerned about language delays, and we’d see how he’s doing in another three months. Which is great. But it hasn’t stopped me from continuing to listen carefully whenever Blaise says something that sounds like it might be a word.
He does have decent expressive language. His combination of pointing and hissing and signing (and shrieking, although we discourage that) is quite effective. (I also think it’s adorable, but that’s beside the point.) And with the new words he’s recently acquired, I’m hopeful that he’s on track to start talking much more very soon.
This whole thing is a new experience for us as parents, though, because Camilla was an early talker. She had a vocabulary of more than 100 words before she was eighteen months old. At this age, she could easily tell us what she wanted, no pointing or hissing required. It’s weird for us that her brother is not the same.
I’m reminding myself that every child is unique, and that there are many “normal” ages at which children start talking. Not to mention the fact that if Blaise does turn out to be delayed in his verbal development, we’ll handle it, and it makes him not a whit less lovable to us.
But just because I’m curious - what has verbal development looked like for your kids? Have you seen a lot of variation from child to child? Ever had a late talker who caught up just fine, or one who didn’t? Want to give me any tips?
Oh, and if you’ve got a cute first-word story to share, that would be great too!
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