tiger_spot

Tori is now well into the language explosion, which is of course The Best Stage (until the next awesome stage). Herewith are some highlights, before she is just 100% fluent in every way.

Pronunciation Guide
Consonant clusters are usually simplified ("dry" --> "die"). Tricky initial consonants (s-, sh-, ch-) are usually replaced by t- ("sock" --> "tock"); th- becomes d- ("thank you" --> "dank oo"). The word endings -en and -et are replaced by -y ("chicken" --> "ticky"; "helmet" --> "hemmy").

Names
Mama (doing double duty for me and Suzanne)
Mommy
Papa
Bookie (for Brooks)
Monkey (she is 100% convinced that this is Morgan's name; Morgan thinks it's adorable)

She doesn't have a consistent way to refer to herself yet but we've heard Bird, Towi, and You.

For a while she was using Baba to refer to any handy vaguely parental adult, including babysitters and friends we'd been hanging out with for a while, but I haven't heard that one this month.

She uses plain names as possessives. For instance, if I am folding laundry she will point out "Papa" when I have one of his shirts. She also uses "my" (but not "yours").

Animals
Doggie
Meow (she says "cat" occasionally too)
Bird
Lion
Monkey
Moo (includes most herbivores, for example goats and giraffes)
Ticky (chicken)
Pig
Duck
Donkey
Bear
Bee
Bug
Pingy (penguin)
Baby
Bunny

Adjectives
Happy
Icky
Yucky
Wet
Dry
Bright
Dark
Bad
Sharp
Hot
Stuck
More
Done
Higher

Verbs
Peel (used for removing any part of something, from peeling fruit or peeling off a shirt to picking flowers or tearing paper)
Walk
Jump
Hop
Tug
Play
Tickle
Carry
Bark
Go
Come
Climb
Pat
Wipe
Hug
Help
Turn
Tie
Sleep
Bite
Bump
Wash
Dry

Food
Water
Drink
Snack
Bagel
Butter
Keem (ice cream)
Popsicle (I think this is her longest word; it usually gets compressed to something more like po'cl)
Ice
Milk
Spoon
Fork
Table
Tea
Mango
Banana
Egg
Apple
Punky (pumpkin)

Places to Go, Things to Do
Park
Bike
Helmet
Buckle
Car
Tag (the game)
Gym
Swing
Tree
Moon
Plane
Store
Cart
Home

Around the House
Book
Track
Marker
Paper
Sticker
Tablet
Phone
Blanket
Nap
Ball
Light
Soap

Clothing
Shirt
Pant
Diaper
Sock
Shoe
Button

Body Parts and Functions
Eye
Ear
Nose
Hand
Arm
Body
Neck
Hair
Toe
Finger
Butt
Nipple
Vulva
Pee
Poop
Keem (diaper cream)
Wipe

Prepositions
In
Out
Up
Down
Back
Where
There
Away

(This is not a comprehensive vocabulary list.)

Sentences
She started out using two-word combinations for instructions ("No, doggy!" "Mama stay!") and has now added observations ("Doggy bark.")

It can be hard to tell whether she's using words together as a phrase or as two independent ways to approach the thought. The other day we saw an unusual tow truck carrying a damaged car on a platform above the cab, and Tori wanted to tell me all about it: "Hat! Onnnn... top!" The way I've punctuated it there, it looks like a one-word exclamation followed by a two-word phrase, but it could have been a three-word phrase with long pauses between words or three separate one-word attempts to encapsulate the sight.

She hasn't got all the nouns yet, which makes some things a little hard to communicate. "Ticky in! Ticky in!" she might say, indicating that the chicken is in... the house? the garden? her coop? All of which Tori may be equally excited about, but which require different responses from the adult she is attempting to inform.

Songs
If You're Happy and You Know It
London Bridge
Mr. Moon