I’ve been worried for a long time now about the lack of words that are in Aric’s vocabulary. He’s been able to communicate his needs to us pretty regularly, but for a while it was without words. Well, he’s got some, now! And of course by “words” I mean syllables that he uses to convey what he’s trying to say, but that’s considered talking, right?

• Hi!
• Bye!
• I love you! (ah oh oo)
• See you later! (ee aa er)
• Thank you (te to)
• Pepper (pep-bo) (my sister’s dog)
• Puppy (pep-bee) (very similar to Pepper, but there is a difference!)
• Apple (bapple)
• Banana (baba)
• Dada/daddy
• Ball
• Bubbles (ba bo)
• Nana
• Diaper (da bo)
• Rango (a bo) (He learned this at my mom’s house. He kept pointing to a picture of the movie in a recent Target ad. She kept telling him it was Rango. After a while, when she asked “Where’s Rango?” he could run to the ad, flip the page, and point him out. At Sam’s Club this weekend we passed a huge Rango display and he freaked his little baby freak he was so excited. And we were mean parents and didn’t buy it for him) (hehe!)
• Auntie Em (da da DA)
• Auntie Lindsay (da da de)
• There it is! (air is!)
• Shoes (soos)
• Rock-a-rock (ah ah)
• Gabba (and Yooooo!! I think we watch this show too much)
• Knows the following animal sounds: Duck, kitty, monkey, truck/car, horse.

Various other tricks:

• He can show his muscles (complete with strong-man grunts), locate his belly button, nose, eyes, and ears, and can snap the buckles on his high chair and stroller.
• When you ask him to change his diaper, he runs to his room yelling DA BO over and over, lays down, and puts his feet up.
• Can put his shorts on standing up (I hold them, he steps his legs into them)
• Knows to sit in the living room when we get home to have his shoes removed.
• Can sometimes put on his shoes, but prefers to wear Momma’s H&M wedges around the house.
• “Talks” on the phone (says “hi!” and dada. He must think Dada lives in the phone, he’s really the only person Aric calls, LOL!)
• Sweeps the driveway and the kitchen (while visiting my sister, she was vacuuming her rug. Aric ran to her cleaning closet, grabbed a broom, and helped her clean up!)
• Plays catch like it’s his JOB! (Not so much the catching part, but the throwing back is awesome!)
• High fives, gives “knucks,” blows kisses (complete with the kiss noise), gives kisses, gives hugs, and waves bye-bye.
• Sings Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star (not so much the words, but he’s got the melody down! I ask him to sing a song, and this is what he does! I’ll have to get a video sometime!)

And LOTS of incoherent babbling and singing. In fact, when we’re in the car and there’s no music playing, Aric provides the soundtrack for the drive! This weekend I told Aric that we were driving to see Daddy and he spent the next five minutes singing a daddy song.

He follows multi-step directions like he’s 4 years old. He can be so smart sometimes! Sure there’s lots more he could do as far as his language is concerned, but we’re working on it! It’s coming, slowly but surely! He still does the sign for milk when he’s thirsty and signs please (or points to the snack cupboard) when he’s hungry. With the few words he knows and his signs, we almost always know what his needs are!

I do still wish his vocab was bigger. I read milestone charts and other blogs and think that he might be behind. But then I remember that he understands SO MUCH of what we say that I stop being concerned and let him keep going on developing at the rate his little brain wants to.

Oh, by the way, I want you to notice that NO WHERE in that list of words/tricks does he say “Momma.” I think he’s said it twice that I know of. He knows who I am. When you say “where’s Momma?” he knows to point to me. He just. won’t. say it. Jerk.

PS: Head over to my new movie/book review blog. There’s an awesome giveaway today! YAY!