10 November 1999

Walter's Vocabulary

This post provides a snapshot of Walter's vocabulary at 18 months. These are words that Walter says (or has said) regularly. There are more things he has seemed to say, but since he did not say them regularly, I'll assume it was a fluke. Some of these words have fallen into disuse at the current time.

Walter understands many more words than he says. For example, he knows what "stand" and "sit" mean. He also has learned a few more body parts than he says, but he's working on it.
ball
One of Walter's first words after Mommy and Daddy.
(belly) button
This was amongst Walter's early body part vocabulary. Unfortunately we're now having a hard time teaching him what a shirt button is. (You say button, he thinks "belly button.")
block(s)
Another of Walter's early words, but after "ball."
book
When we first tried reading to Walter, he wouldn't sit still long enough. Now he loves to have books read to him. His current favorites are The Foot Book by Dr. Seuss and Tigger's Big Bounce.
bubble(s)
Walter loves to blow bubbles, but "bubble" can also mean "grape."
bye-bye
Walter started waving bye-bye early on, and then quit. Once he started doing it again, it took a little while for him to also say the word. Now he's a professional.
cookie
Walter refers to any snack food (cookies, fruit chews, crackers, chips) as a cookie. He will sometimes say "cracker" when corrected.
Daddy
I couldn't tell you exactly when Walter started saying this. He just slowly went from "duh-duh-duh" to "dad-ee." One of his first words, along with "Mommy." Early on, he had stages where he'd only say one or the other. Currently, Walter seems to have a problem understanding Lee is Daddy and Dorothy is Mommy. He tends to reverse them most of the time.
doggy
One of Walter's most recent words.
ear
This was the third body part we worked on. He picked it up fairly quickly.
eye
The fourth body part we did. Now we just have to teach to be gentle when indicating it.
French fry
We've unfortunately fallen into the trap of fast food. Walter loves French fries. We have to limit what we give him so he'll eat his other food most of the time. He's even said "French fry" once as we drove past McDonald's now, so we're definitely in trouble (and trying to cut back).
hi
Walter tends to greet me with this when I come home. He'll also answer "hi" when you say it to him.
juice
Any liquid that goes in his cups (juice, milk, water) is juice, although we're working on "milk." Walter uses this word a lot, basically meaning he's thirsty. Sometimes it's hard for me to tell "juice" from "shoes."
kitty (cat)
Walter learned this fairly early, despite the fact our cats always run away from him.
Mommy
One of Walter's first two words. (See Daddy.)
no
For a while, this was Walter's all-purpose answer, no matter if he meant yes or no. But if you tried to give him something he didn't want, he definitely meant it because he'd say "no" and push it away. He's gotten better about it, but "no" still doesn't always mean no.
nose
One of the first two body parts we worked on, and one of Walter's favorites. (See toes.)
potty
Another of Walter's more recent words. He knows what it means. Now if we could just get him to say it when he needs to "go potty."
shoe(s)
When Walter starts saying "shoes," it sometimes means he wants to go outside. Although usually he'll go get his jacket first and then we'll tell him he needs his shoes. Then he starts saying "shoes."
sock(s)
Walter usually says "shoes" when he sees someone putting on socks, but will start saying "socks" after he's corrected.
teeth
One of Walter's more recently learnd body parts. I think it's surplanted mouth, so I guess we'll have to work on tongue, lips, etc.
tissue(s)
One of Walter's grandmothers managed to start teaching Walter to blow his nose at an amazingly early age. He later learned to say "tissue." Usually he starts saying it whenever someone else gets a tissue, indicating he wants one too (whether his nose really needs blowing or not).
toe(s)
One of the first two body parts we worked on, along with "nose." He learned the difference amazingly quickly.
uh-oh
Another of Walter's early words, although I don't remember precisely when he started saying it. He most likely picked it up from Teletubbies. At first, he'd just say it for no apparent reason. Then he started saying it any time he saw Teletubbie merchandise. As of this writing, he tends to use when he spills or drops something.
whee
I started saying this to let Walter know sliding down a slide is supposed to be fun. Now he often says it just as he starts down one. (And he does think they're fun.)
yay
When Walter does something right or good, we try to encourage him by saying "yay" and clapping. He picked up on it and will now clap for himself while saying "yay!" He's also started doing it when other people applaud, including people on TV.
yeah
Walter sometimes says this in response to a question, but I don't think he really understands its meaning.
[This was originally a web page at my personal site. It was created November 10, 1999 and last updated on November 15 of that year.]