The Bolton Blog: Little Miss Talkative

Ellen's vocabulary seems to expand almost on a daily basis. The original "da-da" has now developed into "Bye, Daddy. See you." when Jeff leaves for work in the morning. I don't think I've ever mentioned her first sentence, which really wasn't said intentionally, either: "I don't like that gravy". She said this at my grandma's house in December while the three of us were in the bathroom getting ready. So, no, it wasn't while we were eating gravy over anything. However, her babbling is turning into real used in context, so we decided to make a list of her current vocabulary.

The words she says most often are:
Ma or Mama - referring to either me or wanting to be nursed, while pointing to my chest.
Da da or Daddy
No - which can sometimes mean "yes", too.
Car - "Car!" she exclaims while a car drives past the house, or while playing with her toy cars
Shoes - she gets particularly excited while getting her shoes out of the basket in hopes of going to the Swings, she'll repeat "shoes" over and over.
swings - sometimes pronounced "swee"
Bye - (no explanation needed ;)
Please - mostly pronouced "cheese", especially used while looking sweetly at her daddy to get her a chocolate button.
Cheese - referring to the real thing.
Cartoons - pronounced "coons". I think if it were up to her she'd either be on the "swees" or watching "coons" all day.

Other words she says:
Slide - mostly pronouced "side"
Uh-oh! - mostly currently heard through the baby monitor as she tosses her socks, blankets, or teddies from her crib while refusing to take a nap.
See you - as in "Bye! See you (later)" or "I see you" while playing peek-a-boo.
Peek-a-boo - was pronouced "ah-ka" a few weeks ago, but now is pronounced "peep-bo" which is actually what the Britons sometimes say for peek-a-boo.
Baby - sometimes she calls her blankie "baby", too.
Kitty
Paddy - the neighbor's cat's name
Teddy
Bubble
Sheep
Banana - pronounced "nan-na"
That - one of her first words said in March, while pointing to something, however, she doesn't say this so much anymore.
Coat
Home
Spoon - pronounced "poon"
Socks
Nose - her favorite body part.
Chocolate - another one of her first words said clearly at first, though now she mostly says something I can't really find a spelling for, but we know what she means.
Cookie and Yogurt - again, another word we know what she means but she can't truly say and I can't really spell.
Cracker
Soup
Switch - pronounced "sitch", either when I'm nursing her and she wants to switch sides (ehm...) or while turning on one of her toys.
Ding-dong - the doorbell!... duh.
That's it - I'll say, as in "yes, that's how you do it, Ellen."
One...Two... Seven... Nine... Ten! (counting according to Ellen) She loves to count her puzzle pieces or Duplo blocks.
Thank you
Hello - with the ephasis on the first syllable.
Peppa - as in Peppa pig
Touch it - really only said when she wants to touch the dresses hanging in her closet or when we're at Sainsbury's and she wants to look at the clothes (such a girl!).
Night-night - the newest to the list.

And animal noises:
Meelaow - cat
Mmmoo - cow
Uh-uh (grunting) - pig
Baa - sheep
Sssss - snake -while slithering her hand
Ooh ooh - monkey

Quite a list for a 14-month old, if I do say so myself! Hmm... I wonder where she get's it from?!

Here are a few pictures I took last week. I was trying very hard to get her to look at the camera and smile, but the "coons" were on and if I tried turning off the tv, she'd get really upset.

This is exactly how she watches tv.

A hug from Daddy that same evening

Father's Day - we didn't do much for Father's Day, but Ellen got her daddy a card, a bar of chocolate with whole hazelnuts (I don't like hazelnuts, so it's all his!) and a Motor Cycle News newspaper. Ellen knows her daddy very well.

Helping to open his card

Ellen reads what she wrote in the card to Daddy

"Daddy, I know there's chocolate inside this wrapper. I'll just bite through it for you."

And just to add a bit more to this blog... I took these pictures in May of Ellen in the dress my grandma sent her for her first birthday. Again, it was almost Mission Impossible to get Ellen to look at the camera and smile.