Language Development

Will was an early talker. He was using sentences the summer before he turned 2 and I remember my brother and sister in law were so impressed that he knew how to use the word “too” appropriately at the end of some of his sentences. He is developing an excellent vocabulary but is going through the phase that I think every 3 year old goes through – adding “ed” to many past tense words. Sometimes it’s right, but sometimes it’s so wrong – like, “Mommy! You lost-ed!” I guess we are supposed to reinforce the correct tense when this happens and he will eventually learn the appropriate times to add the “ed.” So I say, Yes, Will, you won again and I lost. This is getting better, so it appears to be working.

The other thing Jeff and I giggle about is his use of the word, “proud.” I guess Jeff and I have been using this word a lot. Such as, “Will, I am so proud of you for being a good boy at Miss Jo’s house. It makes me so happy when you don’t have any time outs!” Will has been adding this word to his vocabulary but doesn’t quite have the proper use down yet. The other day he said, “Mommy, I’m proud when I can have ice cream after dinner.” I think he is processing the “it makes me happy” part that we add when we sometimes tell Will how proud we are of him. So we discuss the feeling of being proud and the feeling of being happy. He has used it correctly while warming my heart, telling me he’s proud of Wyatt in his latest accomplishment. But he still tells me he’s proud when we raise the shades and it’s a sunny morning!

Wyatt started his rapid vocab pickup around 14 mos. He’s 17 mos now and knows a few hundred words. I’ve started to pickup on some short sentences, like “close the door” or “Where’s E?” “E” is what he calls Willy. He has really picked up “I Do!” However, like Will and the word “proud,” Wyatt doesn’t have the appropriate use down yet. Wyatt learns a lot from Will. He learned “I do!” from Will. When I ask, “who wants some blueberries?” Will comes running saying “I do!” or if he’s seated at the table, he’ll raise his hands saying “I do!”

Wyatt never misses an opportunity to eat so he picked this up quickly and now he raises his hand and clearly says “I do!” whenever I’m offering food. However, he seems to use it whenever he’s hungry. He’ll bring me a box of crackers he can reach in the pantry and hand it to me saying, “I do, I do, I do.” Or, if he’s in the other room and he hears me in the pantry, he’ll come running saying “I do! I do! I do!”

We really enjoy this age where he is picking up on so many new things each day and can better communicate back to us. And Will is learning a lot of things, mainly patience and allowing Wyatt to be his “helper” when he’s doing projects or playing.