Finley got the vocab

Its always difficult to explain when people ask if Finley is talking, because he is, its just that we seem to be the only ones who understand what he is saying.

It reminds me of when he started to crawl or walk or even when he cut his first tooth. Before becoming a parent, the concept of such milestones (well to me anyway), was one day they couldn't do it and then the next day they could, more or less. But the reality is that the process is a lot longer, which is obvious if you think about it I guess. But living with someone who is developing so quickly and learning so many new things everyday, you forget how quickly it goes by. And then one day you'll look back and realise that a couple weeks ago his arms were out-stretched in front of him for balance as he walked and now his arms are down by his side like a regular walking person.

Communicating with Finley is also more than just understanding his pronunciation. Its the fine art of putting his mood, facial expression, body language and a combination of grunts, squawks and squabbles into the equation to try and figure it out. Sometimes he gets so frustrated when I just don't get it. You can see him trying to dumb it down for me as he repeats his question with eyebrows raised and upturned palms, but all I'm hearing is "ush na ba dee?". However, we've been amazed at just how much he understands what WE are saying. I'll absentmindedly ask him to get something that I know is in another room just so I can fix him some lunch in the kitchen without him under my feet. And he'll totter off out of sight and re-appear moments later with said object (like dad's old drivers license or his water bottle that's outside next to his sandpit), beaming with delight.

Fin probably says about a dozen words but you need to spend a lot of time with him before being able to pick them out. Even then, its not obvious. I sometimes have to translate to Brad since one word can mean half a dozen different things depending on the time of day, intonation, circumstance, etc.

Here is a list of current vocab:

mama - me
dada - Brad
baba - all babies/children/grownups, his doll
nuhna - Granny Heather, please open this
nahna - Granny Hester, Grandad
tittit - titty/wanting to breastfeed
bahbul - bubbles, Bubbles (Heather's jack russell), all dogs
mungp - monkey, Monkey Puzzle book
booh - book
bow - boat
ar - car, tractors, pretty much anything that has wheels
tschuz - cheese, juice, trees
mahngmo - mango
deh - date

There are new sounds everyday and I'm sure he's saying a lot of other words, we just need to figure out what they are!

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