First words

[KrisM]

This might be a dumb question, but I just don't know what to expect. What do first words usually sound like? Andrew has a bunch of "words", but they're really only sounds. They're mostly just a sound resembling the beginning of the word. For example, he says "sta" for stairs and "cla" for close. He repeats the sound a few times to get his point across. He's consistent with the sounds, so I know he means them as words.

Is this typical? When do they sound more like words? His best word is "baboom" for balloon.

[mudder17]

I think that sounds about right. Really, my definition of a first word is any sound that he uses repeatedly for the same thing, even if it doesn't sound like a "real" word. So Kaya's first was "Ka" for cat and "Da" for Dog. She says Kwackers and Gwasses and Ba (ball). So I would say Andrew has already said his first words. :)


Eileen

http://www.mothering.com/discussions/images/smilies/candle.gif for Leah

http://www.gynosaur.com/assets/ribbons/ribbon_emerald_18m.gif , 18 months & counting


http://tickers.baby-gaga.com/t/catcatcvi20040222_4_Kaya+is.png

[Momof3Labs]

Those are called "protowords" and count as real words as far as peds and such are concerned. They don't care if the child says the word perfectly at that age, just that they are using a consistent "word" for what they mean. Most of Colin's words are pretty understandable now, but it was a long gradual process. And some are still only understandable to us.

[Saartje]

It can take years, with some children, for the words to be understandable by anyone but their parents. Andrew sounds exactly typical; the initial sounds are much easier to form than the ending ones. ("Baboom" is a good example of a word that's easier to form an ending to; the final "m" sound is one of the easiest to form. He'll get there, on the rest. :))

[Moneypenny]

I think that sounds just right. Avery can say the end of the words best ("ock" for sock and block, "ook" for book, etc). Her best one is "seesee" for Sophie (the dog). Lately she's been saying something absolutely unpronounceable that means belly. She says it every time she lifts up my shirt to pat my belly, so I'm pretty sure that's what she means. If DH and I know what she means, we count it as a word.

Susan
mama to my cutie pie, Avery
http://www.gynosaur.com/assets/ribbons/ribbon_gold_12m.gif[/img][/url]
We made it to a year!

[brittone2]

As all the PPs mentioned, if you can figure out what he's saying and it is consistent, it is a word :) It is very common for kiddos to only say the first or last syllable. Logan has a lot of words but I'm sure DH and I are the only ones who recognize many of them. He mostly uses the first syllable for a lot of words but he's very consistent and we almost always know what he's saying unless it is a word easily confused with another (his word for book is "boooo" and his version of "spoon" is "booon" and sounds quite similar, and both are kitchen type words). He does have many other words where he pronounces all syllables of the word but many of his words are just the first syllable or some other variation. They count :)