This is an older article I compiled at around this time last year. I've got some friends dealing with "toddler talk" currently so I thought I'd repost on the site here just to share.
I distinctly remember mentioning that the week would be gone before we knew it, and once again, I was right (It happens more often than you might think). Generally I love the end of the week, but today has not started out well. I was awakened this morning by a very insistent (and very smart) cat who determined that cleaning my hair would be the best way to get me out of the bed. Her accomplice was a very large (and NOT very smart) Great Dane, who determined standing by the bed and panting in my face was the best way to rouse me. Either way, as soon as I get up, they get fed, which is what created this desperate need to wake me up in the first place. Apparently they are worried that should they miss a meal by a fraction of a minute, they might waste away into a malnourished, delusional state.
In addition to my wonderful wake up call, I have burned breakfast (and my thumb in the process), busted the bottom out of a trash bag as I tried to take it outside, and realized, somewhere in the midst of all this, that my house looks suspiciously like a war zone somewhere in the Middle East. Needless to say, I do not have the patience to listen to Dora the Explorer's heinously high voice this morning. What I do have is a sweet, happy and adorable son who is most certainly a morning person. Every morning when I enter his room I am treated to a big smile, a pair of raised arms, and usually some sort of toddler babble. It never fails to bring a smile to my own face. Which is a good thing, because this morning I was running extremely short in the smiles department.
Lately our little man has been babbling, muttering and screeching his way into some sort of vocabulary. We have the standards of MaMa and Dada down pat, and we are working seriously on "Kitty Cat" and "Doggie". Other than that, we are in serious mimic mode, so we've started doing the following things to help Alex learn his words:
1) Books!! Books!! And MORE books!! We keep Alex's books everywhere these days. He has a large bookcase in his room (which his Grams hand painted and customized with his name) which is full of books, he keeps one or two heavier board books in his crib, and we keep a stack out in our living room so we can settle in for a good read almost anytime. We also pack one or two in his diaper bag, so if we should find ourselves waiting in line, or in the doctor's office, we can grab a a good story there too.
2) Conversation. One thing I've never had any problems with is maintaining a conversation with my son. I talk to him constantly during the day, often asking him questions like "Do you see the Kitty Cat?" "Where did we leave Bob the monkey?" Alex recognizes that I'm asking him something, and he usually has the need to answer me in some way, whether it's jibberish or mimicking one of the words I used, either way he's exercising those vocal cords and learning along the way.
3) Name it all. These days I point out the name of everything, no matter how small. "That's your BOOK. Can you say book?" We also make trips outside in our stroller or our wagon, and I name everything in sight. "See the HOUSE, Alex?" "This is called a FENCE." Naturally, those without children stare at me like I've taken some sort of mind altering drug, but their time will come. And I will be sure to return the favor when it does. :-)
4) Be consistent. Consistency is key with Alex, as it is with all toddlers. When we name something, we stick with the name. Thus our cat Pandora is Kitty Cat, not Pandora, not kitty, not pain in the --- . You get the idea. Throwing a bunch of names out for the same object is just going to confuse a new talker, and delay the learning process along the way.
I'm constantly fascinated by the words that evoke the most reaction from kids though. Alex for instance, has a special passion for monkey's. He loves watching them on tv, and almost always tries to mimic the noises they are making, or the actual word monkey. The word "cookie" however, though he knows exactly what that is, and certainly adores eating one, apparently deserves no attention whatsoever.
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