Vocabulary

Olivia has never been slow to do anything...she runs everywhere she goes. Language acquisition is no exception. For many months, she has had a few words that she has used regularly, and it has been obvious that she understands more than she can say. She has been quickly expanding her vocabulary and is even stringing a few words together to make sentences. It's really fun to watch her little mind work as she communicates with us.

I've been trying to get a list together of the words she uses regularly, without prompting. I consider these to be the words she "knows". She can repeat just about anything, but if she can pull the word out of her brain without our assistance, then I know that she really KNOWS that word. I've counted about fifty words so far.

Here are some examples of an almost-15-month-old trying to communicate.

Daaeee go? (Where did Daddy Go?)
Daaee phone? (Is Daddy on the phone?)
Fishies, pease? (Goldfish Crackers, please?)
Cackers (Crackers)
COO-Key (Cookie...one of her favorite words)
Ca-Corn (Popcorn)
Muh (Milk)
Pay (Pray)
Jesus
Bye, Bye
Nigh-Nigh (Night-Night -- Used when she wants to go to nap or to bed)
Foo (Food)
For (Fork)
Side (Outside)

That is just a short list of her more frequently-used words. And as I look at them, it becomes obvious that she's obsessed with two things...Daddy and Food. She talks about one or the other about 80% of the time.