Talking with your child (if they are using words)
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- Respond to all your chidl’s attempts at communication (ie interpret all the time eg if s/he says “eeeurgh” and you know think that means s/he wants a ball, respond as if they had asked you for a ball)
- Use lots of new words. Repeat the new words.
- Keep it simple. Use short sentences (2-3 words).
eg Here’s teddy. Nice teddy. Give teddy a hug.
eg It’s hot. Don’t burn. It’s hot. Too hot.
- Keep it fun! Add new animal sounds. Continue songs, rhymes and games. Share lots of books.
- Use gesture (body movements) as well as words.
- Try not to correct how they are talking - it will improve with practice.
- Speak more slowly and a little louder than usual.
Later:
- Expand on what your child has said - follow their focus and add new words.
- Explain why they can and can’t do things in simple language
New sounds!
After what seems like an eternity of da-da, dye-dye, ya-ya, ha-gi etc, Talia has been experimenting with some new sounds this past week.
New sound #1: ssssssth (a bit like having a lisp). Talia came up with this sound last week and I spent a bit of time trying to get her to say ‘yes’ - she can almost manage “eeyeth”. It would be impressive to have a baby who says yes before she says no.
New sound #2: nan-nan/nun-nun. I was very excited when I heard this yesterday morning, and I imagine her nana will be too when she gets back from the UK and hears it for herself.
New sound #3: mummum. This happened late in the afternoon yesterday. She actually said “da-da-da-mum-mum-mum’ but I was so surprised to hear it so soon after the excitement of nan-nan that I wouldn’t have quite believed it if we didn’t happen to be out with a friend, who was able to confirm that she really did say mum-mum-mum.
WOO-HOO!!! Once again I am feeling ridiculously proud of my clever little daughter.
Milestone moments: Development rolling sitting talking tummy time
by Finisterre
1 comment
Two very busy weeks
As another blogging mother I know said recently, there’s an advantage in being lazy. By the time you eventually write a post, there is so much more news to put into it!
Well, since the excitement of Talia sitting by herself a few days before Christmas, we’ve had all kinds of excitement.
- the sitting just gets better and better
- she can now say da da (dai dai)
- she has been in a swimming pool for the first time
- she is grasping objects with both hands
- she held a bottle by herself for a time while drinking from it
- she is using one object to hit another object (usually the formula tin, which makes a good drum)
- she has discovered her lower legs and reaches down to hold her shin/ankle
- her shrieking volume has increased (ouch)
- and now, she can roll over from front to back!
At last, a way to avoid the dreaded tummy time - roll straight over onto your back!! I think she would have done it sooner if she had figured out how to move her arm out of the way. Daddyfeatures showed her how to do it 2 days ago and now she remembers the trick and puts it into practice.
We are officially declaring the last two weeks as “wonder weeks”. So much change in such a short time, it is just fantastic to watch Talia’s development happening before our eyes.
Happy new year everyone - 2008 is going to be just amazing.