Does this count as "talking"?

LCass

Lily still hasn't said mama or dada.  She babbles both of those sounds, but she doesn't seem to associate them with us.  She does know us by those terms (and mommy and daddy), though.  She also hasn't been saying words of any other kind.  I've wondered whether she's saying "mum mum" when I give them to her, or just babbling it.  And occasionally she'll say "ba" when she sees or wants a ball, but it's not consistent.

Over the last few days, if you ask her what a kitty or doggy says, she'll answer with "oww" (like "meow") and "oof" (like "woof") respectively.  She also is saying "oww" when she sees our cats.  So WDYT, do these count as first words?

Scramblersmom

I think so! DS doesn't always talk consistently or perfectly and I think many words are hard for them to say so they come out in a different form. For example, he will often call our dog Nene instead of Emma. He seems to think all of the dogs are Emma. He will call DH dada but we call him papa. He doesn't always repeat words consistently so we just keep encouraging him and giving him a bit of praise when he does use words.

cantalopes24

They count IMO. Lo calls E "Bruh Bruh" she's better at B sounds so we called him brother which she can't quite say but it's obvious she is referring to him. E is learning to read and write so he imitates that when hes trying to teach her words so he says "Bruh bruh brother starts with B". She also says "cack cack" when she sees a duck or if you ask her what a duck says. It will be years before they are speaking well.

LCass

Oh, I know that they won't be saying words clearly for a while yet (heck, I've taught kindergarteners who I couldn't understand more than 2 words in a sentence when they spoke ).  What I was more wondering is if it counts as words since they're really sounds that the animal makes.  But I'm counting it, regardless.    My cousin called cats "mows" until she was about 4, from what I remember.

That's so cute with Lo and E, Lopes.  I used to call my brother "bruvvie" and the whole family still jokes about it.

blu-eyedwife

I would definitely count it! She has words that she associates with a specific thing, so they have meaning, and they're words that you can understand the relation - which means there is communication!

And FWIW, LBB still doesn't say "mama" or "dada" but he does say other words.

LCass

blu-eyedwife:

And FWIW, LBB still doesn't say "mama" or "dada" but he does say other words.

Nice to know Lily isn't the only one.  Here's hoping they both say "mama" and "dada" soon!

PurpleDrewbie5

Absolutely counts!  Go Lily. Natalie's vocabulary exploded over about one week. I am sure Lily will be spouting off all sorts of words soon. :-)