Jahan continues to amaze me by how quickly he appears to be picking up new sounds and words. He now recognizes and responds to a multitude of words, but the rapid development of his own vocabulary is what impresses me. In addition to "ta-ta" (bye) and "num-num" (food) he now says "twaak-twaak" (meaning "quack-quack", referring to his rubber ducky). He also says "brmm-brmm", a sound he makes not only when he hears Duncan's car, but also when he hears other loud whirring noises such as vacuum cleaners.
I have not been able to find much in the books with regards to language milestones at his age, so I'm not quite sure whether he is ahead or behind in the development of his vocabulary. However, I am already beginning to wonder whether I should be teaching him proper words like "food", "car" or "duck" instead of just the silly onomatopoeia associated with them. Surely not yet?!?
Posted by Dayan at May 12, 2004 10:26 PMThe advice we've had is that you can encourage the 'twaak-twaak' words, and also teach the real words, by repeating back both of them. So, Jahan says "twaak", and you reply "that's right, the duck says 'quack'".
As for milestones, I think that (like crawling) they don't tend to quote language milestones, because there is huge natural variation. That said, four words before ten months is way ahead of average :).
Posted by: Chris at May 15, 2004 06:14 PM