Helping Nick talk

Nick turned 22 months old yesterday. He can run, kick a ball, open up my water bottle (yikes!), eat with a spoon and a fork, and point to pictures of objects in the books we read.

But he can't tell me what he wants. He can't explain to me what he sees and feels. He can't express in words his opinion about his world. Lots of pointing, grunting, and whining. And sometimes, frustration on both of our parts. Now I know he is not even two yet, but I also know there is a lot more going on in his head than what he can tell me. 

Here are his 19 words:

1. banana ("ba")

2. cheese

3. dad ("da")

4. ma (usually yelled "mamamamama" when he wants my immediate attention)

5. this ("dis")

6. that ("dat")

7. bird

8. tree

9. eat

10. see

11.bath ("ba")

12. ball ("ba")

13. bye

14. hi

15. please ("pease")

16. there ("dare")

17. yes ("es")

18. yum (more like nom, nom, nom)

19. pass ("paa", as in pass the ball)

He calls Thomas the train "T" and Dora the Explorer "D".  He signs "all done" & "more". We are working on the sign for "thank you". On a positive note, he has put his words together on occasion. His latest utterance was "bye, see ya".

I go back and forth on a daily basis about whether his is actually delayed or just a late talker. I've contemplated contacting early intervention. My overall experience with them was positive when Tommy was receiving services for a language delay. But, in retrospect,  I was a new mom then and really what the therapist helped me work on was creating structure and discipline for Tommy. His language came later, at around 2.5 years old, after he had the tubes inserted in his ears that reduced the fluid that was causing his hearing impairment (Nick doesn't have this same issue).

So this is Nick's baseline.  Our goal will be for him to say many, many more words and maybe even some more phrases by January 5 (when he turns 2!)

Wish us luck (and patience!)