Thomas Edison Would Be Proud

Uh. Uh. Uh. UH! UH! UH! UHHHHHHHH!

This, along with Bup, was our girls' chosen means of communication. Whenever they wanted something, they would grunt. Whenever they didn't want something, they would grunt louder. And if you weren't hurrying fast enough, they reached for their whip and screamed their grunts.



Until a couple of weeks ago. It was like a light bulb went on for Claire and she finally understood what we were trying to get her to do.

She can now say the first syllable of almost all the words we ask her to attempt. And if she can't quite make out the sounds, she gives it a good try.

I cannot begin to tell you how awesome this is. The other day, for example, she was pointing to something and saying "Neh, neh, neh." I was a little slow, but as soon as I saw the edge of a necklace hiding behind a lamp, I knew immediately what she wanted. I said "Necklace?" She smiled big and said "Yaaaa."

It was such a profound moment. She told me what she wanted, I understood, and she got what she wanted.

If we were still grunting, I would have been clueless and she would have left crying in a fit of frustration.

Grace is being typical Grace: completely unpredictable. When I first thought about writing this post, I was going to share my opinion that Grace's light bulb — understanding we wanted her to try to say the words — just hadn't lit up yet. But then a few days ago, she was saying "dow," telling the cat to get off the table. So, I've changed my thinking with her. She's caught somewhere between not knowing what we want, not having the development to get the words out and knowing exactly what we want, and flipping us the bird. I have a feeling this will be a trend with this little one.

Bup

At our last checkup with our pediatrician, we asked him if he was concerned with the girls' verbalization. They fully comprehend what we are saying, but we expected them to be actually saying more.

He said they were still in the "normal range," but on the back end of it. So, he encouraged us to keep trying to get them to say the words — not just grunt "uh, uh, uh, uh," which they had mastered.

One of the first words we really emphasized was "up." We wouldn't pick them up until they at least attempted something other than a grunt.

And after a day or two, we were hearing a very defined "bup" when they wanted to be picked up. We cheered, clapped and praised their efforts.

But somewhere along the lines, we took a wrong turn.

Instead of learning that bup means you get to be picked up, they learned that bup means you get whatever you want.

Bup was the magical word that got them toys, snacks, drinks, and, of course, up.

In the last week or so though, Claire has finally got around to using different sounds and understanding that bup isn't the universal phrase for "give me that."



Grace, on the other hand … still a work in progress.

This is usually how our conversations go:

Grace: SCREEEEEEEAM
Me: Grace, do you want that drink?
Grace: Ya
Me: Can you say drink?
Grace: Bup!
Me: Drrrink (slow pronunciation)
Grace: Bup!
Me: Drriiiink
Grace: Bup! Bup! Bup!

Bup, it is.



For now.