Friday, November 16, 2007

Uh, yeah... he can do that...

So, here's a little excerpt from my Baby Center on-line parenting magazine. It sends my updates each week telling me what to expect and to give me timely advice for my son. Today I got, your "23 month old, week 3."

"19 to 24 months-Your child now understands as many as 200 words, though he'll probably use only 50 to 75 of them regularly. Many of these words will be nouns that designate objects in his daily life, such as "spoon" and "car." Between 18 and 20 months, his pace will pick up as he acquires ten or more new words each day. If he's especially focused on learning to talk, he can add a new word to his vocabulary every 90 minutes — so watch your language!

During this phase your child may begin stringing two words together, making basic sentences such as "Carry me." Since his grammar skills are still undeveloped, you'll often hear odd constructions such as "Me go." He's understood for some time that he needs language, and he'll attempt to name new objects as he observes the world around him. He may overextend the words he already knows, though, so that all new animals are called "dogs," for example.

Starting around his second birthday, your child will begin using three-word sentences and singing simple tunes. As his sense of self matures, he'll use "me" to refer to himself, and he's likely to tell you what he likes and doesn't, what he thinks, and what he feels. You may hear him say, "David want juice" or "Baby throw," for instance. (Pronouns are tricky, so you may catch him avoiding them.)"

So, um... yeah...

Titus is still acquiring words slowly but surely, and everything seems just fine and dandy (and of course, all kids learn at different rates, some start speaking in full sentences, he's got Leeann to speak for him, he's working his motor skills, etc., etc., etc.). Anyway, I understand all of this and that there's nothing to be worried about at this stage but I couldn't help but laugh when I read that article. 10 new words a day eh? How about 10 total words? Okay, really he probably has more like 20 now depending on how you count a word (when the can repeat it, when it sounds like a real word, when mommy understands it, when he uses it on his own for the correct object?) We were told to count it as the last one, regardless of how he pronounces the word. Progress. That's all that matters right?

Anyway, fun times had by all in the Buhl household. There's not much else to say today. Boy, is my life getting boring? I'm okay with that!

2 comments:

Jessi said...

Ummm, I think that you're the only one who's noticed our absence...actually we have a really good excuse, we've been in Hawaii for the past 3 weeks, just got home on Tuesday night. Still trying to get back into a routine, unload suitcases, laundry...you know, all the fun stuff after the vacation. But I promise I'll be more regular from now on! Stay tuned for pics from Hawaii, a task that I haven't wanted to tackle just yet! Hope you're doing well, Happy Thanksgiving!

Jennifer said...

Elisha can say 1 word reliably and has about 10 signs he will do, so I am right there with you laughing when I read those emails. By the way, I have some shoes for Titus.