We Are So Blessed!!!

Sunday, September 16, 2012

What Sariah is Talking About...

Well, Sariah is following in her big brother's footsteps on many things- including her speech development and crazy memorization abilities and much more...
She has a pretty large vocabulary already and it is growing daily! Just like her brother, once she learned the power of words, she decided she wants to try to learn them ALL, hehe! She of course knows plenty of basics, but she has been really focused on learning the names of toys- more specifically the names of characters because that is what Maletch is so in to.

I should also note: that all of the characters she knows- she knows very well- she can recognize the characters in all forms: whether they are on TV, or toy figures around the house, and also from photos in a book- when she spots ANY image of them, she will shout out the specific names with excitement, This is really true of all of her vocabulary though, I never count any word that she simply repeats- or even memorizes for singing- only the ones she speaks deliberately in context.

I am sure that I am forgetting plenty of her words, these are just off the top of my head right now- I will add more as I think of them.

Here are Some Words that She Says and their Translations:

"Metch" (Maletch)
"Dinaso" then "Roar" (Dinosaur)
"Danks" (Thanks) and "Dank you" (Thank you)
"Wecome" (Your Welcome)
"Peeze" (Please)
"Sowwy" (Sorry)
"Dow" (When she wants down)
"Here go" (Here you go)
"Juss" (Juice)
"Nana" (Banana)
"Cackas" (Crackers)
"Ice-cee" (Ice Cream)
"Num num" (when she wants to eat) and "Yummy" (after she takes a bite)
"Tar" (Star)
"Choo Choo Twain" (Train)
"Donna" (Donald Duck)
"Goooey" (Goofy)
“Puto” (Pluto) [from Mickey and Friends]
"Mo-Mo" (Nemo)
"Emmo" (Elmo)
"Sooby Doo" (Scooby Doo)
"Tomma" (Thomas the Train)
"Mickkey" (Mickey Mouse)
"Fesh Bee Ban" (Fresh Beat Band)
"Cack Cack" ('quack' pointing at a duck)
"Baman" (Batman)
"Shar" (shark)
"Muckey" (Monkey)
"Woo-ee" (Woody) [from Toy Story]
"Buzz-eye" (Bullseye) [from Toy Story]
"No White" (Snow White)
"Tinkabell" (Tinkerbell)

These Words She Pronounces Perfectly:

"Hi"
"Bye Bye"
"Wow" & "Oh Wow"
"Yay"
"Cool"
"Uh-Oh" and "Oh No" (Funny, I always know what happened even when I can't see her because "Uh-Oh: is when she drops something and "Oh No" is when she falls down- every single time- hehe)
"Daddy"
"Mommy"
"Hat"
"Shoes"
"Pants"
"Cup"
"Milk"
"I see"
"What?"
"Cars"
"Ball"
"Castle"
"Turtle"
"More"
"Poo poo"
"Pee pee"
"DVD" (videos)
"Can I?" (usually pointing to something she wants but either can't reach or open)
"Soda" (my diet Pepsi bottle)
"Minnie"
"Daisy" [from Mickey & Friends]
"Shaggy" [her FAVORITE from Scooby Doo & Friends]
"Buzz" [from Toy Story]
"Jessie"
"Shout" [from Fresh Beat Band]
"Twist" [from Fresh Beat Band]
"Abby" [Abby Cadabby from Sesame Street]
"Pooh" [Winnie the]
"Dora" [the Explorer]
"Scout" [a Leap Frog Character]


She Puts a Few Words Together Like:

"Where's daddy?"
"Daddy bye bye" (meaning daddy is gone, when he is at work)
"More juss" (when she wants more juice)

Here are Some of the Instructions She Understands:

"Clap your hands."
"Go get the ________" (fill in the name of object/toy)
"Come here"
"Do you need a diaper?" She will reply with "poo poo" or "uh-huh" when she needs one, OR "No" when she doesn't
"Get down."
"Sit down."
"Give mommy a kiss."
"Push the button"
"Pull it"
"Dance."
"Close the drawer/cabinet."
"Are you hungry?"
"Do you want to eat?" She will answer "num num" when she is hungry, or "no" when she isn't
It's so cute- anytime we bump into each other, she says "sowwy" as I say "Oh I'm sorry"

It is so funny that NEITHER of our kids had the "typical" first words, like: mamma, dadda, baba... Maletch's first 3 words were: juice "tuce", cracker "cwacka" and "Uh-Oh." I still remember his doctor's reaction, "He says juice?" then long pause, then, "Really?"
and Sariah's first 3 were: "Roar" when she saw dinosaurs (toys), thanks "danks" anytime you give her anything, and "Daisy" from Mickey & Friends. It is so funny that "mamma" and "dadda" came much later for both of them- seems like they didn't need to say our names since they could get our attention by just speaking to us- so they wanted to learn how to get things they wanted- like juice or a toy- hehe.

One of her favorite things to do is run around collecting toys to bring me, just so she can tell me what/who they are- this typically goes on for hours- until I have a huge mess and huge pile of toys.

She also likes to sit next to me and just talk- she wants eye contact and she just makes up her own language and talks and talks and then when I respond with a sentence in English, she stares at my mouth when I am talking, then she usually tries to repeat what I say.

Her Memory:
Like her brother, who at this age would memorize an entire 2 hour movie (even when he didn't know what the words meant)- he could narrate/ recite the entire dialogue after watching a movie only one or two times. When he wasn't familiar with the word, he would say something that sounded like the word... well she is that EXACT same way with song lyrics! She sings word for word- to every Fresh Beat Band song AND every song on TV shows, movies, and commercials. I love listening to her sing, plus she is fun to watch because she is always dancing too! Her memory is just amazing too- many times- I don't even know the words to the song- but she sure does!

She is also already trying to learn the alphabet on her own- EVERY time she sees written words she points and just starts naming "C", "D", "E"- although she is not usually correct, I have been so surprised at how many letter names she knows and that she even knows what letters are since I have NEVER taught her anything about that! Just recently I started responding with "Yeah,..." and then I point to whatever letters she was pointing to and then just name them (only once and quickly)- and to my surprise, she seems to be picking up a lot from just doing that a few times. I wasn't going to begin teaching her this early, but since she is interested, I plan to let her watch the Pre-K Hooked on Phonics videos. She loves the videos since they are all done in songs!
Another thing that surprised John and I was that we have heard her 'counting to 3' numerous times on her own and we have also heard her recite some ABC's in order, like she'll say, "A, B, C, D, E"-- we have no idea where she learned this stuff cuz it wasn't from us!

It is so fun that she is able to understand so much and that we are able to communicate with her- this is such a fun stage! Although she does get frustrated when we have to take things away, and she can't understand why yet- I know that will come soon- since she is sponging up everything so fast! Maletch totally understood logical explanations at around 18 months and I expect her to do the same. We were fortunate with him because he just completely skipped the "terrible two's" and I think that was because he had such a huge vocabulary/ great communication skills that he didn't need to release his frustration that way. I realize that every child is different, but I sure hope that Sariah will be able to skip that phase too since I see her communication skills progressing the same way- fingers crossed!

Since she is learning at least one (sometimes more) words everyday, I will keep adding to this post for the next couple of months. I will try to keep an updated list until she is 18 months (like I did for Maletch). I think that makes for a cute keepsake, and I know it is a special treat for the grandparents to keep up with what she is saying- PLUS it makes it easier for you to understand her too! :)