On The Verge

All my friends have said that their children experienced a major language explosion at 18 months. I think Owen is right on the verge of his own…

Lately he’s been trying to say more sounds “Mooo” for cow and “Baa-ah-ah” for sheep. But he’s also signing and speaking more instead of whining when he wants something. It seems like he understands that talking will get him further than whining and he’s trying harder to tell us what he’s thinking. Another thing I’ve noticed is he is getting very good at understanding what we are saying. Simple instructions like, “Go get bunny” result in him running for bunny even if it’s in the other room. Today I said, “Let’s get in the car!” and he ran for the garage door. And finally, he’s starting to expand the meaning of words he knows to related things even if the word is wrong. Example, he says “daa” for “down” but now he’s using “daa” for “up” as well.

Steve took an adorable video of Owen playing outside in our backyard with Charlie the other day. It’s too long to post, although Owen’s favorite thing to do right now is to watch the video on the camcorder (he sits in your lap while you hold the camcorder) and when it’s over, he signs “more” over and over again. The video is 5 minutes long so it can kill quite a bit of time! Anyway, Owen is playing with Charlie and he’s trying to say “CHARLIE!” but it comes out like “Daaaa-SHEEEE!” So cute. And the other day Nana played catch with Owen and counted to three before he through the ball. Now, every time he throws the ball, he counts to three. It sounds like, “doo, doo, DEEYOOUUUU!” We took a video to remember this time because I think it’s only a short while before he perfects more and more of these words that only we understand. Part of me can’t wait until he’s talking more and part of me doesn’t want to let go of the “Owenese” that I’m becoming so fluent in.

Here he is, counting to "three."