our son entertains us. his words are all over the place. it appears impossible to catalog all his words and signs, as he seems to use a new one each day. and it also seems a like a weird exercise, but i don’t want to forget some of this. and, i rarely remember to record him.
so, he says these things:
“ball” (bahl, bbbbbaaaaaahhhhhhhllll, bow-ell-ull…)
Ball deserves a kind of homage here. So much of Planet Levi orbits the Ball Sun. Not only does he just say “ball” when he throws one, or grabs one, or sees one – and he can see one over a block away – but he also has many expressions – mostly ones that we don’t understand – which end in the word “ball”. These include babble-esque sentences such as “bahtah ball. colaht-too ball.” I believe these are attempts to mimic (or use, i suppose) questions we parents ask such as “where is the ball?” or “is that an orange ball?” etc. But, I think that he may even have his first real sentence (or word combination, rather) in the occasionally used “go ball.”
Quite simply, “ball” is the most commonly used, and emphatically expressed word in mr. Levi’s vocabulary.
“go”
Right behind ball is “go”. “Go” and door (which he simply bangs on when he wants to use it) are probably synonymous to him at this point. Sometimes “go” is all Levi needs to get him out of a funk. Actually, we swear he said “go car” yesterday.
“shoes” (sssshooooz!)
Perhaps there is an association between “shoes” and “go” – as the action of putting on shoes is often paired with us going somewhere. In any case, it would be rare to find a person more excited about shoes than wee Levi James. Imelda, perhaps…
“cheese”
The kid loves cheese. A chip off the old block.
“car” and “choo choo”
Recently, we stayed one night near the O’Hare airport in a room on the 5th floor of a hotel. We were overlooking a ridiculously busy intersection, and nearby railroad. Our boy just couldn’t get enough of watching the cars, trains, and airplanes. He uttered “car” the most. He was very excited about it. We saw a couple of trains, which he has seen several times before, but I think this time it sank in and he shared “choo choo” with me. Now, being by O’Hare means we saw an unprecedented number of jets at low altitudes. Levi seemed a bit apprehensive about these giant hunks of metal coursing throught sky. He would point in awe, perhaps. Sometimes saying “this?” (dis?) as though to alert me of them. It may take a while for that experience to solidify.
“this” or “that” dis?
i actually am not sure if that is what he is saying when he points at something he wants or wants us to do something for him – read a book, for example. sometimes he utters “dis?” (as if a question) and hands me a book.
“fish” ffsh
We have a fish aquarium that is in varying states of sadness. Recently we had a bad die off, but some of the platys that died left behind babies that were recently born, and those little fish are very hungry. When we feed them, Levi is usually quite interested. As I explain the activitiy, he now spots the baby platys and says “ffsh… ffsssh”.
“dog” and “duck”
The old “dog and duck.” These have been in his vocabulary for a bit, and are often clear as bells. He will even imitate the barking of a dog. This is a pleasure for any audience. He also will *sometimes* provide either “dog” or “duck” if you sing “Old McDonald” and pause after “on his farm he had a….” – that is too much! He loves that song.
“bubble” bah boh
Blowing bubbles is a past-time all of us have had at one point. I don’t remember eating the soap, as this on does, but he sure likes bubbles. Perhaps it is the bubble’s spherical shape, which it shares with the ball, that is so resonant with him. He has just as much fun looking at bubbles as he does trying to get the wand into the bubble soap container.
“doll”
It took a while, but recently Levi discovered dolls – thanks to Grandma’s house. He had a strong fascination with them, and learned the word quickly. Since then he has noted them in pictures.
“pearl”
Our son has learned to yell at our dog Pearl just as his daddy does. In hopes of getting Pearl to retrieve (she doesn’t), I often bellow out our dog’s name across the schoolyard where we throw a ball around. Levi does the same. He kind of squats and let’s out a cry of beckoning. He’s a field recorder, this one. I should be afraid of what I say next.
“food”
He used to say “food” – I haven’t heard it in a while. He loves to eat. That is certain.
I’m sure I’ve missed many things… but this is a good start.
