"I Do": Life with a Chatty Toddler

One of the best things about having a toddler is they start to communicate with you!

I am continuously amazed at what Vander understands of what adults say. We can ask him to do simple tasks, like pick something up or throw something away. We can ask him to pick between two options or whether or not he wants to do something. We keep our sentences simple but I feel he understands anything we tell him or say to him.

Vander can repeat most words you say. The other morning I told him he was getting Crispix for breakfast and he said "Crispix" to himself several times out loud. I love how he whispers words he isn't quite comfortable with yet! When he was learning "purple" he would said it really quiet, and now he says in a normal voice.

I guess the average 18 month old says around 40 words and we are right on track! Words he says on his own, without anyone saying them first:

1. Hi
2. Bye bye
3. More
4. Papa
5. Momma
6. Daddy
7. Dog
8. Arf (dog noise)
9. Baa
10. Maa (goat noise)
11. Quack
12. Oink
13. Boo
14. Hippo
15. Hop
16. Neigh
17. "Who" owl noise
18. Roar
19. Agua (he says the Spanish word for water since his current and prior teacher are Hispanic)
20. Ball
21. Car
22. Light (still with a bit of a d instead of l)
23. Yellow
24. Purple
25. Spots (one of his stuffed animals)
26. Out
27. On
28. Up (up also means down if he is already up)
29. I do (this one has started coming up a lot! Not surprising with an ambitious toddler)
30. Help
31. "No no no no no"
32. Yes
33. Please (pronounced like "peace") plus the sign for please
34. Boat
35. Trash, but sounds more like "bash"
36. Bear
37. Hot
38. Sock
39. Shoe
40. Home
41. Cracker
42. Snack

He won't sing songs yet but he loves to hear us sing to him and he always claps and cheers at the end of songs he knows. Dylan and I both practice the alphabet with him and he is making the sounds really well! For example I will say "'A' sounds like 'Ah ah'" and he will repeat the "ah" part. He is even starting to know what comes next! Not quite the real alphabet but close.

It is so exciting to see him learn! You can tell he loves talking too. He gets frustrated when you don't know what words he is saying.

I am sure he will continue to amaze us!