First Words
(Photo: AJ and MM a few years ago, at about 2 years and 9 months old.)
Eleventy-one things about me, #37: I was an early talker.
I just got off the phone with my mom, and she was chuckling at my blog post of yesterday. She said that of course Baby E could really be talking at 7 months.
My mom says I was talking at 5 or 6 months--and not just babbling barely understandable words, either. People would stop her in the grocery store and say "Did your baby really just say what I thought she said?" They would ask my age and then promptly inform her that I was NOT old enough to be doing that.
I think most babies are probably talking sooner than people think. The words aren't always recognizable, but they fit the linguist's criteria of using the same sounds consistently to apply to the same object or action each time. Baby E has been doing this for quite some time.
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All of my kids were saying something that sounded an awful lot like "hi" well before they were 6 months old. But most people, if you tell them your kid is saying words so much before the accepted age of talking--well, don't believe you. They'll look at you tolerantly and make some comment about how babies make lots of noises, and some of them happen to sound similar to words.
I'm sure that babies understand and can communicate much more than we think. It's our ability to decode what they are trying to say that's often lacking.
I remember when AJ was learning to talk, she would come running up to DH or me and launch into a long monologue. She would babble away, changing her tone and gesturing expressively, but we couldn't understand a word of it. It was almost like she was speaking whole paragraphs in another language.
We'd say something non-committal like, "Oh, really? Is that so?" and she'd happily continue telling us all about whatever it was.
I'm sure she knew what she was trying to say, and I really don't think she was just making random noises for the sake of hearing her own voice. She was trying to tell us something.
MM started talking quite early, too. I say she was talking by 11 months, but 11 months was when she was using words and phrases that strangers could easily understand. She was starting to talk long before that.
It's actually quite difficult to pinpoint a baby's first word. All baby books have a space to write what and when the first word was, but that's always been difficult for me.
Do I write down the first time she said "I!" in greeting when I popped my head over the edge of the crib? The day last month when she looked at Daddy and said, "da-da" then turned to Grandpa and said, "do-da" and repeated those sounds in connection with each of them several times? Or do I write down the first time she says something that anyone outside the family would recognize as a word upon hearing it?
I don't think language acquisition is something that happens in a distinct event. It's a continuum more than an event. When a baby goes from trying out random sounds to attaching a particular meaning to a given set of sounds is almost impossible to isolate.
It's sure fun to watch it happen, though.
By the way, my first word as a baby was "cottage cheese container".
My parents were sitting at the table with me, telling me what various things were called as I pointed at them. I gestured at the cottage cheese container with a quizzical sound, and they said, "That's a cottage cheese container."
They couldn't believe their ears when their 5-month-old responded by repeating, "cottage cheese container". I'm sure it didn't sound quite exactly like that, but according to my parents it was very close.
From that point on I started saying everything. I went from "Hi" to "Hi, Daddy" to complete sentences in no time.
So I guess it's not that strange that my kids are doing the same thing.
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Posted by purple_kangaroo at 11:15 AM[Permanent link]
4 Comments:
Oh, I remember when AJ was going through the stage when she would go on and on about...something. You could even ask her to repeat it and she'd say the exact same thing agian. Or if you would say, "Did you say...such-and-such" she would give you a discusted look and repeat it again! :-P
Oh, and I definitly heard a "Hi!" from Baby E on the phone the other day.
I am a mother of 4 little girls with a DH as well. We have been married going on 8 years this may. I have arthritis which I have cured through diet in the past and am working towards that again. I am very much into health food and sharing recipies. I have bright girls as well although I'm not sure if they are as bright as yours. My oldest is 6 turning 7 next month and in first grade. She is in a Spanish immursion program where one week she learns nothing but spanish and one week english she has two classrooms and two teachers that she rotates with. She knew all she needed to know to start first grade when she began kindergarten. She new her uppercase letters at 2 and half years old and started piecing letters together around three or four years. She now in first grade reads at a third grade level fluently but can decode up to 4th grade beginning. But her teacher is into that they need to comprehend thing. She remembers what she learns oldmost exactly after she learns it. She is not advanced in math however. She does nothing but read sometimes. She really loves to read.
My next daughter is 4 yrs and knows her uppercase letters and some of her lowercase. She seems to learn in whole more than parts. She understands that putting letters together make a word. She likes to write a bunch of letters in any order and tell me what they say. She is my little analist. When she was three and a half she put her arm around me and said Mom I love you and then added when you don't yell at me" Also around the same time she preceeded to tell me once that yelling at her hurt her self esteem those weren't her exact words but that was the just of her words. It took me back. Also when she was 2 she would try to draw and get mad and throw her pencil when the picture didn't look like she thought it should. Once she cried "I can't draw a star" and proceeded to bawl. I trided to explain that she was a little young to be able to do that but how do you explain that to a 2 year old. My 2 year old is my prodogy. Although I have slacked on teaching her her letters. She never fails to amaze me. When she was 2 and half months she spoke her first word. No one believed me until they heard her. They were amazed. She said Ma Ma as she wailed and then get this she never wailed again without crying Ma Ma. Then at about 4 or 5 months she Started wailing Ma Ma Am ber(which is her name) At first it was slurred but after a while it got closer together and you could tell she was saying her name. It was weird. She was basically saying Ma Ma Amber needs you. She also at two months could hold her bottle by herself and could look at her sister when I asked her where is so and so. She also at two months would laugh at people coughing or sounds she liked and even laughed at peek a boo. She now is 2 years almost three and speeks extremly well for her age. When she was barely two she started repeating sentences not just words. When she hears a sentence that sounds new she repeats it a few times out loud. Last summer we went to the pool and she wanted a drink from the fountin and I told her to do it herslef and she said "I can't too harder". Both my 4 and 2 year old not attend preschool but at first they wouldn't let the two year old go and she would cry as we left the building "I'm too little" My newest baby is only almost 2 months but she has a lot of Gas not as bad as Baby E but worse then I remember my other kids. I eat pretty well but have tried to cut out surgar and hot spices. The spices is a struggle for me. well anyways you can see where we have some stuff in common. Hope to hear from you soon. and I'll be reading your post I find them very facinating. YOu are definately a writer
Hi, Katia, thanks for commenting and telling me about yourself and your family. It's always nice to know a bit about the people who are reading.
I tried to check out your blog, but it looks like you haven't posted anything yet. TTYL.
I'm really new at this thing and developing my blog is going to take some thought. Thanks for your quick responce
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