It's pretty normal for parents to brag about their kid's development, but I feel like if your kid is late to do something (like walk) then you just wait with slight anxiety and don't broadcast it. In her short life history, Faith has only done two things right on schedule: get teeth and sleep through the night. Everything, including walking and talking, she has done "late". The funny thing is that if I didn't have access to books and the internet, I wouldn't even know that she was supposed to be doing X by month X. Well, other than the check ups at the doctor when I have to fill out the developmental checklist (but she's always right on track with that scoring).
My point in discussing this is simple: if you as a parent aren't worried, then there probably isn't anything wrong. Sure, most toddlers in Faith's age range have a good amount of words and some of them are even using sentences already, but I know Faith is capable of eventually speaking. She's just going to do it on her schedule, not mine or some development guide's schedule. One of the reasons that I'm not worried is that Faith knows a lot of words, even if she doesn't say them. Proof:
You have to look past the parts where she picks her nose and pokes herself in the eye. She's an evil genius and if you don't give her something she wants, she'll poke herself in the eye until you crack.
The words that Faith does know and use often aren't super useful in communication. Let's see, here's what we have:
BALL
YUCK!
DOG
PLUUU! [please]
BAY-BEEE [baby] (It should be noted that all people under the age of 21 are considered babies by Faith)
COOO-KEY [cookie]
MUY! [more]
GAIN! [again]
SHIT! [sheep]
[interpreted toddler meaning, margin for error: high]
She also knows a bunch of animal noises, but I don't think those count. She knows more words than this list, but I don't remember them all. Those are just the ones that I hear all day, every day. For someone with a limited vocabulary, she sure likes to talk.
She is very artistically advanced as well:
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| How can I express myself if the pictures are already drawn? |
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| I use crayons in my own special way. |
I was thinking today how funny it would be if we had developmental guides for adults too. I feel like I'd be stuck in the "15 year old girl" category for humor and maturity, but I'm probably on track on most other categories which I would imagine would include things like "not horrible with money" and "cleaning the shower before it gets nasty".
What do you think would be included in the development guide for your age range?
Poops on her own (but will probably discuss it if given the chance), knows the difference between your and you're, but lacks the skill it takes to enter into a healthy relationship with the opposite sex.
ReplyDeleteFaith is, I'm sure, way smarter than me in her own way. I bet she knows a 5k is, in no way, a marathon.
I seem to remember that you had a post a few months back where she could say the word "cookie" only she said something else. haha!
ReplyDeleteShe did used to call them "COCK!" but she has outgrown that. I'm almost sad about it. At least I still have her handing me a stuffed sheep on a daily basis and shouting "SHIT!"
DeleteMy mom says I didn't start talking til late. She had no idea how good she'd had it until that storm hit.
ReplyDeleteSee, if you hadn't given away Peanut, you could have had her demonstrate dog in the video.
ReplyDeleteI am pretty sure I am in the 15 year old girl category too. In fact, I may have completed reverted! I totally have no idea how old I am!
ReplyDeleteDevelopmental guidelines suck. I wouldn't have know we were behind at all if I wasn't on stupid message boards, which I have since quit. I freaked the f out at 20 months when my boys had 8 words (expressive speech delay). We went into the county program and waited....a year later, we started real speech therapy and have grown leaps and bounds. The boys are still really hard to understand, but they're progressing everyday.
ReplyDeleteoh--animal sounds count :)
First of all, you have a very muscly toddler. Did you know this? Second of all, you are very soft spoken - not the words but the tone of voice....I did not expect that. Although I feel like I've heard you on videos before. Anywho. You sound so...calm...and.... kind. LOL I'm not being mean I swear! Just sounds messed up.
ReplyDeleteOk. lastly. LOVE that she knows all her body parts - what a smartypants. When we ask P where her belly is she lifts her shirt up and rubs it...I hope that's not indicative of the future.
Note to self: work on bitch voice.
DeleteAlso, I agree with the muscle thing. Faith should make her toddler workout video with her little beefy arms on the cover.
DeleteI'm not sure bragging heavily about your kids is so normal... I'm one of those people who find it rude to broadcast it in a very public way. I just feel it makes others feel poorly or worry unecessarily (most of the time) about their children. That is not to say one shouldn't be proud of their kid. But I genuinely feel those parents that feel the need to consistently blurt "Look how advanced my baby is!!! Hey, internet, see how much better he/she is than your child of similar age?" tend to be either really narcissistic or highly insecure. Those people just rub me really raw in all their smugness. I really appreciate not only your honesty but that you know that Faith will come into her own accomplishments at a time she's ready. I think that's a very positive perspective, and one that will ensure you wont be placing too much pressure on her to "succeed" as she grows.
ReplyDeleteI have met people who seem worried about their kid's size, especially in comparison to Faith. I have to assure them that I married a man of almost mutant height and his genes are strong and they still look concerned about their kid.
