I'm not one of those mothers who thinks her kids are geniuses.
But then one too many people commented (esp recently - and yes, their language has exploded somewhat) on how much my children talk and how well they talk.
So maybe there's something there?
I remember when my one friend, Natalie, said something to me, I was like, "really? they talk a lot? I hadn't noticed"
And the two of us decided that maybe it was because I talk a lot.
Another friend said she doesn't talk to her son half as much as what we talk to ours.
The house is never quiet when the babies are awake, except when they're being naughty.
Although yesterday I was putting Kendra in pj's and we were chatting away, as we do, and suddenly I noticed very un-Connor like silence.Anyway, point is Dr S mentioned that they're streaks ahead of babies their actual age but who knows if he says that to all the mothers? D says I'm getting way too cynical.
I quickly put Kendra in her cot and rushed to find him.
He was sitting back on my bed in between the two continental pillows, Friday (teddy bear) in the one hand, watching TV (the news no less!).
Too darn cute.
But a lot of people commented recently about how we also don't use "baby talk" with the babies.
That's true.
I personally have never seen the need to talk baby for two reasons:
- I would feel stupid :) and
- I don't want them to have to learn to say the same words twice (e.g ta and then thank you). My view is just teach them the correct thing first time round.
I must confess, I wondered when we started with baby sign language if it would slow down the kids' speech.
It hasn't because we always did the sign along with speaking the words and they still (mostly do the same).
I noticed when Connor's tired and hungry (and cranky!) that he can't be bothered to talk as much and just signs wildly. Too cute!
And if you don't get what he's saying, then he signs and talks which to my mind, is raising his voice at me. LOL
I still would have done it even if it had been so simply because it has saved my sanity.
Anyway, so back to the baby talk.
Do you talk baby? What has your approach been with talking to your baby/ies?
From what you've said, your babies ARE way ahead of most their age. Be very grateful!
ReplyDeleteMine are at the opposite end of the spectrum, and it's frustrating. Partly because I want to be able to communicate with them, and partly because I'm tired of people assuming that it's because we don't talk to them! There are good and bad ways to talk to your kids but I think most kids pick up quickly or slowly based on how they are wired rather than because of techniques their parents are or aren't using. Sorry if I sound a bit defensive about this one - I probably am!! LOL!
Awww..you should have taken a pic of Connor watching the news with Friday. Sounds precious. We don't do baby talk at all. I speak LOADS to my kids. Our Speech Therapist encouraged us to use signing and said that it doesn't ever replace the spoken language but aids in the development thereof. I can't wait for Joel to speak properly. We do very little signing because I am still trying to wrap my head around it but we are making progress. Yesterday I went to fetch him at school and I met his new teacher. She's Congolese with a VERY heavy accent. I really battled to understand her. And I'm not feeling OK with my child (who has significant speech delays) to be in a class where I can't even understand the teacher. I am not sure what to do about this yet so am just thinking about it some more. The teacher is LOVELY though and definitely knows her stuff. I spoke to my DH and we are both a bit unsure how to proceed.
ReplyDeleteHay there... We have had the full spectrum... Early talkers and not so early... I had no idea that my first born was slightly more verbal, I thought all kids were like that: at nine months his first sentence was: "Mam, Don't Sing"... at 15 months when an old uncle came to admire his new baby brother asked him if that was a nice brrrm brrrm... he said: "This is actually a paramedic vehicle." Then another one said nothing until he was way in his second year... we went overseas for a month and he came home speaking in paragraphs... really so much to see and so much to explain!!!
ReplyDeleteWe have never ever used baby talk and I we also label things properly: Why teach your kid its a dinosaur if it is actually a triceratops or its a bird if it is really a crow!!! And so on...
I have to say that whenever they start they do tend to get going and they do tend to go on from there like nothing you could ever imagine... There is a lot of talking in our house a continuous buzzz!!!
Our boys are just starting to talk more. I think it's because they are both boys and they have a big sister to just do stuff for them. But no, we don't talk baby talk in our house either. I would just feel too weird.
ReplyDeleteI can tell I'm getting tired. I also forgot to say that our boys will often say and sign at the same time too. It is almost like they are being like, "Don't you get it! I want more!!
ReplyDeleteConnor and Friday watching the news - too cute!
ReplyDeleteI have also never really talked much "baby talk" to my boy. I do not think he is ahead in talking in any way - probably average. He talks a LOT, but still mostly a laod of gibberish with some words thrown inbetween. I had the same sentiments about baby talk as you do, but then out of the blue one day he says "Ta", and I figure it probably came from the day care....
My husband was at some point interested in doing sign language, but in the end we never started.
I cannot wait for him to start talking more!
I never did the baby talk thing but I did unfortunately use words that weren't correct - which my kids STILL use now :-/
ReplyDeleteOur house is also never quiet - EVER. Usually because Kiara talks and talks non-stop - literally. She talks all the way through her shower, dinner, toilet visits - she just goes!
