Sunday, March 09, 2008

Language Development

My first words, according to my mother, were Donalds (whenever I saw the golden arches), grawge saywes (garage sales whenever I saw the little sign), and deedle-deets (for pennies).

As you might have guessed, my Benjamin is somewhat delayed in his language development. Not enough to need early intervention, but enough to make every new word or sound cause for some serious celebrating.

Like the other day when he tried "Cow" instead of "Kuck" for the word "Car." I emailed five people to let them know the good news. The advancement didn't stick, and he's back to "kucks." That's okay. We're patient people.

At 2 years and 3 months old, the following is the easy translation guide for communicating with Benji Boy:

Baow : Ball
Whee : Slide or swing
Kuck : Truck or car
Kee-ee : Kitty
Baby : Anna
Um Beh : Bath (it's an homage to this clip from AFV)
Monkey : Curious George
Bobbob : VeggieTales (a mix of Larry the cucumber and Bob the tomato)
Can : Bob the Builder (Can we fix it? Yes we can!")
Goggie : Any dog or Clifford
Ehw-mo : Elmo
Ow-bee : Arthur (no clue why)
Ooh-Why : Super Why!
Gack : Snack
Weet : Eat
Muh : Any beverage
Gox : Socks
Shuuuues : Shoes
Gook-gee : Cookie
Down : Down or Up or "let go of me"
Boo-booz : Bubbles
Buh-bups : Diaper, poopies
Choo-choo : Thomas toys or video
Wee-oh : Wiggles
Go-go-go! : Racing time or sports on TV
Go-go-k? : Mommy, say "on your mark..."
Boy-gee, boy-gee : Bouncy, bouncy
Dump : Jump
Gick-oo, Gick-oo : Tickle, tickle
Fwow : Throw
Buh : Book
Ny-ny : His cuddle blanket or sleepy time
Woom, Beep-beep : Move his high chair into the other room
Wha-zis : What is this?

This doesn't even count the other charming things he does... like when he sees the written word in any form, he starts going, "A, E, Ooh, I, B, D, E," like he's spelling the word for us. Or how he says "hi" and "bye" many, many times a day. Or the way he chases across the room to run full force into our legs for a hug. Or the recitation of "Mumma," "Deh-dee," and "Baby" at various times of the day.

Or the bright twinkle in his eye last night when I crashed his school bus into his truck over and over again. Or the maniacal grin right before he throws his arms down into the water to splash me. I love this kid.