For a few months now I've been secretly (and not so secretly) worried that Diego would NEVER TALK. I'm sure Moms of two, three, and fifteen year olds are looking at me like I'm crazy since they can't get their kids to shut up. He's just 17 months old, he's learning sign language and English and some Spanish, blah blah blah.
Besides, I know Diego pretty well by now, enough to say that he is a cautious, quiet kind of kid (so far) and was doing quite well with sign language, thank you very much. But being the Mom I am, I worry. I worried about the lack of language, but marveled at how much he knew and understood, and then worried again about why he wouldn't talk. Was I not pushing him enough? We read at least 10 books a day (sometimes again and again and if I have to read Little White Fish one more time I might explode) and I talk constantly. Well, maybe not Constantly. A girl has to pee in peace, you know.
I had all these checkmarks in my head about "what I was doing RIGHT" and how it still wasn't "working." He was happy babbling and pointing and signing away. And I couldn't see that he was fine. He is fine. The last two days he's finally said something besides babbling, Mama or Daddy. This and That. The boy picks the two words he can use for EVERYTHING. Therefore, no other words necessary. He's either the most lazy talker ever or a genius. I think I'll go for verbally efficient.
random bits of me and mine
me
- elisa
- orange county, california
- Met my husband in Austin, moved unexpectedly to sunny California, and now, eight years, two kids and one giant dog later, we're making this our home.
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4 comments:
I recall reading, while in teacher's college, about multi-lingual kids. When they are first learning their languages, if they are processing more than one, they will often be slower to start to speak. By the time they are three or so, there will be no lag -- in either language!
Also? He's a boy. Boys pick up language later on average than girls, and what you're describing is totally normal for a unilingual boy of his age. I have one right now (19 months) whose vocabulary so far is "mommy, daddy, no, k, and puppy". He may have only five words, but my! does he make them WORK! Efficient is right. :-)
Hooray! And verbally efficient is a great description. Roo got by for a long time by using "dat" plus lots of pointing! :)
@ MaryP- Thanks for dropping by for a comment! I'm always laughing at your fun kid stories, missing my own days as a teacher for tiny tots. And thanks for the info, too. It helps to have another opinion.
@Ink- Dat and pointing are the bread and butter of my day!! hahaha Don't you just love that they've somehow figured out the one word they could use for everything?
Thanks all. :)
Kaiya loves those words too. You might want to get used to them, a year later and they are still her favorite. Sigh.
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