She spoke properly before Cameron and there is a 2 year age difference. He caught up though obviously but still is a kid of few words!
I don't talk in baby talk to my kids... HOWEVER, through the years with so many kids, some words would get pronounced wrong and those wrong pronunciations have become part of our family's vernacular.
ReplyDeleteMy twins barely talk. Today at Ryan's monthly evaluation (for vision/cancer/etc) she brought up the fact that neither speak more than a handful of words. The therapist said she's not concerned, because they make so many sounds, they're just not putting together words we understand. She thinks they have their own kind of language though LOL
Claudia, you're right - I don't think it's anything we are necessarily doing. Because you know how it is - they do whatever they like WHEN they like it :)
ReplyDeleteAnd the talking I'm not liking, "No, Mummy, No hugs" :(
We talk to Ava all the time & its quite clear that we do because she is (biased much?) advanced with her speech. She's been "talking" since she was 12 months old & has a long list of words already! :-)
ReplyDeleteHer newest word is CHICKEN!
We do not do baby talk at all and talk to them constantly . Lucy also does the same. And 2 of 3 are excellent early talkers. The Princess was almost bilingual at 2 and a half and C is heading for it at 3 and a half. Of course, we were not prepared for L who due to his other issues, is slightly behind his age but already has second language words. We are living in hope that he will catch up on his own.
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad you posted this. I was just talking to GG about this and she said that they have such great vocabularies because we have never talked "down" to them. We've always talked to them like they were real people and it shows...a lot.
ReplyDeleteI have talked our way through every activity since they were born. At first, it was to maintain my sanity, but it morphed into showing them how the world worked and then into teaching them how to communicate. I was worried about Hailey for a while, but she's doing great.
Both of them have memorized books, songs, can identify letters/numbers, and have started trying to write their names. I gotta say, I think talking "normally" to them has done a world of good.
We don't do baby talk around here, either...never have. I just talk incessantly to the girls all day long. :) Particularly when they were younger and not yet talking, I would actually remind myself from time to time that a little quiet time was probably good for them! :)
ReplyDeleteI can definitely see our girls parroting what they hear me say...things like, "That's very helpful." "Those are good choices."
They also pick up plenty of lines from books, which is so cool. At the end of one story, the mother asks the little girl what she's doing. If asked, Baby A will say the line from the book sometimes, in the exact intonation I use when I read it, "Oh, nothing...just working in the garden." And then she laughs!
It's awesome to hear feedback from outside sources that your kiddos are talking beautifully, using their manners, playing nicely, whatever. We often are so close to them it's hard to be objective.
Congrats, Marcia and D, on what continues to be an awesome job done! :)
I just read Rebecca's comment, and I completely agree with the vocabulary statement. I have to laugh when someone (still!) will point to an animal and say to the girls, "Do you like the baa-baa?" They either look like the person is a nut job, or - if they've warmed up - they might say, "That's a nice sheep." Bwahaha!!!
ReplyDeleteI use pretty big words with the girls sometimes, too, just for fun. At the end of the Itsy Bitsy Spider song, I always ask the girls, "Why do we clap for the spider?" They now know to answer, "Because he persevered!" I'll say, "Yes, he kept trying and trying."
Do they *really* know the meaning of "persevere"? Maybe not...but I figure it will click in there at some point.
:)
I'm actually pretty excited about Mother's Day this year, but not about Mother's Day. We're going to "Point to Point" which is a steeplechase horse race they hold every year. It's usually the week before or the week after Mother's Day, but this year is is right on it, and I think that's awesome. I actually keep forgetting it's supposed to be this big holiday for Mom's. To me, this is a great thing to do for that day. Spend it with my family all dressed up (it is a hugely dressed up event), eat good food and see some good sights. They even do a parade of old fashioned horse and buggies that are beautifully restored which gorgeous matching teams of horses. It will be lots of fun. I'll be posting pics! Keep your fingers crossed it doesn't rain.
ReplyDeleteI think I probably use a fair mix between normal talking and baby talk. Mostly regular talk, but even if I use the real words Nicola tends to ad "-ie" after everything (in Afrikaans). I'll say, "Kom ons ruil jou doek" she'll pipe up "Doekie!" and I'll just confirm, "Ja, doekie." Or these shoes she has that she calls mackies. she knows they are shoes, but when you smack them they light up, so now she calls them mackies and it kind of took. Everyone calls them mackies now.
ReplyDeleteIt doesn't bug me one way or another - she seems to be doing just fine with learning vocabulary.
One of my friends remarked last week that Nicole should be really great with animal sounds though. when we're reading together I we always first do what kindof animal we're looking at and then we do the sound together, which is why she thinks that Winny the Pooh growls like a brown bear!