by Cassidy Nunn | photo by Nunn Other Photography –
“Neh neh, haawter, bwa bwah, appuh,” my 21-month-old babbled while excitedly pointing to her stuffed horse. We were on a walk with friends and it was their first time meeting my daughter. “That means ‘horse, halter and apple,'” I said nonchanlantly. “Well, I’m glad you’re here to translate!” my friend exclaimed as my daughter continued to spout out a long string of sounds. Suddenly she stopped, tucked her stuffed pony under one arm, and dramatically opened the book she’d been carrying in her other hand.
“Hubba, hubba, hubba, a dee dee dee,” she shouted at the pages, then turned to give us all a coy smile. “And that,” I chuckled, “is how she reads.” I have no clue where she picked up those particular words (hubba hubba?!) But they’ve now been assigned to anything with text.
We’ve entered the language development phase over the past few months, and it’s been hugely entertaining. The language milestone was one that had been on my mind for a long time – so many ask with the best of intentions: “is she talking yet?”
But what I’ve learned so far, in my short experience of being a mother, is that these developmental milestones, while being important and one to keep an eye on, happen in their own time. And sure enough, my daughter’s vocabulary suddenly began to rapidly expand from one day to the next.
My daughter was incredibly diplomatic with her first words – she made it a tie, saying both Mama and Dada on the same day so neither my husband nor I can have the coveted honour of being her official first word (although I’m pretty sure she did say Mama slightly before Dada!) Nana and Papa quickly followed in her vocabulary, but Papa can only ever be said in the most hushed whisper, as if uttering his name is a well-kept secret.
Below is a sampling, phonetically spelled, from the dictionary of my daughter. I encourage you to say the words out loud to experience the full effect:
Ra Ra – how she currently refers to herself while pointing definitively at her chest. She also has her own theme song, which she sings at all times of the day, sometimes as soon as she’s woken up in her crib and we hear it over the baby monitor. It goes a little something like “Ra Ra, ya ya ya!” which she repeats to herself, ushering in the new day with her soft voice.
Ba – this word can be used in a variety of instances, tone, inflection, and volume. Physically pointing can go a long way in determining what she’s referring to, whether it’s a sheep, book, barn, or ball.
Nummies – food of any sort, usually said in a most demanding tone while pointing repeatedly at the fridge.
Tactor – you may be thinking tractor, as we first did, but it refers to the oh-so-tasty and highly-sought-after snack of crackers.
Gawop – gallop; we have a horse girl on our hands already and she likes to gawop everywhere, whenever possible.
Hap-pee – happy. This is my favourite word of hers at the moment. I like to think she knows what this word means and she tends to say “Ra Ra hap-pee” in situations where she seems genuinely pleased.
Lately, we’ve been adding to our daughter’s dictionary almost daily, as she parrots words back to us. She’s begun to string words together, and soon I’m sure we’ll be in the phase everyone warns you about: where the kid won’t stop talking and everything becomes a question. But for now, I’ll enjoy being her translator, adding to her dictionary, and seeking out the true meaning of “hubba hubba.”
