First words

Lenorah has an interesting vocabulary. Her receptive vocabulary is outstanding - she can identify a toy we name from a field of at least 20, and she certainly understands what we say to her. She loves to hold things up or point to things for us to name now, her name game that she likes to direct. And of course, the books, oh goodness, she cannot get enough of them.

Her expressive vocabulary is very interesting, and very much reflects her interests. No "mommy" or "daddy" appearing regularly in her vocabulary, though she throws us a bone every now and again and says it. No, her most regular words are "ta-ta" (for "pat-pat", which is what we do with Cash instead of pull his hair, so this is essentially his name, though she does say "ash" or "Cash" occasionally), "onkey" for "monkey", "e-cock" or "cock" for "peacock", and "teacha", "teata" or "teasha" for "teacher". We occasionally hear a "book" or "look" or "ocks"/"cocks" for "blocks". And she meows for "cat" and quacks ("ack ack") for duck. She signs "more".

Her favorite books have become "Brown Bear Brown Bear" and "Polar Bear Polar Bear". This love affair began when I introduced her to the books with their accompanying animals/figurines. The stories really came to life for her then, I think. We keep the animals with the books in a plastic storage bin up on her shelves in her playroom, and the first thing she wants to do in the morning is go into her room, point to her box(es), every now and again say "book", come sit in your lap while you read the book with the animals, and then she plays with her animals for a long time. Last Saturday, I think I read those books at least 10 times each. A close third is "Panda Bear Panda Bear" - I don't have the animals for this book, too hard to collect them all, but she recognizes it/relates it to her favorites, and really enjoys it. She also has a set of "Abigail" books - books that came with a doll who talks when you say key phrases from the book. I have the key phrases memorized, so sometimes she just brings me the doll, I say the phrases, and Abigail talks. Well, Saturday, Abigail wasn't working (needs new batteries, aka "surgery"). Lenorah set her down, went to her room, grabbed an Abigail book (out of about 20 or so options), and brought it to me. I'm guessing she thought having the book would fix Abigail. It was so adorable.

Other favorites - Pajama Time, Going to Bed Book, Moo Baa LaLaLa, Hungry Caterpillar, 10 little ladybugs, 5 silly monkeys, ... and many many more actually, I should stop.