Our #2 child is now two years old and he's, up to this point, not been a talker. He came out of the womb sucking on two fingers on his left hand and that continues to this day: when he's sleeping, when he's in the car, kinda all the time. We're not sure this prevents him from developing speech more rapidly but it also can't be helping either. Another factor could be the fact his brother talks non-stop and whether it's me, my wife or our #2 son, it's hard to get a word in sometimes. Who knows? He probably just wasn't interested.
This isn't to say there weren't any words. 'Doggy' was definitely his first word and is still one of his favorites. If we sing Old McDonald and let him pick the next animal it'll be a doggy every time, even if it was the last one. He learned chicken ('chee-chee') up in Alaska, where we got to see them every day. Truck ('ck' or 'uck') was an early one too, though that took me a bit to get. 'Eat' (shouted!, repeatedly) and cracker ('cra-ca') weren't so hard to understand.
Gradually he added a few more. 'Uh-oh' was usually only when he threw something, like food or utensils, on the ground that he knew he shouldn't. When he heard us discussing leaving the house he'd run and grab his shoes ('sho-oos') and scream if we weren't ready to leave right when he was. He adorably started waving and saying 'byyeeeee' whenever we would part ways with someone. There were also a couple words, that aren't exactly spoken words per se, like airplane (completely incomprehensible, with pointing when he sees one) and dinosaur (a roar, if that even counts). So over the past few months there were some speech improvements, though they came at what seemed a frustratingly slow rate and to some extent we wondered when he'd show an actual interest in talking.
I say it like that because I have to guess it was a lack of interest more than anything. I've suspected all year long he was fully capable of communicating better and using more words, he only didn't care to. And over the past couple months (six, eight weeks?) he appears to be proving me right.
It started, more or less, with us singing the Wheels on the Bus. Unprompted, all by himself, he clearly sang 'all day long,' at the end of one of the stanzas. All three words were clear and understandable and he'd never said any of them before. Yes, as I said, he sung them too. His interest in talking and the ability to do so has only continued from there, especially after Thanksgiving. It's been pretty fun.
Now he, to provide some examples, really likes to name things. We point to the members of our family and he runs through them all ('mommy,' 'daddy,' his older brother and baby sister's names, plus our dog). It shouldn't be surprising he's already learned some of his favorite items like train ('choo-choo') and banana ('na-na'). He says 'ball' and 'boots' and 'book,' lots of b words. He loves to excitedly point out Christmas trees ('tee! tee!') until we acknowledge him. The best one of all may be what he says when he sees Santa Claus ('ho ho ho').
Animals have been a big part of this too. He still hasn't figured out how to say dinosaur, but he does say 'owl' and 'eagle,' even if he's not always right in what he sees. Lots of animals he diagnoses by their noises and the Little Blue Truck ('blue truck') books have likely been the reason. He says 'baa' and 'moo' and 'quack' and more.
There's been a lot more too. It's pretty pathetic when he says 'ow,' when he's hurt, or 'cold,' when he's cold, often after removing of his own warm clothing. The biggest, most encouraging part is he's trying to learn and say new words all the time now. These are being added by the day and, sometimes it seems, even by the hour. That was not the case until very very recently.
Still, however, he's a stubborn little man. If you gesture to something and ask him what it is he'll very possibly oblige you. If you ask him to say something specific and say it yourself he's defiant, usually with his typical smirk from behind the two fingers. He's always been this way. But suddenly we're seeing real progress when the words are his idea. You love to see it.
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