Learning to Talk...

It’s so amazing to me. I don’t know what I thought it was, but learning how to talk is much different than I expected. People always talk about their child’s first words. Well, what is a first word? Is it when they say the word, or is it when they say the word and they understand what it means. These are two very different things, and the first comes much before the second. For Rogan, his first word, saying the syllables, was Dada, followed by Mama. And he said it around 8 months. But he didn’t know what he said, or that it meant anything. He says Mama and Dada still pretty consistently, but I can’t tell that he knows what they mean. Sometimes I think he gets it, othertimes he’s silent. But there is one word he knows. Without a doubt. “Bella” (ee-wa).

Rogan says “Bella” (ee-wa), before we walk in the door every day after I pick him up. He knows that Bella will be on the floor, meowing, ready to greet him. He LOVES her. She likes him for the most part, but is quick to run away now that he wants to chase her and literally fall on top of her if she’d let him. Whenever he sees her he says “ee-wa”. Though on the rare instance that Patton comes strolling by, Rogan also calls him “ee-wa” as well… oops, my bad. Looking back when playing with Bella throughout this past year saying “cat” might have been more useful. But oh well, every cat right now is an “ee-wa”. And I’m just fine with that. He will learn that they are all “cats” eventually.

But even though he can’t talk too much, he is getting better and better. He is starting to repeat our syllables, which I think is amazing. When I buckle him in I usually kiss him and say “there you go!”… and occasionally now I get a 3 syllable response “a-a-oo”. He can’t figure out how to say it yet, but he’s mimicking me the best he can, and I love it. “Hello” is “a-ooo”, and various others. It’s so stinking cute. I know eventually the a’s and oo’s will be replaced with the real sound. He’s very verbal, he’s never been a quiet kid, so I’m not surprised. So I’m having a lot of fun watching him learn.