Monkey is a late talker. I know all kids vary and do things in their own time, but this is one of those areas where Monkey has definitely lagged behind slightly. One of my friends’ little boys started talking at around 10 months, and most of the other toddlers we know started pretty early too.
But, judging by other toddlers at the music class Monkey goes too, and his tumble tots class, I have seen that it really is not that unusual for a toddler to not speak much until they are around the age of 2. Because it is something I once worried about (and therefore talked about a lot) I also know of lots of adults who didn’t speak until they were nearly 3 – and it never meant anything detrimental about their development.
For a long time, all we got out of Monkey was “ah-guh-gah” but with a million different intonations, it really is incredible how much meaning he was trying to convey with just three short syllables! We never even had a ‘mama’ or ‘dada’ which I think most little ones can say very early on.
While in the past I worried about it, and wondered if it was my fault, I have for a while been more at peace with it. Which is good because Monkey’s speech is now developing really well!
Monkey’s first word, at the age of 21 months, was ‘Go!’ then after a few other single syllable words that occasionally appeared in his vocab, he moved on to phrases, such as ‘oh wow’ and ‘oh dear.’ Then came what became our favourite phrase, which is still very much in use, “I don’t know” at 23 months.
There have been lots of small improvements in between time, and then while we were on holiday his speech started improving even more. Sea/See was his favourite word but there was also a lot more of him attempting to say words, and that has carried on since we have come home.
He now wants to repeat just about everything! He still struggles to get more than one syllable out sometimes. For example, Sand is “Sa,” Duck is “Du,” Horse is “Hor” etc. Although for Bubbles he says “BuhBuh” and the point is he is really trying. For a long time he has used “Ga” to indicate either look at this, or tell me what this is, and he still does. But now he will keep yelling it until we say what ‘it’ is, scissors, sunglasses, ‘shorts’ and then he attempts to say the word back to us, which is very lovely and a real step forward.
We now also have ‘Mummah’ and Dada’ which is very exciting and just lovely too :).
His favourite things to try and name are numbers. He has loved numbers for a long time, clocks telephones, anything with numbers are his favourite things and he has been ‘counting’ for a while but without the real words. Because of some of the songs we sing he also loves trying to count with his fingers up to 5, which is really cute!
He is now getting better at saying the numbers, he has been able to say ‘two’ for ages but now says ‘wuh’ for one, and his favourites are six and “nigh” for nine.
My favourite new little phrase of his is “you go away” I know that sounds like a weird phrase to be my favourite but he says it to funny things. He had a little fruit bar the other day and when he finished, he pushed the wrapper away and said “you go away” which I just thought was really cute! There are some other cute phrases too including “wowee!” hehe and he likes singing ee-i-ee-i-oh with Daddy when they read his Old McDonald book at bedtime.
He also has a very lovely habit of giggling to himself when he imitates a word, and he puts his hand over his mouth in a very cute and cheeky giggle pose I just love and I’m not really sure where he has learned it from!
There’s not much of a point to this post other than to celebrate the fact that he is really getting there now. I wanted to record it for posterity, along with my pride in him but also say to any other parents with a little one who seems to be a late talker: Don’t worry, they will get there in their own time. And when they do, it will be amazing 🙂
I love ‘you go away!’ Yes, I know lots of kids who were late talkers and already, at Boo’s age of 4, they’re chatting away as much as the early talkers! Little Man says more and more all the time, too, and it is a lovely development stage. Glad you’re feeling more relaxed about it now, too x
That’s always lovely to hear and definitely makes me worry less about it! It is such a lovely development stage! Since writing that post his favourite sayings are now “I see” and “Of course” pronounced ah core, and they are usually said together which is just hilarious! xx
Ah bless him! EJ is still picking up the odd thing – repeating things back when you least expect it. We’re in Norfolk on holiday now and we seem to see a lot of old churches everywhere we go and today JJ pointed out another ‘old church’ and EJ immediately repeated but it sounded like shursh – cute though! X
Aww it’s lovely isn’t it? And don’t you just love how they sound a little like they’re drunk and slurring their words at times! Monkey uses sh instead ch too, it’s so cute! xx
What a lovely post. It’s very true they all get there in their own time – and by the time they start school there will be no difference in the early talkers and the late talkers. I had two early talkers (one could string a perfect 10 word sentence together before his 2nd birthday) followed by a late talker, who took me by surprise. Her longest phrase around her 2nd birthday was ‘Wait me, Baba!’ to her brother (whose name sounds nothing like Baba). She is now a very clever 8yo girl and nobody would guess she had ever been a late talker.
Aww what a cute phrase to have! Bless her! Thank you, it’s taken me some time to stop worrying and realise it is ok for him to get there in his own time. He was an early walker so i assumed he would talk early, but I am sure as he grows up no-one will be able to tell he was a late talker! xx
I think 2-3 years is normal to start speaking, and I’ve never personally seen a 10 month old baby speak! Monkey seems to be doing well, and those some cute phrases, especially ‘you go away’!
He was really advanced and talking so well so early, but some other kiddies I know were talking between 18 months and 2 so for a while I felt concerned, but he is doing so well now and I am loving the cute phrases 🙂 xx
Hello there, this is fantastic, I am glad you are feeling more relaxed about things! I really worried about our little boy not making animal sounds or saying much when he was very small and his friends were babbling, and now he talks all the time. It’s hard not to fret but you are right, they will get there in their own time x #magicmoments
Thank you, it is hard not to fret but it in hindsight it really is just a waste of energy – he is doing so well now!Glad to hear your little one is too 🙂 xx
Ahhh this is so lovely, well done little monkey!! It must be so wonderful to watch his speech develop! I’m sorry that you spent a lot of time worrying about what is a “normal” time to start speaking….it’s awful the amount of time we consider whether our kids are developing normally really isn’t it!!!
Xx
It’s crazy isn’t it? But I guess it’s just because we care and wan the best for them! It is lovely to hear him trying so hard to pronounce things now, just really lovely! He said nana down the phone to my mum the other day and she cried bless her. Just such a lovely stage 🙂 xx
Hwo sweet. My daughter (the youngest of three) is also 25 months, and all of a sudden these last few weeks her speech has come on in leaps and bounds. We still get lots of sentences of earnest babble – which is SO cute – but she’s now started to string together whole phrases, such as “Daddy? Wee in potty” (yes, we’re in potty training hell), “No, Daddy – Mummy read” at bedtime (damn you!) and “Daddy! Where’s Mummy? I WANT MUMMY!!!” an hour later when Mummy’s snuck out for a drink with the girls (drat, and double drat) …
I love it, though. She already has me wrapped around her little finger. How much worse is it going to be when she can actually tell me specifically what to do? 🙂
Aww she sounds adorable! The earnest babble is amazing isn’t it, I can’t imagine that not being there still! Good luck with the potty training, Monkey just isn’t quite ready for that yet! haha I think it’s clear who is the boss in your house 🙂 xx
I really believe children talk in their own time, obviously we have other issues delaying our speech but its lovely to read your son’s stages as I think we are also starting to go through these. I think the blame/guilt thing is part of being a mum and totally understand it. So nice to read how well he is getting on.
Thanks for linking up with Small Steps Amazing Achievements :0)
x
I think you’re right, we can’t help ourselves feeling to blame for things, even when it is outside of our control! xx