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I decided to keep track of the things I heard Simon say through out the summer. Right before I had Charlie, I realized that the list of words that Simon used or I had once heard him say (two very different things) was getting a bit long to just keep in memory, plus he was picking up new words at a rapid pace.

(click to view full list)

By the end of the summer, I have assembled quite a lengthy list, and I’m pretty amazed by the diversity of sound, gestures, actual words, and made up language that this growing little man exhibits. So here is how the categories break down…

The Everyday Words
These are the words that you can get Simon to say over and over again when prompted (“Say doggie”). These are the words he will say unprompted when he sees a picture or a real life version. They may not sound exactly like the way we say them, but they are part of his everyday vocabulary.

Examples: Wow-wah (flower), shoe, doggie, ducky, diddy (kitty), ball, gah (car), oppy (happy), dibba-dibba-dibba (Yo Gabba Gabba)

Demands and Expressions
These are harder to get him to say on demand, because they are associated with things he wants. Sometimes he says them so forcefully and with such emotion that I wonder if he even realizes what he is saying, or if he is just slipping out phrases he things he has heard before. Some of these are used everyday, some come out only when he really means business.

Examples: All done, down, mow (more), I need it, I want it, I want out, now

 The Lazy Language
I guess it’s not giving him enough credit to call it “lazy”, but Simon has decided that some words aren’t worth the effort of pronouncing the whole thing. Or maybe the whole thing is just too hard to pronounce. Or maybe the English language just sounds too much the same to his toddler ears, but he has invented a whole language of first letters or sounds that relates to a whole series of words.

Examples: Bee (bear, bunny, berry, any fruit), Dee (drink, cheese), Ah (on, off, hot) 

It Sounds Like This
Some objects have such interesting sounds associated with them that the sound overrules the actual word. We know he knows the word because you can ask him to “Say ______” (water, moped, etc) and he choses instead to make the sound. He knows what it is, what it is called, but prefers to speak in sounds.

Examples: vehicles = “brrrrrrrrr”, water = “psssshhhhh”, stinky = “ew” and wave your hand, yucky = makes a fart noise, yummy = “mmmmm” 

The Magic Disappearing Words
These are words Simon has said once (or sometimes more than once that day). I have them on my list, and then they are never heard from again. Tom writes them off until he hears them himself, as would I… so I am at a loss to try and replicate them.

Examples: Elmo, Brobee, food, peas, milk, kick, horsey, blue, shirt, turtle, bike

The Great Unknown
Then there are just phrases and words and sounds that roll out of his mouth so confidently that I am at a loss to understand. It took us months to figure out “dibba-dibba-dibba” meant Yo Gabba Gabba. It’s enough to drive a person crazy, but it also makes me realize that if I hadn’t spent my summer carefully observing my in progress human experiment, I may not be as good at communicating with him as I even am. It’s a crazy language, that of a toddler, but I feel pretty smart having cracked the code this much.