DeleteSo I don't think any parent is completely free of comparison worry, but I do hate the smug ones who corner you at the playground and want to tell you in list format all the wonders that their child had done.
I love Faith's forearm tattoo and impressive nose-picking skills. I have mastered neither of those things. I think my developmental age is 12 year old boy.
ReplyDeleteAnd what does that make Christian? A pedophile.
Her tat works well on her overly muscly arms, don't you think?
DeleteHahahahahaha! I love that she says "shit" for sheep!
ReplyDeleteNeither one of my kids spoke very much before the age of 2, and now they won't shut up.
When I have a post months from now complaining about the same thing, we can all reference this and then laugh at me.
DeleteI would say I'm advancing in the areas of "cleans the floors even when people aren't coming over" and "folds and puts away laundry within a week of doing it" but behind where I'm supposed to be in "not eating ice cream for dinner" and "not making TWSS jokes in your head" when children try to sharpen pencils.
ReplyDeleteI played your video and Bungee immediately woke out of a dead sleep and bolted from the room.
ReplyDeleteAll the crazy moms I know in real life are a non stop stream of bragging, it's so annoying, especially the "my child slept through the night since 2 days old". But that's just pure envy on my part(and when I hear kids didn't walk until later, I'm so jealous! Would have loved that).
ReplyDeleteI hate the doctors lists, where at 18 months they were suppose to have over 100 words!
Oh well.
I'm glad to hear you don't have huge birthday plans, makes me feel better, we don't either, but it seems like all the other moms dothe large themed, spend a thousand dollars on a 2 year olds party. I didn't spend thaton my wedding!
Faith is sweet, smart and most likely too wise for her age. She's already smart enough to know that it's the quite types to get listened to when they do speak up :-)
ReplyDeleteMy nephew didn't talk until he was 3 1/2, when he went to nursery school, but like Faith, he knew tons of words, just wasn't using them. He's now 7 and is just fine. His brother talked at a younger age but even now, at 4, you can only understand about 60% of the words that come out of his mouth, so really there's not much difference. :)
ReplyDeleteAs for my own development for my age range... I'd probably score a bit young for things like "laughing at fart and poop jokes" and giggling when people say things like "Grand Tetons." Otherwise I think I'm pretty normal for 31.
my daughter is a silent genius, too. understands and recognizes so much, but doesn't say any real words reliably. I'm afraid at her 15 mo appt next week that we'll be referred to speech therapy.
ReplyDeleteI love how Faith colors one line across a page and moves on. ha ha
I think Faith could have a career in the military. Torturing the terrorists by sticking things in their eyes and ears.
ReplyDeleteFaith *is* a baby genius! And she's a comedian, too. I can't stop smiling when I see her little face! :)
ReplyDeleteOMG - I had to laugh out loud at how Faith beat herself up to point out certain body parts. Adorable.
ReplyDeleteI don't want to even think about how I'd fail an age development test at this age. :P
Love her - total cutie. :-) The hair is by far my favorite - so tousled & adorable. Perfectly baby hair.
ReplyDeleteI'm pretty sure I'm secretly a 14 year old boy stuck in an adult woman's body.
ReplyDeleteAnyways, I'm trying to accept that Charlotte is going to be 2 months behind most likely. She's still at the 0th percentile for height, weight, and head circumference. It's hard not to worry that she'll never catch up, but kids do what they want when they are ready I guess.
LOOOVE the video!! our word list is very short too around here and yes, i'm never worried until i get on the internet!!!! :)
ReplyDeleteMy kids are about the same age as Faith. When they went to their 18 month checkup there was a question about how many words they said. Ummm? I think I lied and said 10 but 6 were animal sounds. I started to panic after that thinking something was wrong. Of course, 2 weeks later they started saying more words. Every kid is different.
ReplyDeleteI'm sometimes stuck as a 13 year old. I think farts and bathroom humor are funny!
I'd be stuck in a "12 year old boy" category for sense of humor (are fart jokes not funny to regular adults?) but I think I'd be in appropriate ranges for things like cleaning, paying bills etc.
ReplyDeleteMy husband was deaf until he was four (so he didn't speak until after that) and he's perfectly fine. Actually he talks A LOT.
My son didn't talk very much at two either and then there was my daughter saying complete sentences when she was 22 months old, but only when she was really mad. Crazy how they can be so different and be all about the same by the time they hit kindergarten.
ReplyDeleteCaleb didn't say much until he was 2.5. Einstein didn't speak until he was 5. She'll be fine. :)
ReplyDeleteFaith clearly has receptive language down. She is just secretly working on collecting a large enough vocabulary so that when she does express herself in more words she'll blow your mind with well-worded and grammatically correct sentences.
ReplyDelete