Chatter Box

For the past several weeks, McKinley has started "talking" more and more. I haven't a clue what he's actually saying, but he knows. I listen, answer when I think its a question, nod enthusiastically and provide banter when I think it's necessary. Then there are the words we truly understand. 

"Car-car". This word is as early as getting him out of his crib in the morning. And, it's said with a Bostonian accent. I'm not sure if its a mix of our Midwestern accent and my parents Southern accent. But, it is for sure a distinct accent and only used for car-car. "Hi" is used most often and with a high pitch. Not like a shrill high pitch, but when you're excited to see someone. He tells everyone hi. And when they don't answer back, I say out loud, its only because they didn't hear you to ensure they heard me! How do you not say hi back to a 16 month old? Rude!

His big word is "momower". Translated, lawnmower. I have to admit, sometimes I think he's saying mama and then I realize he's pointing at his own lawnmower. And, he says it with vigor. Upon walking into a Home Depot several weeks ago, he literally yelled momower as soon as he saw them. The other day, he say dada's lawnmower in the yard and he literally threw his arms in the air and yelled out the door. He loves momowers!

Memow and Tica are Elmo and Chica. Everyone knows who Elmo is but you may not be as familiar with Chica. Chica is a chicken from the Spout Networks Sunny Side Up Show. Actually, Tica was one of his first words. And this isn't really a word, but he snickers every time he sees Cookie Monster. He knows other Sesame Street characters from the books we read. We just have to say "where is Grover" and he can point right to him. Memow and Tica are his favorites.

Let's see....of course there's the traditional mama and dada. There's "pow-wow" for dog, "awing" for swing and the general use of wow and uh-oh. There is also the non-traditional verbiage such as "cockal", "boppie" and "dita". We haven't a clue what any of those mean but he uses them all the time! And, he continues to grunt, whine and point for the things that he can't say. I've loved all the phases so far, but the talking is by far my favorite, except maybe the whining...