Words

I've been getting all kinds of questions lately about whether Johnny is talking or not. It is my duty to inform you that no, Johnny is not talking. I mean, he says a few words here and there and can get me to guess what he wants, but we are not having full-on conversations.

Before I was a parent, I thought children started talking around 1 year of age or so and I had it in my head that this was a magical milestone when children would start spouting philosophy in short phrases. Apparently that's not how it works. I realized this when Johnny had been saying "da" for "dog" for about two months and the pediatrician was stoked that he has "words" for things. So really, this whole talking thing is entirely subjective.

And here is the subjective list of words that Johnny uses:

• dog
• daddy
• this
• that
• mom
• hot
• cat
• car
• truck
• bus
• giraffe (to be honest, I know he's saying giraffe, but the rest of you would hear "af-va!"
• phone
• water
• yes
• no
• bye
• hat
• spoon
• fork
• berry
• vacuum
• bubble
• blue
• duck 

I'm probably missing a few, but you get the gist of it.

Of all of the words listed, the only one that a stranger would understand is "duck." It sounds a little more German in that the "k" sound at the end comes out as "ach" but it's way closer than giraffe. Here's the thing: I'm the only one who understands all of these words. If we were taking a walk in the morning and he says "bva!" I know that he's pointing out a truck. So does that really count? No idea. I guess since I get it, I should say it counts, so according to me, his vocabulary is not half bad for a nearly-17-month-old.

Anyway. So all of this was to bring you what I consider Johnny's first real word:


I was just absently asking him if he wanted a protein shake one day and he says, "yes" complete with "s" sound at the end... and I almost dropped him out of shock. After only saying "da" for months on end he busts out this one. Way to keep me on my toes, kid.